The Las Vegas Raiders have had arguably the best defensive end in the National Football League lining up for them for the last five seasons in veteran Maxx Crosby. The Raiders made more than a few attempts to find a defensive end to complement Crosby, as having a dependable player opposite Crosby would naturally help their defense improve.
On the other end of Crosby, however, had been a carousel of players with the potential to fill in nicely opposite of Crosby that either never panned out or only played for the Raiders for a short time.
The Raiders spent multiple first-round draft picks on the defensive end position opposite of Crosby. Still, it ended up being their former third-round draft pick, Malcolm Koonce, to solidify the role, along with the move of rookie defensive end Tyree Wilson to the interior defensive line, that helped take the Raiders' defense to new heights.
Crosby totaled 90 tackles and nearly 15 sacks this season, both of which are career highs. His 14.5 sacks ranked sixth in the National Football League.
Koonce had a career season totaling 40 tackles and eight sacks, giving the Raiders over 20 sacks between their top two defensive ends.
For the Raiders to register that much production from Crosby and Koonce while allowing their rookie defensive end, Wilson, to gain valuable experience on the interior line simultaneously made this a productive season for Koonce. Should they continue on the same trajectory, this could be a pivotal season in the defense's growth.
It is no coincidence that the Raiders' defense improved as much as it did once they found a defensive end to complement Crosby. While many other additions on the defense played a part in the defense's turnaround, few of those additions had as much impact on the defense as the emergence of Koonce.
Koonce entered this past season needing to prove he had successfully developed into a productive player for Las Vegas. He more than did so en route to combining with Crosby for 146 pressures on the season, ranking the two as the top pass-rushing duo in the NFL.
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