Las Vegas Raiders: Divine Deablo makes Tanner Muse expendable

The Las Vegas Raiders have searched every nook and cranny for safety help. Will 2021 third-round pick Divine Deablo make Tanner Muse expendable?

The Las Vegas Raiders enter the 2021 season with understandably high expectations. Jon Gruden is entering his fourth year as the team’s head coach. He and general manager Mike Mayock have now had three offseasons together to establish the type of culture within the roster they want to see. They have made a variety of first-round draft picks and have put together a roster full of guys they are staking their jobs to at this point.

One position the Raiders are desperate to figure out is the safety position, a position that Mike Mayock obviously knows pretty well on a personal level. Despite the fact that Mayock himself was a safety, it’s not always easy to find guys who are good at the same position you played. John Elway, a division rival GM for the last 10 years with the Denver Broncos, has found that out the hard way in evaluating quarterbacks.

The Las Vegas Raiders have left no stone unturned at safety whether we’re talking free agency or the NFL Draft. They have used picks in the first, second, third, and fourth rounds in just the last three offseasons to find starters at the safety positions, and they have even drafted some college safeties with the intent of transitioning them to linebacker/safety hybrid roles.

Divine Deablo’s rookie roster impact with the Las Vegas Raiders

One of the more intriguing picks of the Las Vegas Raiders’ 2021 NFL Draft class was third-round pick Divine Deablo out of Virginia Tech.

Deablo is a fascinating athlete at the safety position with unique size and speed.

Just like fellow former Virginia Tech Hokies 2021 draft pick Caleb Farley, Deablo started off his college career as a receiver. He switched to the defensive side of the ball in 2017 and by 2020, he had developed into a top-100 draft pick at the safety position.

The range and ball skills are there for Deablo. He plays with good instincts as a high safety and based on his college tape, you would think he would be able to pair well with fellow Raiders rookie Trevon Moehrig for the future if both players could reach their ceilings.

As fate would have it, though, the Las Vegas Raiders are transitioning Deablo to the linebacker position, just as they did with 2020 third-round pick Tanner Muse.

The inclusion of Deablo along with other newcomers like Moehrig and fourth-round pick Tyree Gillespie does not seem like the greatest news for players like Muse or 2019 first-round pick Johnathan Abram.

Specifically for Muse, though, the addition of Deablo could be significant.

Muse missed his rookie season with the Raiders due to a toe injury. The Raiders have also been quick on the trigger to just let guys go early on in their rookie contracts, at least that was the case with 2020 third-round pick Lynn Bowden Jr., a gadget player on offense who wasn’t up to snuff for the Las Vegas coaching staff in 2020 before being traded for pennies on the dollar to Miami.

Could Muse be on the chopping block without ever playing for the Raiders? We’ll have to see if he can fend off not only the rookie Deablo but former first-round pick Darron Lee coming in as a free agent as well.

If the Las Vegas Raiders get into a numbers game at the linebacker position, Muse might be looking for a new NFL team.