New defensive coordinator Gus Bradley on fixing Raiders defense: ‘It all starts up front’
It’s no secret the Raiders were a travesty on defense this season. It was so bad at times, it was hard to tell what the primary issue was. It just seemed to be ineffective at all levels and in every facet.
These problems are also nothing new. We’re three years into Gruden’s second tenure as Raiders head coach and the defense has been pathetic every season, ranking among the league’s worst defenses.
Paul Guenther has been the coach in charge of the defense these past three years. He was fired late in the 2020 season. He may have been fired before that except along with being a close friend to Jon Gruden, he had yet to really see a significant investment on the defensive side of the ball.
Last offseason was really the first time the Raiders made a hard push to shore of the defensive side of the ball, investing heavily in defensive players in free agency such as LB Cory Littleton, LB Nick Kwiatkoski, DT Maliek Collins, DE Carl Nassib, and S Jeff Heath.
Despite those additions, the defense was shockingly worse than in 2019. Leading to Guenther’s dismissal and ultimately the hiring of former Chargers DC Gus Bradley.
So, where does Bradley begin to try and fix things?
“Obviously, it starts up front,” said the one-time former Linebackers coach. “You need to be able to affect the quarterback. When you look at stats year-in and year-out they say, ‘You stop the run, if you’re in the top-5 you stop the run, does that give you a great chance to make the playoffs?’ But really the stat that’s consistent is the ability to affect the quarterback. If you can affect the quarterback, you have a good chance to help your team make it to that level that you’re all shooting for and then you know what goes on from there. That’s why I think upfront is so important.”
Ah, yes. The pass rush. That thing that has been wholly lacking in the new Gruden era. Probably because before he had coached his first game, he let Denico Autry leave in free agency and then traded away future Hall of Fame DE Khalil Mack in his prime.
Since then, the Raiders have been a laughing stock in terms of getting to the quarterback. Their 21 sacks this season was 29th in the league, down from their 25th ranked pass rush in 2019, which was up from their rock bottom 13 sack 2018 season.
Over the past two seasons, the Raiders’ edge rush has consisted almost entirely of Maxx Crosby. He has 17.0 sacks over his two seasons with the Raiders while the trio of Clelin Ferrell (6.5), Arden Key (2), and Carl Nassib (2.5) have combined for 11.0 sacks. Benson Mayowa had six sacks in 2019 but was not brought back last season.
Ferrell was the team’s pick at four overall in the 2019 draft, and while he has had his moments, he has overall been a disappointment in terms of providing pass rush. So, it may be worth adding an edge rusher this offseason.
The interior pass rush has been basically non-existent. They signed Maliek Collins to try and remedy that, but it didn’t work. So, going big for an interior pass rusher either in free agency or the draft could help considerably.
When the quarterback has all day to throw the ball, it hurts every level of the defense. Let’s be clear here, though. Bradley isn’t saying fix the defensive line and the Raiders’ problems are solved. That may be where the problem starts, but it isn’t where it ends.
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