Film room: Jeffrey Bassa the physical athlete

Diving into what the Oregon linebacker could bring to the Raiders

It’s no secret that the Las Vegas Raiders’ defense could use some help at linebacker with last year’s starters, Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo, departing in free agency. While the Raiders have Elandon Roberts and a crop of young backers, the front office will likely add at least one more player to the position group during the 2025 NFL Draft.

That should put Oregon linebacker Jeffrey Bassa on Las Vegas’ radar. While Bassa wouldn’t be a great replacement for Spillane, he could be exactly what the organization was hoping it’d get with Deablo.

The former Duck has a background as a defensive back to help with his coverage skills and is a physical run defender, giving him the potential to be a complete linebacker at the next level. For example, he earned solid grades from Pro Football Focus in both phases of the game last season with marks of 70.2 in coverage and 72.1 against the run. The former is also a 6.5-point decrease from the 2023 campaign.

So, let’s dive into the tape and see what the 6-foot-1 and 232-pound linebacker can bring to the table.

We’ll start with a couple of reps in coverage where Bassa’s athleticism stands out.

Oregon is running Cover 7 which is a hybrid between zone and man coverage. At a high level, it’s man coverage with more rules. That’s why Bassa and the other linebacker (No. 28) exchange receivers and don’t follow the man they’re lined up across from when the two interior receivers cross paths in this four-by-one formation from Boise State.

Meanwhile, the Broncos have a great play call for this coverage where the third slot receiver runs a clear-out route, taking one of the cornerbacks (No. 3) with him while picking the safety. With No. 28 protecting the inside and the safety getting picked, the deep-out route is open for a first down.

However, Bassa does an excellent job of reading the quarterback’s eyes, coming off his man and working for depth to help against the out route. Additionally, he shows off that impressive 38.5-inch vertical that ranked third among linebackers at the NFL Combine to go up and get a PBU.

That turns what could have been a disastrous play for the defense into second and 15, keeping the offense behind the sticks.

This time the Ducks are in a more traditional man coverage, Cover 5 or 2-Man. That puts Bassa one-on-one with the running back on the flat route. However, the pressure starts to hit home with the right defensive end beating the left tackle, so the quarterback scrambles and the running back works up the field.

The linebacker uses his speed (4.63-second 40-yard dash at the combine) to carry his man down the field, staying in the running back’s hip pocket while playing a trail technique. At the catch point, Bassa closes the gap even more to force the back out of bounds and leave the quarterback with little to no room to complete the pass.

While the ball fell incomplete anyway, it would have taken a miraculous catch for the running back to get two feet in bounds. Sure, he only needs one foot in college, but we focusing on the NFL rules here!

Bassa’s speed also gives him some impressive range as a run defender which the clip above highlights. Before we get into it, yes, this is technically a pass for all of my sticklers in the comments section, but you get the picture!

First, Ohio State tries to get tricky here by faking a power run to the left. The idea is to get the linebackers to freeze or hesitate for a second so that the wide receiver (Emeka Egbuka) can get to the edge on the end around/tap pass. But Bassa isn’t fooled and immediately starts working to the wide side of the field.

He manages to chase down Egbuka, who reportedly ran a 4.45-second 40 at the Buckeye’s Pro Day (h/t Eleven Warriors), and make the tackle short of the sticks. What was undoubtedly going to be a first down and maybe even more, ended up being an opportunity for the defense to get off the field on third down.

Don’t get it twisted, the former Duck still has some work to do when it comes to taking on blocks in the running game. He could afford to add some extra strength and do a better job of taking on half the man rather than trying to run through offensive linemen’s chests. However, he does have several reps on tape that the Raiders’ coaching staff should be willing to work with.

In the play above, Boise State runs inside zone to the weak side of the formation, right at Bassa in the A-gap. So, the linebacker comes downhill to fulfill his responsibility and take on the center’s block with great pad level, hand placement and physicality to win at the point of attack and knock the center into the left guard.

While Bassa doesn’t make the tackle here, he forces Ashton Jeanty to cut backside and into the teeth of the defense.

This time, Bassa is on the backside of a counter run from Ohio State.

Once he sees the left guard pull, he flows to the playside and meets the right tackle on the second level. Again, he has good pad level and hand placement at the point of attack to gain control of the block. That allows him to get extension, shed the block and get involved in the tackle despite being at a significant size disadvantage against the offensive lineman.

We’ll end with another counter run, only this time the Oregon product is on the playside and works over the top of the tight end’s block. He isn’t nearly as impressive at the point of attack on this rep, but keeps his feet moving after contact and uses a long-arm to get extension, escape the block and go make the tackle.

Again, Bassa has room for improvement in this area of his game, but there’s definitely something to work with at the next level.

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In full disclosure, Bassa is one of my favorite linebackers in this year’s class and I seem to be pretty on him compared to others. NFL Mock Draft Database currently has him projected to go in the fourth round, but he’d be a good pickup for the Raiders at the end of Day 2, in my opinion.