The Las Vegas Raiders pass rush reverted to poor form in 2020, and here are 10 free agents who could help solve that problem in 2021.
The Las Vegas Raiders pass rush was one of the weaknesses of the team in 2020 and did not help a defense that is close to the bottom of the league in just about every category. After a historically bad 2018 season, where the team had just 13 sacks after trading Khalil Mack and releasing Bruce Irvin, the team bounced back with a respectable 32 sacks in 2019.
That bounce-back was just temporary, unfortunately, as the Raiders finished the 2020 season with only 21 sacks, a number that just will not cut it in today’s NFL. As we have discussed many times this year, the Raiders pass rush is middle of the pack in categories like pressure percentage and quarterback knockdowns, but they just can’t complete the play by bringing down the quarterback.
Some of that is luck, as sometimes a pass rusher is just in the right place at the right time, but some of it is also because the Raiders lack a dominant pass rusher that can attract attention and allow other defenders to finish the play. Another factor has been the high turnover in the secondary, which has not allowed for many of the so-called coverage sacks.
Whatever the root cause is for these struggles, it is something that the Raiders need to clean up if they have any hope of returning to the postseason in 2021, especially in a division with Patrick Mahomes and an emerging star in Justin Herbert. Here are 10 players who could help the Raiders immediately in that department and may be available on the open market come the offseason.