The Oakland Raiders surprised a ton of people by deciding to draft Clelin Ferrell out of Clemson with their fourth overall pick in this year's draft. Although, it immediately addressed one of their biggest needs of getting a pass rusher.
Ferrell was projected to go anywhere in the top 15 picks, with him rarely falling inside the top five selections. It was more of a surprise because of Josh Allen out of Kentucky still being available.
Allen seemed like a perfect replacement after Khalil Mack was traded before the 2018 season. Regardless, Ferrell immediately improves the lackluster pass rush of the Raiders.
In 2018, the Raiders were absolutely dreadful in the sack department—getting only 13 sacks all season. To put that into perspective, there were 13 players in 2018 that had 13 or more sacks.
Jon Gruden was heavily criticized for trading Mack so the Ferrell pick will absolutely need to be a home run. If not, Gruden will have a hard time gaining the trust of fans—especially with the Raiders moving to Las Vegas in 2020.
There's no doubt that Ferrell is a talented player but what will he do in his first season in the NFL?
Here are three bold predictions for the Oakland Raiders first first-round pick in 2019.
3. 15+ Tackles for Loss
During his college days at Clemson, Ferrell lived in opposing teams' backfields. In his three seasons starting at Clemson, the athletic defensive end had 50.5 tackles for loss.
The 2018 season was by far his best season in just about every stat—including tackles for loss. His play off of the edge helped Clemson find their way to the National Championship game once again.
Of course, Clemson took down Alabama for the second time in three years to become the National Champions in 2018. Ferrell played well in the National Championship game with four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
The Raiders are hoping Ferrell can be a game-wrecker like he was in college. Ferrell will find his way in teams' backfields once again in the NFL and will rack up 15 or more tackles for loss.
2. 4+ Forced Fumbles
One of Ferrell's best traits is his ability to knock the ball loose while sacking the quarterback. The Clemson product had five forced fumbles in just his last two seasons in college.
A lot of guys in the NFL are able to find their way to the quarterback but not many can master the skill of stripping the ball. Ferrell showed he has the potential to be a turnover machine in the NFL if he keeps improving.
Last season, only nine players had four or more forced fumbles on defense. The new Raiders pass rusher could add his name to that list in 2019.
Ferrell will undoubtedly be a focal point of Oakland's defense which could be a good or bad thing.
Nonetheless, Ferrell will vastly improve the turnovers forced by the Raiders in 2019—after the Raiders only had three forced fumbles in 2018.
1. Ferrell Will Get More Sacks Than Bradley Chubb in his Rookie Season
Last season, Bradley Chubb impressed many people in his rookie season. The talented edge rusher accumulated 12 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles.
Chubb's 12 sacks were the sixth most for a rookie all-time. Also, it was the most sacks by a rookie in Denver Broncos history—surpassing a guy named Von Miller.
In 2019, Ferrell will want to make the same impact that Chubb made in 2018 for the Broncos. At Clemson, Ferrell had 27 sacks and an impressive 11.5 sacks in 2018 alone.
Again, it was an embarrassing season when it came to sacks (among other things) for the Raiders in 2018. They only had 13 sacks which were the least in the NFL—17 behind the second least in the NFL.
Drafting Ferrell gives the defense some potential at rushing the passer. So much so that Ferrell will have more sacks than Chubb did with Denver last season.
This isn't a bold predictions article for nothing.
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