Las Vegas Raiders’ most underrated player: EDGE Malcolm Koonce
In 2014, the Raiders selected Khalil Mack with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft out of Buffalo, and that worked out pretty well for them. They went back to the well in 2021, taking Buffalo edge-rusher Malcolm Koonce with the 80th overall pick in the third round.
Not that Koonce came out with Mack’s terrestrial skill set, but he put up some pretty good numbers in college, and he was the 2019 Bahamas Bowl Defensive MVP with two sacks against Charlotte in what turned out to be Buffalo’s first bowl game victory.
Still, Koonce got very little play in his first two seasons with the Raiders — he had a total of two sacks and six pressures in 2021 and 2022 on just 73 pass-rushing snaps. But given a chance in 2023, Koonce really showed what he could do — he had eight sacks and 52 total pressures, and the only more productive Raiders pass-rusher last season was Maxx Crosby.
The @Raiders may have hoped that lightning would strike twice when they selected Buffalo EDGE Malcolm Koonce in the third round of the 2021 draft. He's not Khalil Mack, but in his first starting season, he totaled more sacks/pressures than any Raider not named Maxx Crosby. pic.twitter.com/2UsVMvvS5J
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) May 23, 2024
