Henderson, Nevada — Jonathan Hankins and Bilal Nichols both disappeared from the PUP list last week, and no, you heard that from around the Las Vegas Raiders compound. The rumble is not the monsoon that has swept Sin City lately.

It was a relief.

The Raiders’ move of two projected starting Defensive tackles from the practice room to the practice field due to undisclosed injuries isn’t just a feel-good story.

“Certainly, we’re definitely deeper than we’ve been practicing,” Raiders first-year coach Josh McDaniels said. “I think whenever you re-add players, in this case we want to have two defensive linemen, that redistributes reps. It redistributes everyone to a role that might fit them perfectly, or more than that. Our original better roles I think those are the guys who can contribute.”

Better late than never, right?

Consider this: The Raiders have redesigned their defensive line, especially inside, under McDaniels and new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Because while the roles of star tight end Max Crosby and Chandler Jones are unquestionable, Hankins is the only pure interior D-line player brought back from the Raiders’ new lineup (Kendall Wie Chriss rotates between the interior and the sidelines).

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And, as mentioned above, Hankins started a PUP Training Camp.

Quinton Jefferson (4.5 sacks in 2021), Solomon Thomas (3.5), Darius Fillon (2.0) and Damien Squire (0.5) are gone, taking Walked 10.5 of the Raiders’ 35 sacks last season. They were replaced by free agents Nichols, Andrew Billings, Kyle Peko, Tyler Lancaster and Vernon Butler (released Aug. 16) and draft pick Neil Farley Earl Jr. and Matthew Butler.

Keep in mind that while the Raiders depth chart shows a 4-3 formation, Hankins and Peko started defensive tackle in an exhibition game against the Miami Dolphins in Las Vegas last weekend, while Peko and Billings started the first two preseason games — there’s a lot of 3-4 sensitivity to Graham’s scheme.

“Coach Pat put us through a few different formations,” Peko said with a laugh. “On the front line, the more you can do, the better. So I think for all the interior players, knowing that each end knows the three-tech position, it’s good for the defense as a whole in the long run.”

It’s really a simple philosophy.

“We knew Josh’s vision — he wanted us to win the line of scrimmage, so we had to take drastic measures,” Graham said early in training camp. “We’ve got to come out of the hip. We’ve got to hit people. Right now, we’re not hitting people; we’re hitting sleds. But you see … progress, you see the level of the mat.

“I always think about young defensive linemen — when they’re in college, they’re better than everybody. Here, everybody’s okay. You better put your pads down or you’ll be embarrassed . So that’s a big question mark.”

Farrell, a fourth-round pick from LSU, and Butler, a fifth-round pick from Tennessee, played 27 and 22 snaps, respectively, against the Dolphins, with Farrell completing three Tackle. The two played 15 games each against the Minnesota Vikings a week earlier.

“We have the same point of view, we’re both rookies,” Butler said of himself and Farrell. “We just talk to each other after training and work with each other in training.”

Also count on veterans.

“Kendall Vickers has been a friend of mine since freshman year at Tennessee,” Butler added. “He’s great. Also, Billard Nichols. He’s been in this league for five or six years. But honestly, I mean, whether it’s Taylor, whether it’s AB, whether it’s Hank, everyone in the room is pouring [information] Me, Neil and the rest of the team.we try [absorb it] Giving our all day in and day out. “

When the rookies were interviewed by the media on the same day, a small scrimmage broke out between Crosby and third-round pick Dylan Parham (an interior offensive lineman).

“Everybody’s competing and trying to make each other better,” Farrell said. “That’s what we do every day. Try to push each other, fight hard, give the best we can. Every day.

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“I feel like everyone is trying to improve. I have to get better at the fundamentals and technique. It’s just coming in and practicing every day and just doing what I have to do to get better.”

Hankins’ return, though, shows just how influential he can be on the defensive line and the defense as a whole. Especially since he was mostly against the Dolphins’ starters and dominated the line of scrimmage with 13 snaps.

“I would say that, for the most part, the position was a little bit thin during training camp, but it’s improved here,” McDaniels said of Hankins’ return, while looking forward to the return of Neil. Coles’ debut. “Now it feels like we have more depth ahead of us, more combinations.

“We pushed Kendal Vickers to the end last week because we had more depth inside. It allowed us to make some moves and some decisions that maybe we weren’t flexible with before. It affects our performance.” And it affects the whole defense. “

Yes, better late than never.