After a rocky rookie season, Clelin Ferrell promised that he would return for the 2020 NFL season as a totally different player. So far, it looks like he is making good on that promise.
According to a recent interview with his personal defensive line coach in Mark Hall via Vic Tafur of The Athletic, Hall revealed that Ferrell has put on a significant amount of muscle this offseason. In the piece, Hall says that Ferrell is currently weighing in at 275 pounds, which is up 13 pounds from last season:
The 6-foot-4 Ferrell bulked up and put on 13 pounds after an uneven rookie season that saw the No. 4 overall pick finish with 4.5 sacks, five batted passes and 24 solo tackles. Last season, Ferrell played at 262 pounds, and that doesn’t count a food-poisoning bout in Week 5 in London that robbed him of 15 pounds.
As Tafur mentioned, Ferrell played between 250 and 260 pounds last season and never really gained his strength back after Week 5. That shouldn’t be a problem this season with him putting on a significant amount of muscle to handle offensive tackles in the run game.
It’s worth mentioning that Hall emphasized that Ferrell hasn’t lost any speed this offseason, which does tend to happen when young players put on weight. 275 might be a tad heavy for Ferrell, but if he is going to continue to play both defensive end and defensive tackle for Rod Marinelli, it makes a ton of sense.
Look for Ferrell to have a bounce-back season in Year 2 now that he has reshaped his body. It also doesn’t hurt that the Raiders added talent on the defensive line such as Maliek Collins and Carl Nassib to help get to the passer as well. Ferrell should come close to doubling his sack total from the previous season in 2020.
