Oakland Raiders: 5 best defensive players heading into the bye

As we enter the bye, the Raiders’ strength this season isn’t the pass rush, but in the trenches. Oakland does fine in the pass rush, but it’s improvement in stopping the run up front is probably the most positive takeaway from an otherwise bad Raiders’ defense.

A player that has really stood out in the first half is defensive tackle Justin Ellis. Ellis shed a few pounds this offseason and it has helped him be a more dynamic playmaker at nose tackle for the Silver and Black. Pro Football Focus has him getting a solid 79.6 overall grade.

Ellis has been proficient in run stuffing with an 81.4 run defense grade. He has been slightly below average in pass rushing at 67.5 and so-so for a defensive lineman in coverage at 61.3. Though not asked to rush the passer as often as Edwards, Ellis is slightly better at it than him this year, hence the better grade.

This season saw Ellis get his first quarterback sack. It was only half a sack, but he’s already set a career high in combined tackles at 32. It seems that the Raiders defense trusts him to do more this year than any of his three previous seasons with the Raiders combined. Look for Ellis to build on his hard work in the second half.