Patrick Graham: The Raiders have a lot of good…

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When the Giants elected to hire Brian Daboll as their new head coach, they initially expected to retain Patrick Graham as the club’s defensive coordinator.

But then things changed.

Graham interviewed with his former Patriots colleague Josh McDaniels with the Raiders and elected to accept the defensive coordinator position in Las Vegas.

Now Graham will be coaching up key players like Maxx Crosby and Yannick Ngakoue after the Raiders earned a playoff berth in 2021.

In a Friday press conference, Graham told reporters that he doesn’t think Las Vegas needs to add players he’s previously worked with to help implement his system. Instead, he only needs good players — and he trusts the Raiders’ front office to bring them in to supplement who’s already on the roster.

“I didn’t watch their defense per se during the season, but some of the things that stood out to me. So when Josh gave me an opportunity to possibly come here, I was definitely excited about it,” Graham said. “There’s a lot of good players to work with and really excited about doing that.”

Graham also noted that part of why he elected to head to Las Vegas is the respect he has for McDaniels and his football acumen.

“As always, you try to make the best decision for your family and for your professional career,” Graham said. “It just so happened to be with someone I knew from the past. [I have] a lot of respect for Josh, in terms of respecting his football mind. All the yards that he’s gained on me — me being a young coordinator, having gone against him a few times, all the yards he’s gained on us and when he beat us. So, I’m just really excited for this organization.”

The Raiders were 26th in points allowed but 14th in yards allowed in 2021. The team has started to reshape some of its roster already, informing linebacker Cory Littleton that he’ll be released. But in a division that sports Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and now Russell Wilson as opposing quarterbacks, Graham will have some significant challenges to face throughout the 2022 season.