The second spot on the edge is up for grabs
Maxx Crosby won the first defensive end spot on the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders 2000s All-Quarter Century Team by getting nearly three-quarters of the votes. Now it’s time to pick the second DE as Derrick Burgess and Khalil Mack get another shot to make the team, while Bruce Irvin joins the party.
Derrick Burgess
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Previously:
Raiders Stats: 38.5 sacks, 175 tackles, 39 TFLs, 6 FFs (56 games, 4 seasons)
Accolades: 2x Pro Bowler (2005-2006), Second-Team All-Pro (2005)
After battling injuries during the majority of his time with the Philadelphia Eagles, Burgess signed with the Raiders in 2005 and immediately made a significant impact. He led the league in sacks with 16 that year, which is also a single-season franchise record, and helped him earn the lone All-Pro bid of his career. Burgess followed that up with an 11-sack campaign to make back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances, and then had eight more sacks in ‘07. Additionally, he ranks sixth* in franchise history for TFLs. Unfortunately, the Raiders didn’t do much winning during the defensive end’s tenure, but he was one of the few bright spots for the club during the mid-to-late 2000s.
Khalil Mack
Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Previously:
Raiders Stats: 40.5 sacks, 304 tackles, 68 TFLs, 9 FFs (64 games, 4 seasons)
Accolades: 3x Pro Bowl (2015-2017), 2x First-Team All-Pro (2015, 2016), Defensive Player of the Year (2016)
The 2014 No. 5 overall pick will likely be a Hall of Famer, and his career got off to a hot start with the Raiders. Mack split time between lining up on the edge and at off-ball linebacker as a rookie, collecting just four sacks but 16 TFLs to finish in third place for the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. The following season, he exploded with 15 sacks and 23 TFLs while delivering a historic performance on the road against the Denver Broncos, where he tied a franchise record with five sacks in the game and almost single-handedly beat the eventual Super Bowl Champions. As a result, he became the first player in NFL history to be named a first-team All-Pro at two different positions in the same season. In 2016, Mack was an integral part of the team that ended the Raiders’ long playoff drought, recording 11 sacks, 14 TFLs, five forced fumbles and a pick-six to become the league’s DPOY. Additionally, he ranks second in franchise history for TFLs*, is tied for eighth in forced fumbles and is one of two Raiders to be named the NFL’s DPOY.
Bruce Irvin
Raiders Stats: 121 tackles, 26 TFLs, 18 sacks, 11 FFs (40 games, 3 seasons)
Accolades: none
Technically, Irvin was a standup outside linebacker and not a defensive end, so we’re bending the rules a bit here and lumping him in as an “edge defender”. Mack’s running mate didn’t spend much time in Oakland, only two-and-a-half years, but he was a quality pass-rusher in 2016 and 2017, racking up 15 sacks in those campaigns combined. Irvin also led the league with six forced fumbles in ‘16, and was a key part of the Raiders’ defense that ended the playoff drought that year. He ranks 35th in franchise history for sacks and tied for 12th in TFLs*.
*TFLs didn’t become an official NFL statistic until 1999.
So, which defensive lineman are you going with for the second defensive end spot on the Raiders’ 2000s All-Quarter Century Team?
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