Marquel Lee wasn't quite ready to end the revolving door at middle linebacker for the Oakland Raiders when he was thrown into the starting lineup to start his rookie season last year.
With a year of experience and a defensive scheme that better suits his game, Lee is doing his best to seize that role this season even after the Raiders brought in veteran Derrick Johnson to be the likely starter.
Lee has spent most of training camp as Oakland's middle linebacker in the base defense and was one of the team's best defensive players in the exhibition opener last week against Detroit when he had three solo tackles and two assists in just 15 snaps.