Raiders case study: The 2007 New York Giants

The defensive line

The Giants' defense was known for getting to the quarterback thanks to a three-headed monster on the defensive line. The room consisted of Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Michael Strahan. Thankfully, the Raiders have a monstrous trio of their own in Maxx Crosby, Malcolm Koonce, and Christian Wilkins.

Umenyiora was the best player on this line, recording 13.0 sacks, and he was considered one of the very best in the league at his position. For the Raiders, this role will be filled by Crosby, who collected 14.5 sacks in 2023 and is widely considered to be one of the very best overall players in the NFL. 

Justin Tuck emerged in his third season for the Giants in 2007, recording 10.0 sacks after only managing only a single sack in his first two NFL seasons. Malcolm Koonce had a similar emergence last season, as he recorded 8.0 sacks in 2023 after managing only 2.0 sacks in his first two NFL seasons combined. Michael Strahan was the veteran of the room, yet he still managed to contribute 9.0 sacks in 2007. Last season, Christian Wilkins had 9.0 sacks of his own, and he projects to be the veteran of this trio as well.

These lines are molded in a similar fashion, as they have an elite player who is considered among the best in the league (Umenyiora/Crosby), a player who just burst onto the scene and is showing tons of potential (Tuck/Koonce) and the oldest player of the trio who still has gas in the tank (Strahan/Wilkins). Perhaps the best component of this is that Wilkins is still only 28 and coming off of arguably his best season, whereas Strahan was at the end of his career coming off of a few down years in a row.

This Giants team recorded 53 sacks and 103 quarterback hits compared to only 46 sacks and 89 hits by the Raiders in 2024. However, with the addition of Wilkins, the team can easily cover those numbers, as Wilkins had 9.0 sacks and 23 QB hits in 2023. Because of the attention Wilkins will garner from interior defensive linemen, the edge rushers should have more space to operate and the team’s sack numbers should skyrocket.

While the Raiders only forced nine fumbles as a defense in comparison to the Giants' 12, having a full year of Koonce should remedy that. Koonce was the best on the team at forcing fumbles as he recorded three in just over a half of a season, so with a full year of production, the Raiders can close that gap.