Spring is one hell of a time in the NFL. Everybody is undefeated and bold proclamations and prognostications run rampant. One particularly intriguing statement this spring came from Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Car, who declared that teammate Khalil Mack could register 20, maybe even 30 sacks in 2016.
Now, Mack is a very good player. But nobody in NFL history has recorded more than 22.5 sacks in a single campaign. So yeah, 30 probably isn’t happening. But Carr knows that, as he pointed out that the 30 mark might only be attainable if Mack “didn’t get held all the time.” Holding is an NFL thing, and it is only called on a minority of occasions.
Anywho, the point is that Carr believes Mack is in for one hell of a breakout in his third NFL season. And it’s hard to fault him for believing that. After all, the 2014 No. 5 overall pick increased his sack total from four in 2014 to 15 in 2015 (putting him on track for 26 in 2016!) and gained first-team All-Pro honors while earning the second-highest Pro Football Focus grade in all of football.
Yet he only just turned 25.
And now, he’s got extra support. The Raiders signed Bruce Irvin, who was arguably the best pass-rusher on the free-agent market, as well as top-end cornerback Sean Smith. And then they drafted ball-hawking safety Karl Joseph, who also should contribute to an increasingly strong defense in 2016.
Those guys will all make it easier for Mack to rush the quarterback without drawing constant double-teams, which could enable the edge-rusher to take his game to the next level immediately.
That still might not result in a 30-sack campaign, but don’t be surprised if Mack makes a run at the single-season sack record of 22.5 while becoming a household name for a budding Raiders team in 2016.
