Keep your eye on one Raider sophomore

By Anthony Carroll  |   Thursday, March 12, 2009  |  Comments( 25 )

Oakland Raiders
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Let’s face it, the Oakland Raiders pass rush hasn’t done so hot in the past half-decade.

Last season was Oakland’s best pass-rushing year since 2002, when the team finished sixth in the league with 43 sacks. Who was doing the damage for the silver and black that year? Rod Coleman (11 sacks), Eric Barton (six), Travian Smith (five), Trace Armstrong (four) and Bill Romanowski (four). It seems oh so long ago.

Since, the Raiders haven’t finished in the top 10 in the NFL in the sack department, peaking to their highest ranking last season, with 32 sacks, good for 13th in the NFL. Otherwise, the Raiders’ average league placement for taking down the opposing QB has been 24th since 2003.

Even last season, when the team managed to cross into the top half of the league, the leading sack-getter on the roster had just five. Granted, there were two players with five, but one (Kalimba Edwards) has already been released.

That’s where the other (Trevor Scott) comes into play.

The 2008 sixth-round pick emerged last year as one of Oakland's most promising defenders, tied for tops on the team in sacks. The 24-year-old DE quickly grabbed the attention of coaches when he brought down former New York Jets QB Brett Favre twice in a 16-13 overtime win at home. Those were Scott’s first and second NFL sacks -- surely ones to remember -- and were pivotal points in a highly defensive contest. For that performance, Scott was nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week.

All said and done, the former University at Buffalo standout finished the year with 24 tackles and five sacks in 16 games; yet, he started none of those games. Not only did those five QB takedowns rank him first on the Raiders’ roster in the category, but they tied him with two other rookies in the league for most sacks by a first-year player.

Now, the Raiders need more than five sacks from Scott. They need about 10.

Edwards was released Feb. 20 in a wave of cost-cutting moves that also saw defender Gibril Wilson walk out the door. Edwards counted for more than 15 percent of the team’s total sacks last season, leaving a hole to fill -- one that the Raiders may look to address via the upcoming draft.

Still, that puts more pressure on the up-and-coming hopeful Scott.

So does the aging of down-and-declining veterans. Derrick Burgess isn’t what he used to be. The 30-year-old oft-injured defensive end has made a habit of posting declining sack totals over the past three years. After emerging as one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers in his first two years with the Raiders (16 sacks in ‘05 and 11 sacks in ‘06), Burgess has seen his production and number of starts per season consistently decline. In 2007, Burgess missed two games and registered eight sacks; in 2008, he missed six games and recorded just 3½.

It seems no available free agent and/or rookie can replace the production Burgess once brought to the table. But Scott could come close if he has more moments like he did against Brett Favre last season.

And we know he has all the tools to get the job done: a 6-foot-5, 255-pound frame, a 4.54-second 40-yard dash and a 33.5-inch vertical. And he’s already shown he can hit the quarterback.

He just needs to do that about 10 times or so in 2009. From what I’ve seen, he can.
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal ...
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CommentsComments: 25  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
Raider Revenge		04:02 AM
03/13/2009
Burgess is way to injury prone at this point besides DE is no position to play if your injured. Is there not an elite DE prospect ...
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No.2
neil b		05:47 AM
03/13/2009
You make a good point as usual AC,we've got 3 promising / full of potential DE's in Scott,Richardson and Gunheim.They need to ...
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No.3
La Milicia Negra		06:03 AM
03/13/2009
Scott AND Branch... SENSATION are you out there??? LOL remember what you said about those two after the draft?? LOL remember ...
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