Ahead of 2024 Training Camp, Raiders.com is previewing each position group and evaluating the players that could make up the 53-man roster. Here's some insight on the defensive line.

New players

TJ Franklin, Tomari Fox, Noah Shannon, Elerson Smith, Charles Snowden, Ron Stone Jr., Christian Wilkins

The Las Vegas Raiders decided to swing for the fences in arguably their biggest move this offseason: signing Christian Wilkins.

Wilkins, a 2019 first-round pick by the Miami Dolphins, has the potential to immediately elevate the defensive line and gives Maxx Crosby a legitimate superstar to play alongside. In Wilkins' five seasons with the Dolphins, he compiled 20.5 sacks, 43 tackles for loss and 50 quarterback hits. He totaled a career-high nine sacks last season. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, he ranked in the top seven of all defensive tackles in total pressures (61), double team pressures (18) and sacks while playing at least 80 percent of defensive snaps over 2022 and 2023.

"I've come a long way definitely since my rookie year in this league," Wilkins said in minicamp. "I've seen so much, I've done a lot, and knowing that and just seeing how far I've come always just keeps me hungry. I'm just always trying to be my best, and now you kind of see what experience and wisdom does for you because now when certain things go on, you're not rattled, or you can impart that wisdom into a younger guys."

Charles Snowden and Elerson Smith are two other additions that bring NFL experience with them to Las Vegas. Smith spent two seasons with the New York Giants, appearing in 13 games with 11 total tackles. Snowden, a former Second-Team All-ACC selection from Virginia, played for the Chicago Bears his rookie season before spending two seasons on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad.

The Silver and Black signed a handful of defensive line UDFAs, including TJ Franklin from Baylor, Tomari Fox from North Carolina, Noah Shannon from Iowa and All-Pac-12 Conference Second Team selection Ron Stone Jr. from Washington State.

Returning players

David Agoha, Adam Butler, Matthew Butler, Maxx Crosby, John Jenkins, Malcolm Koonce, Marquan McCall, Janarius Robinson, Nesta Jade Silvera, Tyree Wilson, Byron Young

The Raiders defensive line could be considered the deepest position group on the roster.

Not only the defense, but the team is led by the energy of Maxx Crosby. Going into his sixth season with the Silver and Black, he's evolved into one of the premier pass rushers in the game and continues improving any way that he can. Despite suffering a knee injury during the late stretch of the 2023 season, he continued to dominate opposing offenses en route to being named an NFL Defensive Player of the Year Finalist.

The Condor finished with a career-high 14.5 sacks, 90 total tackles, 50 quarterback pressures and 23 tackles for loss. His 45 tackles for loss over the last two seasons are the most of any player in the league during that span.

"[W]hen you talk about Maxx Crosby, you're talking about the best defensive player in the league, probably in the history that I've ever seen," senior defensive assistant Rob Ryan said. "Now, I've only been around it 30 years, but I mean, he's that good. ... Maxx makes everybody tougher. Maxx makes everybody better."

One of the players that Crosby has certainly helped is Malcolm Koonce, who enters his third campaign after a breakout 2023 season. He has spent the majority of young career as a rotational edge rusher until being thrust into the starting role opposite of Crosby. In Koonce's last nine games of the year, he exploded with eight sacks, seven tackles for loss, 14 quarterback hits and three forced fumbles.

"Koonce has always been super talented, like he really is, and he's a great kid," Ryan said. "If you brought him in here, you might think he's asleep because that's just kind of the way he looks. But oh my god, can he bring it. Like he is such an athlete, he can turn the corner. I mean, he can do so many things. And he's been special and to have Maxx as a tutor for him. He needed some leadership like that."

Alongside Crosby and Koonce, the coaching staff is hopeful that Tyree Wilson will take a leap in Year 2. The No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft suffered a broken foot at Texas Tech, and didn't step back on the field until joint practices against the Los Angeles Rams in training camp. This year, he's been a full participant in OTAs and minicamp, expected to be 100 percent when training camp rolls around. Wilson played all 17 games his rookie season, finishing with 3.5 sacks and 16 solo tackles.

The Raiders re-signed veteran defensive tackles Adam Butler and John Jenkins. Jenkins is going into his 12th NFL season, the most of any player on the active roster. The 35-year-old set career highs in total tackles (61) and tackles for loss (four) last season. Butler also had a productive 2023 season with five sacks, eight tackles for loss and four pass deflections.

Byron Young and Nesta Jade Silvera will be competing behind Butler and Jenkins for snaps on the interior defensive line. Like their draftmate Tyree Wilson, the Raiders are hopeful to see a leap from this duo in their second year.

Rounding out the remainder of the returning defensive linemen are Janarius Robinson, David Agoha, Matthew Butler and Marquan McCall. Robinson signed to the Raiders practice squad before the start of the regular season, ultimately signing to the active roster in Week 13 and starting two games. Agoha, a Lagos, Nigeria, native, was acquired through the NFL International Pathway Program and picked up a sack in the 2023 preseason.

Butler was drafted in the fifth round by the Raiders in the 2022 NFL Draft, appearing in eight games for the team. McCall signed to the practice squad in December of 2023 after playing 16 games for the Carolina Panthers the season prior.