Heading into free agency, the Las Vegas Raiders could use a new nose tackle since the team’s starter over the last two years, John Jenkins, is scheduled to hit the open market. One option the Raiders are likely looking into is Poona Ford from the Los Angeles Chargers, especially since he has ties to new head coach Pete Carroll.
In 2018, Ford was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent when Carroll was running the show in the Emerald City. The former Texas Longhorn spent the first five years of his career with the Seahawks, where he became known as a run stuffer in the trenches.
After a couple of down years in 2022 and 2023 — the latter coming with the Buffalo Bills — Ford had a bounce-back campaign this past season with the Chargers. According to Pro Football Focus, the seven-year pro earned the seventh-best run defense grade (78.8) among interior defenders, which was also his highest mark since his rookie season.
So, let’s dive into the tape and see what he could bring to Las Vegas.
Ford is susceptible to getting reached in the running game, but his ability to recover and still win the rep is impressive.
In the play above, he lines up in the A-gap and steps to take on the guard, which puts him in a tough position against the weakside outside zone call from the Ravens. That allows the guard to get inside positioning on Ford and scoop him out of the A-gap.
However, Ford does a good job of using his hands and strength to “close the gap with the man”, meaning he takes away the rushing lane by pushing the guard into the A-gap. On top of that, the defensive tackle manages to escape the block and make the tackle for a short gain when Derrick Henry cuts inside.
As one might expect from a nose tackle, Ford has some impressive strength at the point of attack.
That’s what allows him to stand up the guard, get penetration in the backfield and escape the block here. For context, Daniel Faalele is the guard he’s going against, who is listed at 380 pounds. But that doesn’t matter because of Ford’s strength, leverage and great hand placement to win the rep.
Additionally, the former Charger does a great job of recognizing the down block to put himself in a position to take on Faalele. That’s not easy to do when a nose tackle is lined up inside shade on the center and initially reading the center.
Here we’ll get another edition of Ford versus Faalele, this time on a lead zone concept from the Ravens.
Again, Ford has good hands and leverage (being 5-foot-11 helps) at the point of attack to get good positioning on the block. That allows him to escape from Faalele by using a hump move. As a result, the fullback has to pick up the defensive tackle, but the defender is ready for that too, as he wins the leverage battle to get involved in the tackle.
So, Ford managed to defeat two blocks and make the play on this rep.
While he doesn’t make the tackle this time, this is another good example of Ford using the hump move to get off a block.
The Buccaneers run outside zone and Ford wins at the point of attack, again, to reset the line of scrimmage against the guard. He fulfills his assignment by showing color in the B-gap, which is part of the reason the running back cuts to the backside of the play.
That’s where the hump move comes in as Ford escapes the block to get into the A-gap and have an opportunity to make the play. He probably would have made the tackle here if it weren’t for the hold from the guard.
We’ll see a similar rep from the big man on this clip, only he’s on the backside of inside zone and ends up making the tackle this time. He wins at the point of attack and uses a long-arm to get extension against the guard’s block. That allowed Ford to fulfill his responsibility by taking away the backside A-gap.
But the cherry on top here is he recognizes the running back cutting into the B-gap, plants his inside foot and tosses the guard out of the way with another hump move to make the tackle for a one-yard gain.
Adding to the nose tackle’s repertoire, he’s also shown the ability to shoot gaps and get penetration off the snap. He’s going against two-time Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum, where he’s one-gapping and given the freedom to fire off the ball.
Ford uses his quickness and a strong rip move to beat Linderbaum and get penetration in the backfield, forcing the running back to cut inside on the outside zone call. In other words, he effectively cuts the field in half for the defense and allows the backside defenders to make the TFL.
If the Raiders and Patrick Graham want to improve their run defense and find Jenkins’ replacement this offseason, Carroll should pick up the phone and see what it would take to get his former nose tackle to come to Las Vegas.