The Oakland Raiders put an emphasis on shoring up their pass rush this offseason and it has certainly paid off through the first two games.
Unfortunately, there has been one flaring weakness coming from defensive end Arden Key. Although the Raiders are well on their way to surpassing the mere 13 sacks they registered in the 2018 campaign, Key has not been a part of a single one.
Key generated plenty of hype during training camp and the preseason with his potential on the edge. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is still looking for him to translate it to the regular season though.
According to Scott Bair of NBC Sports, he hopes Key will get it figured out in the coming weeks:
“We have got to get more out of Arden. I’ve said that for long enough,” Gruden said. “Arden, if you are listening, we got to get you going. He’s a good player. He’s had a good training camp; he’s healthy.
“We put our defensive line in some tough spots yesterday for a lot of reasons to try and stop their running game, and it did stymie I think some of the guys’ ability to rush the passer, but Arden is going to get home. Arden is going to take off here hopefully soon.”
Key generated plenty of hype coming out of LSU before a couple of off-field incidents affected his stock in the 2018 NFL Draft. As a result, the Raiders seemingly manage to get him at a steal in the third round. Unfortunately, he has struggled to fir the billing thus far in his career.
Although Key only registred a single sack during his rookie year, the progression he made coming to this season caused Gruden to be rather optimistic. He still has yet to make his presence felt after registering just three quarterback pressures while playing a total of 52 snaps through the first two games.
The 23-year-old has largely been utilized on passing downs with 40 of the snaps coming while rushing the passer. It is safe to say that he has largely underwhelmed during his time on defense.
Despite Key’s lackluster play, the Raiders can take solace in the fact that this group is much improved from last season. They have already registered five sacks, which was a far cry from the struggles they endured in 2018. Regardless, there is no denying all eyes will be on Key until he finally starts to show the promise the coaching staff has been waiting for.
