Whenever a team hires a new coaching staff, there are a few players that always adapt well to the new scheme and there are others who don’t. More often than not, you’ll see teams move on rather quickly from players from the old regime.
Clelin Ferrell is one of the players that is hoping for better luck with the new coaching staff. Despite being the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Ferrell quickly fell out of favor with the old coaching staff and was even a healthy scratch in a few games.
In a recent article by Vic Tafur of The Athletic, he spoke with new head coach Josh McDaniels at the league meetings in Florida about the roster. One name that was mentioned was none other than Ferrell. Here is what McDaniels had to say about him in regards to the 2022 season:
“I think everybody, for us, it’s going to be a clean slate. I am really not as interested in what they’ve done as much as what we can do moving forward. He’ll earn his role. Whatever the role is going to be, he’ll earn it. We might have some things we ask him to do that he hasn’t done as much of — but that might fit him better.”
During the 2021 season, Ferrell did not start a game and played only 261 snaps. He was mostly used as a left defensive end, but he did not move around much in Gus Bradley’s defense.
But with the Raiders now using a more multiple front defense, there is a chance he could see more snaps as a 5-technique or as a 4-i defensive tackle. He’s always been a good run defender, so the Raiders might use him more on certain early-down packages to help out players like Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones.
Time will tell if this coaching staff will know how to better utilize Ferrell and his skillset. But he’s got to be excited for a clean slate and a new chance at finding a role on this defense.