No matter how you slice it, the interior pass rush needs to improve for the Las Vegas Raiders. That’s where Jonah Laulu could turn out to be a secret weapon.
Laulu isn’t trying to be everything for Rob Leonard’s Raiders’ defense. Good thing, too, because he doesn’t need to be.
The 2025 season was a mixed bag for the former undrafted lineman. He struggled against the run often enough to notice. But Bleacher Report analyst Brent Sobleski made the surgical distinction worth paying attention to: Laulu is a legitimate interior pass-rusher, the kind of specialized weapon that wins football games on third-and-7 when coordinators are drawing up their prettiest protection schemes.
That’s not a consolation prize; it’s a job description.
The Raiders might’ve found a cheaper alternative…
Sub-package contributors who can reliably collapse a pocket from the inside are rarer than most fans appreciate. Teams spend premium draft capital hunting them. Laulu arrived as an undrafted afterthought and quietly became one anyway.
The testimonials don’t hurt, either. Maxx Crosby, arguably the Raiders’ most credible evaluator of defensive line talent given he’s built a career being underestimated himself, called Laulu a worker who keeps getting better. Former head coach Pete Carroll once doubled down, pointing specifically to effort, technique and one-on-one pass-rush wins as evidence this isn’t a fluke built on athleticism alone.
“It’s his heart,” Carroll said. “The intensity that he plays with.”
Now Laulu enters 2026 with a new head coach in Klint Kubiak and, per ESPN’s current depth chart, a starting designation. The job is his to lose.
Here’s the uncomfortable question: Can Laulu’s run defense improve enough to justify full-time starting snaps, or does his value peak the moment an offense lines up in shotgun on third down?
The Raiders are betting on growth. Laulu’s been proving doubters wrong since before anyone knew his name.
Why stop now?
*Top Photo: YouTube