Raiders defenders got their hands on Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers a few times, but sacked him only once. Predictably, Rodgers had his way with the Raiders defense. As a result, head coach Jon Gruden’s search for more pass rushing help resumed, this time yielding defensive end Kasim Edebali in free agency. In a
Raiders turn to veteran defensive end in latest quest to bolster pass rush
You will have more luck finding Jimmy Hoffa or Sasquatch on the field than noticing Ferrell. What a disaster of a draft pick. Teams across the league laughed at the Raiders when they made the pick, and so did I. But truth be told, he is even worse than I envisioned. I assume he wouldn’t set the league on fire statistically but he would be a consistent lunch bucket type guy with presence and some playmaking with good leadership skills. Unfortunately he is the invisible man. I acknowledge he could improve with experience, but I’m not seeing anything from him which leads me to believe there is much to build on. And are the Raiders really going to be happy wasting an early first rounder on a guy who will at best be average? Sigh.
Anyway, the defence has a lot of holes and it will take at least two more good drafts before they can fix it. That’s assuming they draft well. And other than Ferrell, I think the Raiders had a good draft.
The fact the team is scavenging for DE’s right now is pretty sad to say the least.
Seriously, who is this guy and how does he improve the pass rush….8 sacks in 62 games?
The issue is that no one pass rusher is going to fix the pass rush.
The expectation, realistic or not, was that Ferrell would make an impact on the pass rush from day one. Few players have that type of impact day one. I am not giving up on him, I feel it is too early for that. But he must make serious strides by the end of the season. Yes he needs reps, as many as he can handle, with the hope that he becomes a well rounded player by next season.
We still need, at least one, more proven pass rusher. Along with taking another one in the draft. Lets face it, you can never have to many proven, or unproven for that matter, pass rushers who are productive in the scheme.
The other issue is that we need a three down MLB. Something we have lacked for a long damn time.
We also need CBs and a S to put with Abram.
And maybe Rush should have been given the opportunity to get off the PS with us too. Is this new DE really a huge upgrade over Rush? I don’t give a hoot where the pressure comes from, as long as its there.
The hope was that Hall and Hurst would be a force up the middle to aid the ends in finally getting home to the QB. They’ve shown flashes, but have also been inconsistent from week to week it seems. So the search continues. Hopefully we’ll hit on one or two soon, as the lack of QB pressure Is so frustrating it makes you want to jump thru the tv screen and try to do it yourself! Okay, maybe not so much.
A year later and still nothing from front four to apply pressure on opposing QBs
Mack never wanted to be a Raider tell me how many sacks did he have in his revenge game against the Raiders. I think Gruden was partly joking when he made that statement. I understand that some people dont get sarcastic comments but when a new head coach can’t talk to the best player on the team it should make a impression. I think the reason Mack didn’t talk to the media after the game was in part seeing how hard the Raiders played and how happy his buddy Carr was and perhaps what could have been. Note if people stop with the Mack BS that would be great he got his money and we got picks and I’m good with that. Just a old Raider fan rant Raiders are a good TEAM.
Remember when everyone was ready to give up on Kolton Miller last year? Or, who hated that pick? He’s looking so much better this year. Give Ferrell some time. Watching him now, he looks like he is better against the run than he is at getting to the QB. Hopefully, that will change next year and hopefully us fans will be able to stop thinking about how good this team will be “next year!” 🙂
I hated the pick. Said at the time he had to be a LT from day one to live up to that pick.
Crow eaten! Hope to be eating it for the next 15 years.
Cant toss Ferrell yet. But, much like with many young players, the early returns don’t look great so far.
Great comparison btw Michelle.
What did you pair your crow with, ThankAVet? I had mine with a Chianti and Fava Beans!!
Matt, it is also hard being patient when the team has been bad for soooooo llloooonnngg! Easy to be patient when you can see that the team will be good for a bit and is building a foundation. I thought the foundation was starting to come together under Reggie’s reign, but that’s been completely undone. I long for the days when this team is retooling rather than rebuilding!! 🙂
Agree…great comparison. We live in a “fast food” world and it’s often hard to be patient while a player develops. Sometimes it’s worth the wait. Hopefully that will be the case with Ferrell!