After 13sack year, Raiders expecting improved pass rush
Like a bad penny, an undesirable number is following the Raiders defensive line around training camp this year.
Thirteen. As in the defense’s NFLworst sack total from last season.
“That’s just something that stays in the back of our head,” secondyear edge rusher Arden Key said. “When we’re feeling lackadaisical or practice is getting a little down, we’ve got to remind ourselves that we had 13 sacks last year.”
If practice lulls, Key said, members of the defensive line such as Johnathan Hankins and Josh Mauro, or new position coach Brentson Buckner, will actually say the number out loud. Hankins said another voice is leading the chorus.
Head coach Jon “Gruden’s saying it more than us,” Hankins said. “But I appreciate him doing that. We understand that it’s always in the back of our mind, what we’ve got to do.”
The lack of a pass rush last season was not the only shortcoming on a defense that ranked 30th against the run and set a franchise record for most points allowed. But it was perhaps the most glaring, as the Raiders totaled fewer sacks than six individual players and gave opposing quarterbacks ample time to dissect their defense to the tune of a 101.0 passer rating.
Rather than wash their hands of last season, returning players are letting the stain serve as a reminder for what the Raiders hope will be a muchimproved defensive front in 2019.
“I’m not going to let them forget it,” Buckner said. “It’s a part of their resume. The only way you can change that is this year.
“We bring it up, we let them know, because the only way you’re going to be able to change that is to own it. So they own it and they know that it wasn’t their best but it’s things we can correct. Being smarter, being more disciplined, being in shape, learning to play with one another.”
The Raiders return defensive tackles Hankins and Justin Ellis this season with Key and secondyear tackles Maurice Hurst and P.J. Hall. They drafted defensive ends Clelin Ferrell and Maxx Crosby and signed freeagent ends Mauro and Benson Mayowa, and hope to benefit from a deeper rotation on their defensive front.
Players, meanwhile, are optimistic about the addition of Buckner, the former NFL defensive tackle who previously coached in Arizona and Tampa Bay. He was hired in January to replace line coach Mike Trgovac, now a senior defensive assistant.
“It’s good to have a coach that played the position, that knows what he’s talking about and can relate to us, and definitely give us pointers on what works, what doesn’t work,” Hankins said.
“He’s done a good job of teaching us how to set guys up and just look at positions, keys to the offense and the whole scope of the defense. Not just using your strength all the time. … That’s one thing I do appreciate and I love about him. He’s been doing a good job keeping us active.”
Buckner had 31 sacks in his 12year NFL career, including a careerhigh seven for the 49ers in 2000. This spring, Buckner illustrated teaching points in meetings by showing his own game film.
“I make myself human to them,” Buckner said. “I show them, ‘I’m not telling you this is the right thing to do because I think it is.’ I’ve done it. Or I’ve done it (badly). I show them the bad plays and the good — because good technique and good football play, it withstands the test of time.”
For the Raiders, Buckner also has an apt coaching resume. Last season, in his first season as Tampa Bay’s line coach, the Buccaneers improved from an NFLworst 22 sacks in 2017 to 38. From 201317, with Buckner coaching their line, the Cardinals had the seventhmost sacks in the NFL, including a leaguebest 48 in 2016.
Arizona also allowed the secondfewest rushing yards per game in that span, a correlation Buckner has emphasized to his new players in Oakland.
“The main thing we’ve got to do is stop the run,” Hall said. “If we don’t stop the run, we won’t be able to rush the passer. That’s our main thing. Once we do that, we’ll be able to get after it.”
Key and Hall said that Buckner has stressed “anticipating” what blocks they will see by reading how offenses line up in the backfield.
“He’s telling us, ‘In this personnel, expect this block,’ so we’re just watching the formation,” Hall said. “(And) it’s coming true. So I feel like that’s a big thing to make you more comfortable.”
But not too comfortable, as constant mentions of the number “13” have reinforced.
“It’s always going to be there,” Hankins said. “Only having 13 sacks, it’s not good enough. We just accept the challenge that we’ve got to change that.”