Film room: Can Marquan McCall fill Raiders’ backup nose tackle role?

Team needs someone behind John Jenkins to step up

Training camp is officially underway for the Las Vegas Raiders, and while the Raiders will report to camp with a small army via the 91-man roster, the team doesn’t have many options at nose tackle this summer. John Jenkins currently fills the starting role at that spot, but Marquan McCall is the team’s only true backup for the 35-year-old as things stand.

McCall is listed at 6-foot-3 and 345 pounds, so he has the size to plug up gaps in the middle of Las Vegas’ defense if needed, but does he have the required skill set?

The former Carolina Panther doesn’t have much regular season experience, participating in 16 games and 185 total snaps in 2022, but he was cut during training camp last year and only got to play in two preseason games. In other words, it’s a small sample size, but let’s dive into McCall’s two outings from last August and see what he could bring to the table.

Probably the biggest area of improvement for McCall is how he defends reach and scoop blocks against wide zone concepts.

Here, he shifts with the tight end to ensure he’s shaded on the center to the strong side of the formation which gives him a pre-snap leverage advantage against a reach block. However, the defensive tackle’s pad level and base are inconsistent, and he lacks lateral movement skills and rotational strength to avoid getting reached or sealed out of his gap.

Notice how the center gets his helmet under McCall’s and how close McCall’s feet are together at the point of contact. That combined with some deficient agility to work laterally down the line of scrimmage are the primary reasons he loses this rep despite having the pre-snap advantage.

This is a similar rep but McCall is facing a scoop block from the center and guard on the backside of mid-zone run. In addition to the pad level and base issues mentioned above, McCall is slower off the ball and out of his stance, allowing the center to get a clean release to the second level and to turn McCall’s inside shoulder.

That makes it easy for the guard to take over the block and get around the defensive tackle, effectively scooping the defender out of his gap. Staying low and getting off the ball should be points of emphasis for McCall during training camp over the next month plus.

Moving onto the positive reps, here we’ll see a lot of improvement against a combo or scoop block.

Notice how McCall is faster off the ball/out of his stance, has better pad level and is more physical against the center at the point of attack.

That allows him to hold up the center at the line of scrimmage for a second or two, helping the linebacker (No. 57) to stay relatively clean and be in a position to make the tackle in the gap had the running back broke through the line. Also, McCall does a better job of running his feet and fighting to stay in his gap.

Granted, his pads do come up after contact and I’d like to see him keep his shoulders square to the offensive line longer as that would help tie up the center even more. But regardless, this is a step in the right direction and an improvement over the previous reps.

As expected, McCall’s size and strength stand out when solo or one-on-one blocked. In this play, his feet slip initially so he loses his footing and is in a tough position with one knee on the ground. However, he has the strength to maintain control of the block and recover, avoiding getting pancaked or kicked out of his gap.

To finish, McCall escapes from the guard and factors into the tackle, turning what could have been a disastrous rep into a positive one.

This time, the defensive tackle is going to line up as a true 0-technique right over the center and be on the playside of a power run. He’s quick to recognize the blocking scheme as he shifts his eyes to the guard once he sees the down block from the center. That, along with better pad level, allows McCall to avoid getting kicked inside by the guard.

From there, McCall finishes the rep by working up the field for another step or two and using a rip move to defeat the block. While he doesn’t break free to make the tackle, he ends up drawing a holding penalty to put the offense behind the sticks.

We’ll wrap up with another impressive rep against a one-on-one block.

McCall is shaded on the center as a 1-technique and gets a solo block from the center on this outside zone run. He does a great job of staying low off the ball which allows him to get a leverage advantage on the block and win at the point of attack.

The defensive tackle ends up resetting the line of scrimmage and escaping the block to make a tackle for about a one-yard gain. That’s an impressive play and one that could help McCall earn a roster spot this summer if he does this more frequently.