Oakland Raiders: What to expect from Arden Key in 2019?

Oakland Raiders defensive end Arden Key showed flashes of promise in his rookie 2018 campaign, but what could we expect from him in the upcoming 2019 season?

“Potential” has been a word that has followed Oakland Raiders defensive end Arden Key around throughout his football career. Dating back to his high school days, Key has always been someone who has been praised for his immense talent.

Unfortunately, that talent hasn’t always translated into production.

Coming out of high school, Key was a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 6 defensive end prospect in his class. In fact, his ranking was a whole 10 slots ahead of future teammate Clelin Ferrell who was ranked No. 16 in the defensive end class.

Key would sign a letter of intent to play for LSU where he would go on to establish himself as one of the premier defenders in the SEC. Starting nine games as a true freshman, Key would make 41 tackles, 6.5 for a loss, and record five sacks giving the football world a glimpse of his skill set.

But it was in his sophomore season that his potential truly began to manifest itself.

Key would go on to earn All-SEC honors in his first full year as a starter totaling 11 sacks, 55 tackles, and 12.5 for a loss. His performance would solidify himself as one of the best NFL prospects in the country with many draft analysts at the time projecting him as a future No. 1 overall pick.

Unfortunately, his college career would be all downhill from there.

In the spring of 2017, Key took some time away from the program for “personal reasons” before returning in the summer. However, an offseason shoulder surgery forced him to miss the first two games of the season.

A lingering finger injury also forced him to miss time limiting him to just eight games across a disappointing 2017 campaign in which he totaled just four sacks and 33 tackles, 5.5 for a loss.

There were questions about Key’s work ethic after his weight ballooned to 270 pounds and his injury issues didn’t help matters either. All in all, these red flags plummeted his draft stock and he ended up falling to the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Oakland took a chance on Key’s potential.

The LSU product had shown flashes of greatness with his excellent length, burst, and agility. But those traits seemed to all but disappear following his sophomore year.

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Key was considered to be a project player coming into the NFL and was in need of some development before being thrust into a starting role. Unfortunately, the trade of Khalil Mack and the ineffectiveness of Bruce Irvin forced the Raiders to accelerate Key’s development.

The then-22-year-old was pushed into the starting lineup and was now playing 40-50 snaps per game as opposed to the 15-25 that the team had hoped for him. As a result, Key struggled to do much of anything finishing with just one sack on the season.

Again, there are plenty of reasons that could explain his low sack total including a poor supporting cast but perhaps the most discussed has been his inability to finish. As defensive line coach Brentson Buckner pointed out this offseason, Key would often get close to recording a sack only to fall just short.

Now, pressures and hurries are ultimately positives. But the sign of a good pass rusher is the ability to convert pressures and hurries into sacks. Key struggled with that in 2018 and that’s something that’s clearly been a point of emphasis for him this offseason.

The selection of the aforementioned Ferrell will give the Raiders a high-floor, safe option to start opposite Key at defensive end. And another year of development for standout defensive tackle Maurice Hurst should do wonders for the pass rush.

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That combined with a hopefully improved secondary should help the Raiders climb out of the NFL’s pass rush basement.

But ultimately, a lot of that is going to depend on how Key performs. Another one or two-sack season just isn’t going to cut it and if he struggles again, it could facilitate a change at the position.

Fourth-round pick Maxx Crosby offers the same potential that Key does and will be waiting in the wings to pounce if an opportunity presents itself.

Nonetheless, expectations are high for Key this season after he reportedly bulked up to around 260 pounds. And after undergoing surgery to repair a nagging shoulder injury that hampered his rookie season, Key is hopefully healthy and ready to break out in 2019.

Raiders fans should be hoping for upwards to five or more sacks from Key this season. Anything less would be yet another disappointment.

The potential has always been there with Key, but it’s about time that potential becomes reality.