Raiders linebacker Denzel Perryman has been a tackle machine

The former Charger is the second-leading tackler in the NFL

The Las Vegas Raiders’ defense as a whole may have sagged in Week 10 in a 41-14 home defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, but linebacker Denzel Perryman continued to do what he’s done all year after being a late-preseason addition by the team — he was a tackle magnet.

According to NFL.com, Perryman is second in the NFL with 102 tackles this season. Only Los Angeles Rams’ linebacker Kenny Young has more tackles with 104.

As the above tweet shows, Perryman has been on fire all season when it comes to finishing plays. He had 11 tackles against Kansas City on Sunday. According to NFL.com (different outlets have varying tackle counts), it was the sixth game that Perryman has registered at least 10 tackles in a game. In the other three games, he’s come close with nine tackles and another with eight. That’s a pretty good season if a player’s lowest tackle output was eight tackles!

This is by far Perryman’s most productive season. He had 37 tackles in 13 games with the Chargers in 2020. His highest tackle count was 69 in 12 games in his second NFL season in 2016. The career of Perryman, who turns 29 next month, has been stalled by injuries and he’s never played a full season. Let’s hope this season will end that trend.

The only reason why he ended up in Las Vegas was due to a glut of injuries at the position in the preseason — as he’d played for Raiders’ defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, it was a good fit. The Raiders acquired Perryman in a trade with the Carolina Panthers, with whom he’d signed with in the offseason.

An under-the-radar addition has turned into one of the Raiders’ better offseason moves.