One of the reasons the Raiders were able to have so much success in Week 1 was due to a strong rookie class. Players such as Josh Jacobs, Johnathan Abram, and Trayvon Mullen were all significant contributors on Monday night.
But the one rookie player who had the biggest role for Oakland in Week 1 was defensive end Clelin Ferrell, the No. 4 pick in the 2019 draft. In his first-ever game, Ferrell recorded a sack and a pass deflection.
However, Pro Football Focus wasn’t impressed, giving him an overall grade of just 53.8 on Monday night. Take a look at their thoughts on the former Clemson defensive end:
Having passed on the likes of Josh Allen and Brian Burns, the Raiders’ decision to take Ferrell — our 35th-ranked player of the class — at No. 4 will be under a microscope all season long. He took a half-step toward proving the doubters wrong in this one, especially in the pass-rush, where he tallied one sack, one hit, one hurry and one batted pass from his 29 pass-rushing snaps. However, the former Clemson edge defender’s work against the run wasn’t quite as good; he was regularly overpowered at the point of attack and he missed one of his two run-tackle attempts on the night.
Nobody was expecting Ferrell to be Khalil Mack in Week 1, but it was encouraging to see the rookie make plays. As he becomes more comfortable in Paul Guenther’s scheme, he should only improve. Ferrell is already becoming one of the better defenders on the Oakland Raiders.
