[ad_1]
The Oakland Raiders surprised a lot of people by deciding to send Clelin Ferrell out of Clemson with their fourth overall pick in this year's repechage. Although, this immediately responded to one of their greatest needs to obtain a sleight of hand.
Ferrell was to appear anywhere in the top 15, but rarely among the top five. It was more a surprise because Josh Allen of Kentucky was always available.
Allen seemed to be a perfect substitute after Khalil Mack's trade before the 2018 season. Whatever it is, Ferrell immediately improves the rush of the Raiders' assists.
In 2018, the Raiders were absolutely horrendous in the bag department: they only had 13 bags all season. To put this into perspective, there were 13 players in 2018 who had 13 or more sacks.
Jon Gruden having been heavily criticized for exchanging Mack, Ferrell's choice will have to be a home run. Otherwise, Gruden will struggle to gain the trust of fans – especially with the move of the Raiders to Las Vegas in 2020.
There is no doubt that Ferrell is a talented player, but what will he do in his first season in the NFL?
Here are three bold forecasts for the first-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2019.
3. 15+ Tackles for Loss
During his studies at Clemson, Ferrell lived in the opposite fields of the teams. In his three seasons away from Clemson, the athletic defender scored 50.5 tackles for the loss.
The 2018 season was by far his best season in almost all statistics, including tackles for defeat. His offensive game allowed Clemson to get back on the road to the national championship.
Of course, Clemson beat Alabama for the second time in three years to become the national champion in 2018. Ferrell played well in the national championship game with four tackles and a 1.5-tackle for the loss.
The Raiders hope that Ferrell can be a destroyer as he was at the university. Ferrell will find his way into the backfield of the teams once again in the NFL and accumulate 15 or more tackles for defeat.
2. 4+ Forced Fumes
One of Ferrell's best assets is his ability to shoot the ball while sacking a quarter. The Clemson product has had five forced fumbles in its last two seasons at the university.
Many NFL players manage to make their way to the quarter, but few are able to master the talent of the ball. Ferrell showed that he could potentially become a revenue generating machine in the NFL if he continued to improve.
Last season, only nine players had at least four forced fumbles. The new Raiders pass driver could add his name to this list in 2019.
Ferrell will undoubtedly be a central part of Oakland's defense, which could be a good or bad thing.
Nevertheless, Ferrell will significantly improve the Raiders' turnaround in 2019, after the Raiders had only three forced fumbles in 2018.
1. Ferrell will get more bags than Bradley Chubb in his rookie season
Last season, Bradley Chubb impressed a lot of people in his rookie season. The talented skipper has accumulated 12 sacks, 14 tackles against defeat and two forced fumbles.
The 12 bags of Chubb were the sixth most successful for a rookie of all time. In addition, it was the highest number of sacks by a rookie in the history of the Denver Broncos – exceeding that of Von Miller.
In 2019, Ferrell will want to have the same impact as Chubb in 2018 for the Broncos. At Clemson, Ferrell had 27 bags and an impressive 11.5 bags in 2018 alone.
Once again, it was an embarrassing season when it came to bags (among others) for the Raiders in 2018. They had only 13 bags, the least of the NFL – 17 behind the second.
Ferrell's repechage gives the defense some potential to rush the passer. So much so that Ferrell will have more bags than Chubb with Denver last season.
This is not a bold article on predictions for nothing.
[ad_2]
Source link