How newly acquired Thomas Booker helps Raiders defense

After waxing Christian Wilkins from the roster, the Las Vegas Raiders moved quickly to fill in the gap at defensive tackle.

A day after the sudden release, the Silver & Black claimed Keondre Coburn via waivers from the Tennessee Titans and, most recently, the Raiders acquired Thomas Booker IV from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for cornerback Jakorian Bennett.

The trade saw Las Vegas land an interior lineman taken in the fifth round (150th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans while Philly nets a fleet-footed defensive back taken in the fourth round (104th overall) of the 2023 draft. It was a rare preseason player-for-player deal both squads executed this past Monday that was finalized Tuesday.

Yet, considering Las Vegas added two former Philadelphia front office personnel men to general manager John Spytek’s crew in the desert — Anthony Patch as senior personnel executive and Brandon Hunt as vice president of player personnel — Booker’s arrival is a good litmus test of the play evaluation of the newcomers.

Booker joins a crowded defensive tackle room (10 total players listed at the position group) that remains unsettled with starting spots and rotational snaps there for the taking. Veterans Adam Butler and Leki Fotu are penciled in as starters at three technique and nose tackle, respectively.

How does Booker’s addition help the Raiders defense?

At 6-foot-3 and 301 pounds, Booker is a run stopping defender that Las Vegas can’t have enough of. Dating back to his collegiate days at Stanford, the 25-year-old defender wasn’t a high-volume sack producer — 10 in his four years as a Cardinal and just 1.5 in his two seasons in the pros.

Booker’s nose for the football should serve well as an early-down run stuffing option in a rotation on the Raiders defensive line. And he has the ability to line up on the edge as an end or inside as a tackle.

The competition is stacked at defensive tackle, however.

Las Vegas drafted two interior linemen in the 2025 NFL Draft in Tonka Hemingway (fourth round), who had thre total tackles in the preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks, and JJ Pegues (sixth round), who earned a starting nod against Seattle this past Thursday. There’s also youngster Jonah Laulu, veteran Zach Carter, along with undrafted rookies Tank Booker and Treven Ma’ae, who blocked an extra point and a fourth-quarter sack in the exhibition tilt.

Thomas Booker, though, showed that nose for the football and willingness to compete in a crowded field in the preseason clash — even though the stat sheet shows only one tackle this past Thursday.

While some added juice as a pass rusher would be nice, what Booker brings to the table as a lineman that can drive the offensive line back, find and drop the ball carrier is a skillset that Las Vegas needs to bolster a run defense that finished 13th in yards allowed (1,987) and 15th in touchdowns yielded (15) in 2024.

The Raiders are slated to deploy defensive end Tyree Wilson (seventh overall pick in the 2023 draft and 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds) inside to create more inside rush.