When the Raiders drafted defensive end Clelin Ferrell, the choice seemed like a reach to many. The Clemson alum was projected as a solid but unspectacular prospect, especially for a player selected No. 4 overall.
He’s struggled to make an obvious impact for most of his young career, especially for a Raiders team starved of quarterback sacks. Ferrell has had some strong games rushing the passer in spots, but he’s been missing in that department for the most part.
But on Sunday against the Jets, in Las Vegas’ last-second win, Ferrell made an impact you’d expect from such a high selection. He forced two fumbles on two QB sacks on the day, with the Raiders recovering the football on each occasion. Ferrell, who also had a pass defensed and six total tackles, had his strong showing despite missing last week’s game on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
“Yeah, that was great,” coach Jon Gruden after the game. “He’s had the coronavirus. He’s missed a couple weeks. We were missing some defensive lineman and defensive players today and he made some impact plays. And that’s what we need from him. He’s a hard-nosed, energized, finishing player, and he’s got a lot of football character that we’re going to lean on also.”
Ferrell said he was too enthralled with the rollercoaster ride of a football game to pay attention to his successful day — though he had just 4.5 career sacks coming into the contest, with zero this year, until today. “It was hard to even really enjoy it because the game was so much of a sway of emotion,” he told reporters after the game. “But I’m just happy to come back, play well and get the win.”
And while his day against the Jets was certainly his most impactful game, Ferrell is acting as though he’s been there before.
“I wouldn’t call it a breakout game,” he said. “I feel like I’ve had a number of good games so far in my career. I would say though that, just throughout this season, it’s been kind of a, just chipping at the wood every week because I feel like I’ve gotten close on a lot of different pressures, been robbed of some things.”
Ferrell has had a very rough time getting to the quarterback in general in his career thus far, having most of his QB sacks against a single opponent, the Chargers. He’s become more and more reliable in other departments, however. But with the Raiders having just 12 sacks the entire season entering the Jets game, Ferrell will be counted on to make an impact, as Gruden suggested.
“Obviously, getting a sack is good. But not just getting sacks but getting strip-sacks and [they] turn in to turnovers and help the team,” Ferrell said. “I’m just trying to carry it into this last stretch that we got.”
As the Raiders prepare to play the Colts in Las Vegas next weekend, the playoff hunt is certainly on. If Ferrell can make an impact as he did against the Jets — even against the run, but certainly against the pass — the Raiders will have a much better chance of stopping the opponent and winning vitally important football games in December.
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