Oakland Raiders: Preseason Week 3 — Stock Up/Stock Down

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – FEBRUARY 03: Ethan Westbrooks #95 of the Los Angeles Rams forces a fumble on Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots in the first quarter during Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 03, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. Oakland Raiders (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Stock Up: Anthony Rush, DT and Ethan Westbrooks, DE

Both of these guys have impressed since signing with the team this year which has likely kept the coaching staff up at night thinking about how tough the cuts for the defensive line will be.

Rush emerged out of nowhere in Week 1 of the preseason and quietly had a solid performance in Week 2 as well. On Thursday night against the Packers, he was less quiet but in a good way as he had another solid performance.

On the Packers second drive, Rush was double-teamed but his strength and size allowed him to split it by driving one of the blockers into the ground and still make the stop for a one-yard loss.

Rush achieved another run stop later in the first, using his length to extend his arms and keep the lineman at bay, allowing him to disengage at will and make the tackle.

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Typically guys his size are space eaters who make an impact that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but that isn’t the case for Rush as he is able to make plays like this. Rush finished the day with four tackles, one for a loss.

Ethan Westbrooks is a versatile lineman who can play at either defensive tackle or defensive end. In this one, he mostly lined up at defensive end and he played well.

Westbrooks only came away with two tackles — the first being a run stop in the first quarter where he shot the B-gap and got around the lineman to make the tackle for no gain.

The second coming in the second quarter where Westbrooks not only set the edge forcing the running back to cut inside, but was also able to disengage from his blocker and make the tackle.

Outside of those tackles, he made a lot of plays that don’t show up in the box score getting pressure off the edge and taking on blocks opening up tackle opportunities for the other defenders.

Maybe I’m putting too much stock into the preseason, but at this point, I would cut Justin Ellis and absorb the dead money and maybe even move on from P.J. Hall if it meant keeping both Rush and Westbrooks.

Rush is practice squad eligible but other teams have to have taken notice, especially the Detroit Lions who the Raiders stole Rush away from.

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