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Las Vegas Raiders 2019 position review: Defensive Tackles

By Khaled Abdallah

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 06: Maurice Hurst #73 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after sacking Chase Daniel #4 of the Chicago Bears (not pictured) on the last play of the game during the match between the Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 06: Maurice Hurst #73 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after sacking Chase Daniel #4 of the Chicago Bears (not pictured) on the last play of the game during the match between the Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 08: Maurice Hurst #73 of the Oakland Raiders runs the ball back after intercepting a pass by Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans in the first quarter at RingCentral Coliseum on December 08, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 08: Maurice Hurst #73 of the Oakland Raiders runs the ball back after intercepting a pass by Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans in the first quarter at RingCentral Coliseum on December 08, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

What needs to change in 2020?

To truly build a great defense in this era of the NFL it is not enough to simply have great pass rushers on the edge, teams need to generate an interior pass rush consistently as well. The Raiders have two good young edge rushers in Clelin Ferrell and Maxx Crosby and the aforementioned Hurst has shown a knack for rushing from the tackle position, but a dominant presence is still missing.

We saw first hand in the Super Bowl the impact that a dominant inside presence like Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones could have on a game without making a splash on the scoresheet as he batted down passes and forced an errant throw that lead to an interception. Jones has been rumored to be a target for the Raiders but it is unlikely the Chiefs will let him walk.

Should the Raiders choose to use one of their first round picks on a defensive tackle there are several intriguing options in Derrick Brown and Javon Kinlaw who both project to be impact players straight away. There are also a number of options in the free agent market such as Javon Hargrave and Jarran Reed who both showed a knack at rushing the passer in 2019.

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