The Raiders wanted to bolster their edge rusher spot, and they did so by bringing in Yannick Ngakoue, who is bullish about the team’s potential.
After registering only 21 sacks this past season, the Las Vegas Raiders went into the offseason ready to bolster the edge rusher spot. With young players like Maxx Crosby and Clelin Ferrell already on the roster, the move was made for a veteran, as they added Yannick Ngakoue.
A sack specialist during his time in the NFL, Ngakoue was seen as a missing piece for this defense. In addition, Las Vegas also added Malcolm Koonce in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, significantly improving the talent at the position group.
The move for Ngakoue was not met with all smiles, as Jason La Canfora from CBS Sports felt it was the worst move in the NFL this offseason. While that is a stretch, Ngakoue put out a stretch of a quote of his own this week, one that will certainly get a lot of traction on social media.
On Wednesday, Vic Tafur from The Athletic tweeted out a quote from Ngakoue, and of course, it turned a lot of heads. According to the new Raider, he and Maxx Crosby are elite.
“Maxx Crosby and I are the best duo in the league. I am just putting that out there now.” - Yannick Ngakoue #Raiders
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) June 16, 2021
Raiders improved significantly along the edge
As stated above, this is a position group that was targeted and improved, and that should yield some solid results this upcoming season. With a new group of players, as well as a new defensive coordinator, you have to believe that the Silver and Black’s defense will be leaps and bounds better than they were in 2020.
Last season, they were a bottom-3 unit, and with the improvements, there is no way that happens again.
Las Vegas Raiders: Maxx Crosby will only get better alongside Yannick Ngakoue
The Las Vegas Raiders made a big splash by adding Yannick Ngakoue via free agency, and he is going to help Maxx Crosby continue to improve.
Overall, the position group improved, but being the best duo in the NFL is a bit of a stretch at this point, even with both Ngakoue and Crosby’s track record. Crosby was able to notch seven sacks with little else around him, and now that Ngakoue is in the fold, they have a chance to be a special, young duo, even if they are not the best in the NFL.