Defensive coordinator Rob Leonard has plenty of work ahead of him in his initial season as play caller. And the Las Vegas Raiders’ 27-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals last Thursday in the Silver & Black’s preseason opener showcased the challenges that await Leonard.
At the tail end of last month, I dove into one of the [prime areas of opportunity for the Raiders defense: Improved tackling.](/las-vegas-raiders-coaching-staff/134776/raiders-2026-defense-tackling-rob-leonard) The defeat this past Thursday showcased signs of both sound tackling and the bad habits which resulted in Las Vegas whiffing on attempts — vanilla scheme notwithstanding.
Another item on Leonard’s and his assistant coaches’ plate that’s mission-critical: Takeaways.
With Patrick Graham orchestrating the defense last season, Las Vegas took the ball away 16 times (eight interceptions and fumble recoveries) giving it the 23rd ranking amongst the 32 teams. Go back to when Graham was hired as defensive coordinator (2022) and the year prior, it provides a five-season scope of how the Raiders are historically doing in forcing turnovers. From 2021 to 2025, the Silver & Black rank 31st in the league with 79 takeaways in that span. That’s two more than the New York Jets who are rock bottom with 77 takeaways the last five seasons.
In the three years Graham helmed the Raiders defense, the team’s highest output taking the ball away was 22 (19th overall) in 2023. Before that it was a paltry 13 total in 2022 putting Las Vegas dead last amongst the 32 teams. Then in 2024, it was another 13-takeaway year (ranked 31st) before last season’s output.
Hence the tall task Leonard and Co. have improving a historically inefficient portion of the Raiders’ defense.
“We’ve got to make plays when they’re available for you,” Raiders defensive backs and defensive pass game coordinator Joe Woods said. “But the biggest thing for us is always playing your technique because if you play your technique, then the turnovers will come. So, we do a lot of ball drills, so that’s definitely an area we need to improve from last year.”
Let’s take a look at the defenders who led the Raiders in takeaways last season before jumping into the candidates to lead the team this coming season:
**By The Numbers
Raiders 2025 Takeaway Leaders**
* **No. 1:** Kyu Blu Kelly, cornerback, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery
* **No. 2:** Isaiah Pola-Mao, safety, 2 interceptions
* **No. 3:** Devin White, linebacker, 1 interception
* **No. 4:** Maxx Crosby, edge, 1 interception
* **No. 5:** Charles Snowden, edge, 1 interception
I have to admit: This piece left me stumped quite a few times considering defenders on the Raiders roster are light on takeaways in their respective careers. That said, based on the projected playstyle Leonard wants out of his defense — fast, aggressive, with eyes on the ball — here’s the group that have the mental and physical makeup to generate much-needed turnovers:
* **No. 1:** Isaiah Pola-Mao, safety
* **No. 2**: Maxx Crosby, edge
* **No. 5:** Quay Walker, linebacker
* **No. 4:** Nakobe Dean, linebacker
* **No. 5:** Taron Johnson, cornerback
Surprised to see Pola-Mao atop the list? Despite facing competition from second-round pick Treydan Stukes, the 27-year-old veteran took the majority of snaps at free safety in 2025 and appears primed to man the spot again this coming season. Second on the team in interceptions last season, the 6-foot-3 and 203-pound safety heads into his fifth year in the league and is an opportunistic-type defender. Pola-Mao totaled 1,081 snaps and was a 17-game starter last season and it’ll be interesting to see how Leonard, Woods, and safeties coach Matt Robinson deploy a secondary that’s a mix of veteran starters and young and hungry talent behind them.
Then there’s Crosby, the epitome of disruptive frenetic energy. With his trade to the Baltimore Ravens scuttled, the 28-year-old is back in the Silver & Black fold and has an even bigger chip on his shoulder. Showcasing do-it-all performance last season with his first-career interception, expect the edge rusher to play even more determined in 2026 as both run annihilator, quarterback hunter, and even thief in coverage. There’s one part of Corsby’s game — that if elevated — makes him even more of a terror: Forced fumbles. As in either strip sacks or when he’s making stops as a run defender.
Shifting to the Linebackers Grimm, the expectation is high-priced free-agent additions Walker and Dean to be driving forces in Leonard’s defense. Especially when the Raiders deploy the 3-4 looks as the duo are looked upon to stop the run, cover tight ends and running backs on pass plays, and even blitz to rush the quarterback. Both Walker and Dean have the athleticism and mentality to all that but between them, have just two interceptions (one apiece) to go along with six forced fumbles (three apiece) and three fumble recoveries (Dean has two). Walker does have nine career sacks to his name while Dean has 7.5, so those are opportunities for strip sacks.
Lastly, Johnson. At 30 years old and the elder statesmen of the Raiders secondary, the 5-foot-11 and 192-pound cornerback is set to man the all-important nickel spot Leonard’s defense. A do-it-all type who can run, cover, tackle, blitz, Johnson has six career interceptions under his belt alongside eight forced fumbles, a trio of recoveries, and eight sacks. He didn’t have a pick last year and two of his six interceptions arrived in 2024. But picking a Raiders cornerback to pace the team in INTs is anyone’s bet as CB1 Eric Stokes has only one career pick (in his rookie year in back in 2021), while Darien Porter (second year), Decamerion Richardson (third year), Greedy Vance (second year), and Hezekiah Masses (rookie) have none.
> “I think we’re making a lot of plays on the football in terms of the PBUs. We want to pull them down,” Woods said. “Like I said, the number one stat in terms of winning games is taking away the football. We’re going to be aggressive in coverage. We may get a few penalties here and there, but you have to challenge people in order to get the ball. And I think we’re heading in that direction. We’ve just got to come down and finish plays.”
Stokes and whomever earns the starting role opposite him (likely Porter), will get plenty of targets and interception opportunities, but both are light in that department, so far in their careers.
“I think first and foremost, with anything you do, any walk of life, it’s your mindset. And I think for us, it’s confidence,” Woods added. “We have to have the mindset when we go out there that we can cover anybody. We’re going to be covering the best athletes on the opponent’s team, so we’ve got to have that confidence that we can get the job done.”
See More:
* [Las Vegas Raiders Analysis](/las-vegas-raiders-analysis)