Film room: Christian Wilkins is pure physical dominance

Free agent defensive tackle should be toward top of Raiders’ list

The news that the Miami Dolphins won’t be using the franchise tag on defensive tackle Christian Wilkins is big for the Las Vegas Raiders. The position is the Raiders’ biggest need this offseason, and several notable interior defenders were already scheduled to be free agents. So, Wilkins hitting the market gives the organization another quality target.

The 28-year-old is a well-rounded player who can contribute as a run defender and pass rusher, logging 23 defensive stops against the run and 58 pressures during the 2023 regular season, per Pro Football Focus. Those figures ranked tied for 20th and ninth at the position, respectively.

Wilkins should be one of Las Vegas’ top targets, so let’s dive into the tape and see what he can bring to the table.

We’ll start with a few clips against the run.

Miami is slanting its defensive line to the strong side of the formation here, meaning Wilkins is going to end up in the B-gap and taking on the right tackle instead of the guard. He has a good get-off and agility to maintain his base and initiate contact with the tackle.

At the point of attack, he uses great pad level and hand placement to get a leverage advantage on the blocker and reset the line of scrimmage. To finish, Wilkins gets off the block and makes the tackle for a short gain.

Not only is this a physically dominant rep, but it’s also teach tape material on how to slant and take on blocks.

Here is a similar rep but the defensive tackle is slanting to take on the center. Again, he has great pad level, hand placement and physicality at the point of attack to reset the line of scrimmage.

Also, the Cowboys are trying to run a mid-zone where the center and right guard — future Hall of Famer, Zack Martin — are supposed to combo block Wilkins and work up to the linebacker — No. 45. However, Wilkins beats the center so badly that Martin can’t release to the second level and look who meets the running back in the hole as an unblocked defender.

This is an example of making the play without actually making the play.

You’re probably noticing a theme here and we’ll get more of the same from Wilkins on this rep.

The Bills are running duo but the defensive tackle, once again, has great pad level, hand placement and strength at the point of attack. That gets the running back to cut backside and into the arms of the edge defender, resulting in a tackle for loss.

Even when rushing the passer, the five-year pro’s physical dominance pops up on tape. He’s lined up against Martin on this rep and we can see some carryover from the run defense clips above.

Again, Wilkins has great pad level and tight hands at the point of attack to get into the guard’s chest. He also has good leg drive to help collapse the pocket and eventually escapes to the inside to get a quarterback hit and force a bad pass for an incompletion on third and long.

As you might be able to tell, the receiver was open so this probably would have been a first down had the pressure not hit home.

Here, we’ll get a little variety in Wilkins’ game as he beats the right guard with a nice hand-swipe move. Notice how he’s able to knock down the guard’s inside hand almost immediately after the snap. The rep was essentially over at that point as the defensive tackle successfully defeated the hands to defeat the man.

Granted, Buffalo does still complete the pass, but not without Wilkins getting pressure and at least making it a harder throw for Josh Allen.

We’ll end with a nice strip-sack that shows off some nuance to the 28-year-old’s pass-rush skills.

Pre-snap, he lines up outside shade on the guard but starts the rush by stemming inside to get square on the guard and give himself a two-way go. From there, Wilkins defeats the offensive lineman’s hands again with a double-hand swipe move to win as a pass rusher. Also, he’s able to flip his hips to clear his lower half and win around the edge.

Finally, Wilkins breaks down in the backfield as Allen starts to scramble/step up in the pocket and takes advantage of poor ball security to poke it out of Allen’s hands and create a turnover. Wilkins even gets some bonus points here for recovering his own forced fumble.