Raiders: Yannick Ngakoue signing will change Clelin Ferrell’s role

Adding Yannick Ngakoue will change Clelin Ferrell’s role but will make his life much easier

So with the addition of Yannick Ngakoue, who is more of a pure pass rusher than Ferrell, there will certainly be a change in how Ferrell is used by the Raiders. Lining up primarily as a defensive end, adding Ngakoue into the mix will see Ferrell play inside at defensive tackle much more often.

He can still be deployed as a defensive end to manage Ngakoue’s snap counts but we can assume the majority of his snaps will be inside.

The Raiders had already made plans to utilize Ferrell more often as an interior lineman in 2020 and he has beefed up from his combine weight of 264lbs to around 275-280lbs to accommodate the change. Bringing in Ngakoue also presents a different look to opposing tackles who may be caught off guard by his speed rush after dealing with Ferrell’s brute strength.

This move also helps Maxx Crosby on the opposite side as he should see fewer double teams and chip blocks as teams will have to pick their poison on which Raiders pass rusher to focus on. We have seen from the previous two Super Bowl champions, and several others, that having a dominant defensive line with plenty of depth is the most straightforward way to control a game.

The Chiefs and the Buccaneers used between 6-8 defensive lineman almost interchangeably and that constant rotation helped keep them fresh and able to control the line of scrimmage. The Raiders will look to do the same as they build out that rotation with more additions in free agency and the draft and regardless of where Clelin Ferrell lines up, he will be an impact player.

He may not be the elite pass rusher they thought he would be but he can still make huge plays and swing games, as he has done in the past if he lines up on the inside or outside.