Oakland Raiders: Areas their young defensive linemen must improve

If the Oakland Raiders want to change their defense in 2019, their young defensive line needs to step up, and it starts with improving in a few specific areas.

The Raiders invested a good amount of their 2018 draft capital in the defensive line. P.J. Hall (2nd Rd), Arden Key (3rd Rd) and Maurice Hurst (5th rd) were all selected to help bring more pass rush and to aid Khalil Mack. However, after Mack was traded to the Bears, these rookies went from being support players to guys the team needed to depend on. As a result, the defensive line as a whole had one of the worst sack and pressure rate season ever recorded by Pro Football Focus.

Of course, this is not all their fault but fair or not, these three are expected to be significant contributors in the defensive turnaround.

So what exactly can these young players do to help turn things around in 2019?

There is always a plethora of things to improve on from year to year but here are some specific things I think these players should focus on.