McKenzie's Work Reflected in Strength of Raiders' Defensive Line

Mack, Ellis, Williams and Edwards give Oakland a young and talented base, with rookie second-round pick Ward also a potential big contributor in 2016

Since Reggie McKenzie took over as general manager of the Raiders, he’s been tinkering with the entire roster. One area where it’s clear that all his work is paying off is on the defensive line.

In 2014, he made Khalil Mack his No. 1 pick, and now Mack anchors the Oakland defense, playing both end and outside linebacker in coordinator Ken Norton’s versatile scheme. Also in 2014, McKenzie drafted defensive tackle Justin Ellis from Louisiana Tech in the fourth round. Then, in 2015, the Raiders signed free-agent defensive tackle Dan Williams, formerly of the Cardinals, and took defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. in the second round.

As the Raiders head toward the July opening of training camp, that front four – Mack, Ellis, Williams and Edwards – gives Oakland potentially one of the best D-lines in the NFL.

This week, in fact, NFL.com analyst Gregg Rosenthal ranked the Raiders as having the ninth-best defensive front in the league.

Rosenthal wrote that the defensive front four is a “huge reason” why Oakland is a team on the rise. “They show off the variety in McKenzie’s team building,” he wrote.

“Mack is the franchise cornerstone, a top-15 NFL player taken with the No. 5 overall pick in 2014. Williams was a low-cost, space-eating free-agency bargain. Ellis has uncommon versatility for a human who weighs 330 pounds. Edwards proved the draftniks wrong with a great rookie season as Mack’s bookend and was cleared to play this offseason after a scary neck injury. This group can grow up together while McKenzie looks for some needed depth.”

That depth, however, may also come from within.

In the second round of this year’s draft, McKenzie selected defensive end Jihad Ward of Illinois and, though Ward’s numbers for the Illini weren’t spectacular, he’s a strong, athletic 6-foot-5, 295-pounder who’s received praise from teammates and coaches so far in the team’s offseason training. 

Ward could be a nice addition to the defensive line rotation in the way Edwards came on strong as a rookie.

The Raiders also have defensive end Denico Autry, who was solid in 2015, and tackles Stacy McGee and Leon Orr.

Even though McKenzie already had young defensive-line standouts in Mack, Ellis and Edwards, he believed it was important to select Ward when he found Ward still available. A team can never have enough talent on the defensive line to set the tone in every game.

“We just thought he (Ward) was a great football player with a great upside,” McKenzie said of Ward after the draft. “We just jumped at the chance to be the team to have him, coach him up and see how far he can go.”

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