Oakland Raiders: 5 burning questions following the 2019 NFL Draft
By Nico Di Fede
3. Did the Raiders adequately address the pass rush?
The Raiders pass rush last year was not just bad, but historically bad. The defense finished with 13 sacks — a number that eleven individual players leaguewide either tied or bested. The teams with the next fewest sacks were the Patriots and Giants — both with 30.
Sacks for the 2018 #Raiders: 13
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 31, 2018
Sacks for members of the 2017 Raiders who are no longer on the team: 32
People like to bring up Khalil Mack when this is discussed as Mack had 12.5 sacks, almost as much as the whole Raiders defense, but even if you add his sack totals to the Raiders defense, they would still be in last — and still by a good margin. The tweet above shows that trading Mack wasn’t the sole problem and other teams were able to get more out of our castoffs.
The Raiders lackluster pass rush combined with desire to play man coverage opens them up for longer developing routes. Add in the extra pre-snap motion and the defense has lost 1 WR and has a slot DB running across the field away from his leverage w/ no help. pic.twitter.com/E9P65SXsHZ
— Matt Lane (@Matty_KCSN) December 28, 2018
The Raiders like playing man-to-man press coverage which is why defensive coordinator Paul Guenther and Mayock made a point of getting bigger cornerbacks this offseason. And because of that, the improved pass rush will also heavily improve the secondary play.
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The secondary play will, in turn, also help the pass rush and Gruden and Mayock turned the Raiders secondary into the best shape it’s been in years this offseason, probably since the early 2000s Raiders teams with Charles Woodson and Phillip Buchanon.
The Raiders added Benson Mayowa, Josh Mauro, Clelin Ferrell, and Maxx Crosby to help bring in some sacks — on top of building a pretty solid secondary on paper to help out from the back end — but was it enough? Relying on two rookies and an Arden Key who doesn’t look to have bulked up as needed seems like a tall order, but it can’t be worse than last year.