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Raiders 2020 position battles: Edge Rusher

May 27, 2020 by Raiders Wire Leave a Comment

No team in the NFL was more desperate for edge rushers than the Raiders last offseason. Perhaps no team ever. They had just 13 sacks as a team and only one of those sacks was by an edge rusher still currently on the roster (Arden Key).

What they did to try and fix the issue was draft Clelin Ferrell and Maxx Crosby and sign Benson Mayowa and Josh Mauro. Crosby cemented his place as an every-down starter by the end of the season, essentially pushing Mayowa and Mauro out. It leaves a healthy competition for snaps on the other side.

Clelin Ferrell vs. Carl Nassib

Position: Starting EDGE

Others: Arden Key, Ade Aruna, Jeremiah Valoaga, Kendal Vickers

No question both Ferrell and Nassib will be in the rotation. The question is who sees the field first and who sees the majority of the snaps.

Ferrell will be given plenty of opportunities to be the starter. Being the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft will do that. Meanwhile, Nassib was given a three-year, $25 million deal that pays him $7.75 million this season — just above what Ferrell will make ($7.1 million) based on his draft position.

Sacks aren’t the be-all-end-all of things. And not all sacks are created equal. The tendency is to make a lot of sacks and in turn use the lack of sacks to condemn a player. Ferrell had 4.5 as a rookie, which fans like to compare to Khalil Mack who had four as a rookie. But there really is no comparison there.

While Ferrell did show improvement late in his rookie season, it wasn’t as monumental as some would like it to be. And having a half-sack more than Mack in no way suggests he is on track for double digits in his second season. He still has a lot to prove.

Not playing Ferrell inside on the defensive line would help him, as well. Too often he lined up inside. and it didn’t serve him well. What it did, however, is allow him to work on his run-stopping abilities, which were one of the areas in which he showed improvement later in the season.

Nassib had six sacks last season after posting 6.5 the season before. He also has 25 quarterback hits, 20 tackles for loss, and 32 run stops over the past two seasons, which is solid and consistent production.

Ferrell’s numbers were just below those numbers last season, all save run stops which were slightly better (19) than Nassib’s average the past two seasons.

What this suggests is that Ferrell and Nassib come into this as very similar players. After four NFL seasons, we know what to expect from Nassib. If Ferrell continues the upward trajectory he showed in the latter portion of last season, he should be the Raiders’ starting EDGE and get the lion’s share of the snaps. If he can’t, then he could come off the field in favor of Nassib at very least for obvious passing situations, if not be in an equal load rotation.

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