Up-and-running rookies: Raiders’ Deablo, Koonce prove ready for bigger roles

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021 | 2 a.m.

Malcolm Koonce and Divine Deablo prepare for practice next to each other every day in the Raiders’ stretching formation. It’s appropriate placement considering they were also selected back-to-back in this year’s NFL Draft in the third round with the No. 79 and No. 80 overall picks, respectively.

About the only time the two 23-year-old defenders — they were born 72 days apart in the summer of 1998, by the way — don’t seem to be side-by-side is during special teams drills in practice when they’re still not too far apart.

“On special teams, we usually go against each other and we’re always talking,” Deablo said with a smile on Wednesday at the team’s headquarters in Henderson. “We’ve always had a close relationship.”

Deablo, a linebacker, and Koonce, a defensive end, did something else alongside each other Sunday at Allegiant Stadium — broke out. The rookies both made a difference for Las Vegas in a 17-15 loss to Washington with their most extensive workloads yet.

Koonce debuted with the first playing time of his career after being inactive in every game over the last two-and-a-half months and notched the Raiders’ only sack. Deablo, meanwhile, was thrust into a bigger role with Cory Littleton, Nick Kwiatkoski and Denzel Perryman suffering injuries to cut into an already-weakened linebacker corps and responded with 11 tackles.

The former Virginia Tech safety has been a special teams staple this season, but the game against Washington was only the second time he’s played on defense. Given the lack of experience, Deablo’s level of energy and playmaking was encouraging.

“It wasn’t a surprise to his coaches,” Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia said. “It wasn’t a surprise to his teammates that he played well in the game on defense.”

Las Vegas used four of its top six picks on defensive players this year, and if Deablo and Koonce can keep progressing, it may have hit on all of them. Although the Raiders defense had been regressing before the Washington game — where it got back to playing well in holding the visitors to 4.9 yards per play — second-round safety Tre’von Moehrig and fifth-round cornerback Nate Hobbs had been bright spots all season.

“We’re trying to build something here,” Deablo said of this year’s rookie crop. “We want to be the next best group, draft class, to come for Raider Nation.”

The way Moehrig and Hobbs contributed from Day 1 may have left some with concern on the slower-starting Deablo and Koonce, but the latter duo were never on the same timeline. The Raiders took Deablo knowing he was a project, especially because they wanted to transition him to a new position as the type of athletic, hybrid linebacker that's becoming commonplace in the NFL.

It didn’t help that he came into training camp with a knee injury and only practiced for one week before playing in the Raiders’ final preseason game where he graded himself as “horrible.”

“I played slow, I looked slow and looked like I didn’t belong,” Deablo reflected on his play in the 34-10 preseason loss to the 49ers.

Deablo might have gotten down on himself if it wasn’t for Littleton, Perryman and K.J. Wright helping him keep his head up. He focused on his special teams’ duties and working toward getting another opportunity on defense, which ultimately came against Washington.

“This past Sunday, I looked like a completely different dude,” he said. “I made up for (the poor preseason game).”

Koonce’s usage has been minimal not because of a position change but rather a crowded edge-rushing group. Starters Maxx Crosby and Yannick Ngakoue have each played at a Pro Bowl level while backups Carl Nassib and Clelin Ferrell are both highly paid, proven veterans.

Those four players have also stayed mostly healthy, limiting Koonce’s opportunities until last week when Nassib missed the game with a knee injury to the rookie out of Buffalo into action.

“You saw some of the speed that he has, you saw some of the explosion that he has and if you looked at the punt rush tape, he had a really good rush one time at the punt rush as well,” Bisaccia said of Koonce.

Nassib, Kwiatkoski (ankle) and Perryman (ankle) all didn't participate on Wednesday in the first practice preparing for Sunday’s game at Kansas City. Littleton was limited with a shoulder injury.

That means there’s a good chance Deablo and Koonce are in the defensive rotation against the Chiefs. The former is clearly anticipating getting more snaps as he broke down a potential coverage matchup with star tight end Travis Kelce — the key is “staying underneath him and reading his hips,” according to Deablo.

Bisaccia is expressing confidence in both of his improving rookies, and now he’s got positive game film of them playing against Washington to justify it.

“We’re hoping this time of year those guys are starting to play a little bit more than they’ve played in the past, they can start to come on a little bit for us,” Bisaccia said.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or