The Raiders have made a number of significant additions this offseason, improving on both sides of the ball. The team added proven veterans like Cory Littleton, Nick Kwiatkoski and Maliek Collins to their defense. But for the most part, they are counting on their young edge rushers to produce a pass rush in 2020.
Together, rookies Clelin Ferrell and Maxx Crosby combined to create 14.5 sacks in 2019. But for the Raiders to take the next step as a defense, they are going to need to be even better in 2020.
In a recent article by ESPN, they named the biggest holes on each roster after the 2020 NFL Draft. For the Raiders, the site is less than convinced that they did enough this offseason to improve their pass rush:
The newly moved Raiders finished 27th in adjusted sack rate in 2019 and didn’t make an impact addition off the edge for the 2020 season, drafting nobody and bringing in only Carl Nassib in free agency. Now, Maxx Crosby had an impact rookie season with 10 sacks, Clelin Ferrell is still young, and Maurice Hurst has shown some promise. But Crosby appears to be the only rusher for whom other teams have to game plan, and that’s something that could cost the Raiders the negative plays they’ll need to create over the season to get their young secondary off the field.
While the Raiders are certainly counting on Ferrell and Crosby to improve in Year 2, don’t count out Maliek Collins helping their pass rush in a significant way. According to ESPN’s pass-rush win rate, Collins had the fourth-best (16 percent) win rate of all defensive tackles in 2019. His presence alone should help improve the team’s pass-rush.
If the Raiders can get anything out of the likes of Maurice Hurst, Carl Nassib, or Arden Key in 2020, then their pass-rush shouldn’t be a significant issue. It’s still likely a year away from being where it needs to be to contend in the AFC, but it is certainly improving since the team traded away Khalil Mack in 2020.
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