Raiders: Rookie report card three-quarters into the 2019 season
By Nico Di Fede
Clelin Ferrell, DE
Clelin Ferrell started off the season slowly, often being invisible throughout the majority of games.
Ferrell seemed to have maybe had his breakout game versus the Detroit Lions, which he followed up with his best performance of the year against the Los Angeles Chargers with a 2.5 sack game.
In the three games since, Ferrell has become quiet once again.
In the game against the Chargers, Ferrell put up two tackles for a loss as well as three quarterback hits. Many people including Jon Gruden said that him playing more on the outside was the reason for that, which encouraged many as it makes sense.
The thing is, he may very well of taken advantage of the fact that he was facing the Chargers’ third-string offensive tackle in small school rookie Trey Pipkins.
I’m not usually one to use who somebody is going against as a reason to discredit a solid performance, but the fact that it is the lone game where he made an impact in terms of rushing the passer makes it a logical conclusion to draw.
Ferrell has also had a whopping seven offsides/neutral zone infraction penalties.
That is not what you want to see from a player that was drafted in large part due to his leadership.
Ferrell can still finish the season strong and give fans and the coaching staff some hope that he will be much improved next season after a full off-season where he only has to focus on getting better and not learning the defense, but so far, he has been a disappointment.
That being said, Ferrell has improved heavily from the first to the second half of the season according to Pro Football Focus, grading out with a 70.0+ score for the second consecutive week due to his solid play against the run.
Hopefully that trend continues and he successfully develops into the first round talent he was drafted as.