Where Thomas Booker IV fits on Raiders’ 3-4 defensive front

Booker isn’t the rotund body type that prototypically aligns at the nose tackle spot. He’s more of a slender and athletic defender that boasts length, low center of gravity, short-area quickness to beat blockers to pressure the quarterback and/or stymie the run game. Because of this, he’s better deployed as a three-technique penetrating defensive tackle alongside a stockier and heavier tackle that can occupy, anchor, and shed to tackle.

It’s because of his 301-pound frame that lacks absurd mass teams want from a nose tackle, Booker can be washed out by double team blocks. The nose tackle is formidable because it can handle the brute strength and force of a center and guard. While Booker showcases the quickness to evade blocks one-on-one, he hasn’t shown the ability to consistency handle dual blockers.

In Las Vegas’ 3-4 defensive front that Rob Leonard will use as the team’s “base” formation, Booker would be best aligned as an end who can penetrate to get after the quarterback or rack up tackles for loss behind the line of scrimmage as a run game wrecker.

At end, Booker can use his athleticism and hustle and build upon his Raiders career that saw him finish with 44 total tackles, one stop for loss, five pass deflection and a forced fumble (where he showcased his speed to chase down and knock the ball free from Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota, above). The 603 snaps he played last year was his highest career defensive participation rate and accounted for 54 percent of the Raiders defense’s total snaps in 2025.

Of course, while the 3-4 front will be the base, it’ll be interesting to see how Leonard deploys his defense. His predecessor, Patrick Graham (who is now the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator), had the Raiders lining up in sub package formations (nickel and/or dime) just 42 percent of the time in 2025, according to Sharp Football Analysis. That was the second lowest rate just behind the Detroit Lions (34 percent).

Leonard, who cut his teeth under defensive minds Mike Macdonald (Baltimore Ravens, now Seattle Seahawks head coach) and Brian Flores (Dolphins, now Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator), increase in sub packages would align with what Macdonald did with the Super Bowl champion Seahawks. According to Sharp, Seattle had the highest rate of deploying a nickel or dime package at a whopping 92 percent. The Baltimore Ravens were second at 87 percent and the Chicago Bears were third at 85.

And were Leonard to use tactics that Macdonald deploys, expect the Raiders to use a variety of fronts with different personnel to not be predictable and keep the opposing offense on its toes.

It’s altering how players line up snap-to-snap that made Macdonald-orchestrated defenses in Baltimore and Seattle a headache and Leonard following that style can help revitalize Las Vegas’ defense. And it’ll allow defenders like Booker to line up at the two end spots or nose tackle to take advantage of certain downs and distances. While odd fronts may be seen early on, expect Leonard to dig into the four-man fronts as he coached the defensive line under Graham when the team was in the base 4-3 and 4-2-5 alignments.

Leonard learned how three-man and four-man fronts work and not seeing him mix it up would be a disappointment considering he dabbled in both. If he does go this route, he’ll need solid depth at both tackle and end to rotate players in and out without running his linemen ragged.

Perhaps we’ll see variants of a 3-4 front, 3-3-5 nickel, 4-2-5 nickel, or even a 5-2 front on short yardage under Leonard’s watch. And each of those alignments offers him the opportunity to get creative with how he lines up his defensive linemen like Booker. He has the quickness and suddenness to take advantage of blockers especially as games wear on and fatigue sets in on the offensive line — be it from the edge at end or interior as a nose or defensive tackle.