What kind of season could the Raiders get out of a healthy Mario Edwards Jr.?

Mario Edwards Jr. has not had a clean bill of health in his first two years with the Oakland Raiders. What could a healthy season for him look like in 2017?

Defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. came out of Florida State with a great deal of hype in 2015. He was a big part of that defense that saw the Florida State Seminoles win the 2013 BCS National Championship and reach the inaugural College Football Playoff in 2014.

Edwards would leave Tallahassee a year early to enter the NFL Draft. That looked to be the right move, as he was taken by the Oakland Raiders atop the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft at No. 35. However, it has been a struggle to stay healthy for the promising defensive lineman out of Florida State.

To date, Edwards has only played in 16 regular season games and last year’s AFC playoff game against the Houston Texans. While he was on the field for 14 contests as a rookie, Edwards only came off the injured reserve list late in the year, playing in the final two games of 2016.

Clearly, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie expected Edwards to be a major factor on the Raiders defensive line for years to come. If Edwards has his health, what kind of season could we be getting from the third-year pro out of Florida State?

As a rookie in 2015, Edwards had 33 tackles, nine assists, 2.0 quarterback sacks, two passes defended and a forced fumble. So we know that he is at least capable of that, probably much more than that.

When he was dominating the ACC with Florida State, was around 40 total tackles, 10.0 tackles for a loss of yardage and 3.0 quarterback sacks as a starter. That might be a better indication of what he can do when he’s healthy playing against his peers.

Pro Football Focus had Edwards with a 70.1 overall grade in 2016 as a defensive interior lineman. Since he only played 76 snaps last year, this is a very small sample size. While he was solid in run defense at 74.3, he struggled in the pass rush at just 49.7. Edwards did hold his own in coverage at a 71.1.

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Overall, Edwards seems to play defensive line in a way that doesn’t garner stats in the traditional sense. If he’s taking on blocks in the running game to allow somebody else to make a tackle, that would be terrific. Though he has shown an ability to get after the quarterback, look for Edwards to make great strides in run stuffing this fall.