Sands is central to Raiders’ defensive success

By Anthony Carroll  |   Tuesday, June 26, 2007  |  Comments( 55 )

Oakland Raiders
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For someone so massive, Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Terdell Sands is sure easy to overlook.

The 6-foot-7, 335-pounder has been in the NFL since 2002, but he has started in just one of the 44 games he's appeared in. It wasn't until last season that the Chattanooga grad saw the field consistently, and Sands answered with 42 tackles, four stuffs, a sack and an interception.

Just over two months later, Raiders owner Al Davis offered Sands a four-year, $17 million contract to stick with his team. The plan was that the career one-game starter would plug Oakland's defensive front for 16 games in 2007.

That's still the plan.

Unfortunately, if it fails, Oakland has no backup.

Outside of the massive Sands, the Raiders' defensive tackle lineup is rather small and better geared to rush the passer, not stop the run.

The team's first option at DT, Warren Sapp -- who has registered 94½ sacks in 12 seasons -- has dropped 49 pounds over the last six months and now lists at a limber 285 pounds. Sapp's weight-loss effort sets him up to mirror or better his 2006 campaign, in which he took down the quarterback 10 times in 16 starts. Unfortunately, it's not as beneficial to the run-stuffing game.

The next option, Tommy Kelly, who's 6-6, 300 pounds, has seen action at both end and tackle over the last three seasons, but he has excelled coming off the end. The soon-to-be-fourth-year player started nine games at end in 2005 and recorded 4½ sacks, his best total as a pro. This season, he may be better served coming from the defensive end spot.

After Sapp and Kelly, Oakland is left with only Anttaj Hawthorne (15 tackles in two years) and Josh Shaw (seven tackles in five years).

Of the five interior linemen, Sands outweighs each by at least 30 pounds. He's also the second-tallest player on the Raiders' current 90-man roster.

In 2007, the 27-year-old will undoubtedly be the biggest man on the Raiders' defensive line.

In terms of importance, that is.

Oakland, since the departure of veteran nose tackle Ted Washington in 2005, has lacked a dominating force up front, and Sands is the closest thing to Washington on hand. Rob Ryan, the team's fourth-year defensive coordinator, is hoping his young tackle can step up and repair a hole that plagued the 'D' all throughout 2006.

Last season Oakland's rushing defense allowed a 25th-ranked 134 yards per game, and it was run at a league-high 33.9 times a game.

Despite the struggles, Oakland failed to address the interior of its D-line in late April through the draft, instead selecting end Quentin Moses with the first pick in the third round. Later, with the 138th overall pick, the Raiders added another DE, Jay Richardson, in the fifth round.

The team's failure to pick up an additional rookie DT adds further pressure to Sands, who will start for multiple games in one season for the first time in his six-year career.

Since being selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the final round of the 2001 draft and sitting out two seasons, Sands has spent time on the bench behind Dana Stubblefield and John Parella in 2003, Sapp and Washington in '04 and '05, as well as Sapp and Kelly in 2006.

Finally, after playing the waiting game, Sands is ready to act as an anchor to a needy defensive front.

Luckily for the Oakland Raiders, this anchor weighs 335 pounds.

Anthony Carroll, a senior writer for RealFootball365.com, can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com.

Daily Oakland Raiders commentary, courtesy of RealFootball365.com
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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: 55  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
raidersensation		08:00 AM
06/26/2007
No mention of Tank Johnson? We stand atop the waiver wire, Tank can be our for the modest price of 500k. And since we do have a...
No.2
La Milicia Negra		10:50 AM
06/26/2007
Tank Johnson is intriguing...But the mess he brings with him we can do without, we just got rid of Moss...Sands will do fine,...
No.3
Diamond Jim		11:10 AM
06/26/2007
This article summarizes what alot of fans have been saying the entire offseason. We need another run stuffing DT. Not to mention...
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