Las Vegas Raiders Switch to 3-4 Defense: What Rob Leonard’s Scheme Change Means for the 2026 Roster

Nobody talks about base defense anymore. That’s the dirty little secret of modern NFL football — most teams spend the majority of their snaps in nickel or dime packages and the “base” defense is more of a philosophical starting point than an actual game plan. So when Klint Kubiak stood at a podium in Indianapolis during the NFL Combine and announced the Raiders were shifting to a 3-4 under new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, some people shrugged.

They shouldn’t have. This isn’t a minor tweak . This is a full identity overhaul for a defense that ranked among the league’s worst a year ago.

And while the base package won’t dominate the snap count on Sundays, the 3-4 framework shapes every personnel decision Las Vegas makes between now and kickoff — in free agency, in the draft, and in the film room. If you want to understand where this team is headed defensively, you have to start here. Also Read: : Las Vegas Raiders: 5 Second Round Pick Options for GM John Spytek What Rob Leonard Is Actually Building with Las Vegas Raiders Mark J.

Rebilas-Imagn Images Leonard takes over as a first-time NFL defensive coordinator, which is either a red flag or a sign of how much John Spytek and Kubiak trust him. Spytek pushed hard to get Leonard the job after sitting in on his interview last year when Pete Carroll was also evaluating him for the DC role. Kubiak met with him, was sold quickly, and handed him the keys.