Christian Wilkins is Ready For His First Year With the Raiders

Christian Wilkins was undoubtedly the biggest signing of the Las Vegas Raiders' offseason. Wilkins has established himself as one of the best interior defensive lineman in the league during his short career, and the Raiders will be lucky to have him for the 2024 season. Wilkins is another piece of what looks like a dominant defensive line.

Wilkins is a massive player, but he's got a ton of speed to go along with that frame. Nate Hobbs had this to say about his new teammate about a week ago:

© Sam Navarro | 2023 Dec 24

"Christian running to the ball, he's a freak of nature... He's 300 some pounds, first one to the ball. I've never seen anybody that size move like that, that flexible, that bendy. He's a pro for real. He knows his job, he does what he's supposed to do outside of the field."

The defensive unit as a whole was encouraging for the Raiders in 2023. While they got off to a tough start to the season, Patrick Graham had them playing very well towards the end of the year, and the defense ended up carrying the team to a late-season playoff push.

Wilkins will be a big addition to the unit, and the Raiders, as well as Wilkins, hope that he can turn this squad into an even more dominant form of itself in 2024.

Wilkins knows the responsibility for that coming to fruition falls on the players, and he shared some of his thoughts about that with the media:

"We just have to come in with the right mindset each and every day... We've done some good things so far and we're off to a good start. Just figuring out the defense, communicating, getting guys in the right spots. But it's ultimately up to us as players. The coaches – they put a lot on us as players, so it's up to us to take the ownership and that accountability so we could be the best defense we can be."