The Oakland Raiders must improve their pass rush in 2019, and two of their young guns are getting special treatment in order to do so.
After a disappointing season in Jon Gruden’s first year back on the sideline, he and the Raiders will look for anything in order to improve. Most recognizable is the defensive line, mainly due to their lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, only posting 13 sacks last season.
Last year, Gruden and company spent a third round selection on LSU’s Arden Key. Key, a two-time All-SEC defensive end had what many would call, a disappointing rookie campaign. He was thrown immediately into the fire during his first season in the NFL, as he was asked to start 10 games after the trade of Kahlil Mack, and the dismissal of Bruce Irvin.
Oakland clearly needed some assistance coming off the edge, so they looked to the draft, and scooped up three pass rushers (Clelin Ferrell, Maxx Crosby, and Quinton Bell). Although these three pass rushers find themselves in similar situations as Key did in his rookie year, the Raiders are optimistic that they’ll bring production to the squad in year one.
Key, and third-round selection, ‘Mad Maxx Crosby’ have taken their talents to a pass rushing guru this offseason. The two have been working with Chuck Smith, a former NFL defensive end, who now specializes in training pass rushers to use proper technique, in order to help them perfect their craft.
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Smith, a nine-year veteran, spent eight years with the Atlanta Falcons, and one with the Carolina Panthers. He recorded 322 tackles, 58.5 sacks, 20 forced fumbles, two passes defended, and three interceptions over his career. The All-Pro defensive end led the Falcons to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXlll, but ultimately fell short of the Denver Broncos.
Key, and Crosby show a promising performance in these workout videos, but they’ll have to transform this footage into game speed once week 1 rolls along.
Key must improve his strength, to insure that when he places his hands on the quarterback, that he brings him down. Countless times last season, he had the opportunity to sack the quarterback, but couldn’t bring him to the turf before getting the pass off. Although, Key did inform everyone several weeks ago that he’s bulked up to 260 pounds, which is a good indication of how his offseason program has been going. Key’s weight gain can certainly translate into more production down the road, as the Raiders have been wanting him to bulk up this offseason.
Crosby has different circumstance’s, where he’s already at a proper playing weight. During his offseason training he’ll be predominantly working on translating his power to speed, and finding a nice mixture of the two, which will go along with new techniques to get after the quarterback if all goes as planned.
These two defensive ends both look for encouraging seasons this year, but the two will likely be battling it out for the starting nod, playing opposite of Ferrell.