Graney: Wilkins has the contract, now he must be great for Raiders

COSTA MESA, Calif.

Expectations are just that. Nothing. So when folks talk about the Raiders having one of the NFL’s best defensive lines this season, the team still needs to go out and prove it on the field.

That means Christian Wilkins better be as good as advertised.

His contract suggests the team has no worries.

Wilkins was given a boatload of free-agent money — $110 million over four years, of which about $85 million is guaranteed — and the Raiders are convinced his presence will push their defensive line into elite status.

We’ll see. It’s still a huge role to fill for a man listed at 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds.

Wilkins is 28 years old and in the prime of his career. Most believe he’ll only improve as time passes. It wasn’t that way in the beginning. The Dolphins went 5-11 during Wilkins’ first season and he hardly stood out after being selected 13th overall out of Clemson. Some more than questioned the pick.

But hard work pays off. Some now rank him among the NFL’s best at his position.

Playing with Crosby

“The last time I was with him in Miami (in 2019), he had leadership qualities as a rookie,” said Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who was the Dolphins defensive coordinator during Wilkins’ rookie season. “He’s a smart player and you assume after four years that’s what’s going to happen. We did our research. He’s a good person, a great leader, a great football player and we’re excited to have him.”

Wilkins will benefit from playing alongside star edge rusher Maxx Crosby. The two could make life miserable for opposing offensive lines. It’s a scary thought. If things really are about leverage and quickness and power and instincts, the Raiders have a great combination up front.

“We’re definitely building something,” Wilkins said. “I talk to (Crosby) all the time to understand how he sees the game. We’re nowhere near where we want to be as a duo or whatever, but we’re about being at our best and getting one percent better every day.”

Not everyone is a believer in Wilkins.

During the show “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants,” one of the Giants’ scouts talked about which free-agent defensive linemen he believed the team should pursue.

He said: “I don’t think (Wilkins) is a difference-making pass rusher on third down, which is what we need opposite (nose tackle Dexter Lawrence).”

The report was interesting, given 30 of Wilkins’ 66 pressures last season came on third down.

“At the end of the day, I need to be here for my teammates and organization,” Wilkins said. “I don’t care what anyone else says. I have a job to do.”

And he better do it well.

His mindset: That football is rewarding and humbling and everything you learn in life, you can learn through the game. So he tries to pay it forward with younger players. Tries to tutor anyone who will listen. He doesn’t want his legacy to be judged by how many sacks he has or how much money he makes, even though he’s making a whole lot.

The good news for the Raiders is Wilkins is coming off his most productive season, when he had a career-high nine sacks to go with all those pressures.

Some R&B love

Wilkins also might be able to sing his way into making plays if he can’t force his way into the backfield.

He’s apparently the team leader in love for all things old-school R&B from the late ‘90s and early 2000s. A little Bobby Brown, New Edition, Jagged Edge and Jodeci.

“There’s a lot of ways I can go there,” Wilkins said. “I was feeling a little Bobby this morning.”

He needs to be feeling a lot of production when things get underway for real.

He has to be great for the Raiders this season. That’s why they paid Wilkins.

Expectations mean nothing.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.