Koonce is Complementing Crosby as a Fellow Edge Rusher
The Las Vegas Raiders have quite a luxury on their defensive line with Pro-Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby.
Crosby is separating himself as not only one of the best pass rushers in the league this season, but one of the top defenders.
What is the only thing better than having a Crosby-caliber weapon on the edge? Having another dominant rusher on the opposite end.
After a breakout performance against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday, third-year Raider Malcolm Koonce has established himself as exactly that.
"Again, there have been certain players who you watch from afar and you say: 'Man, if they just -- if this happened and that happened, this might happen,'" Raiders Interim Coach Antonio Pierce said when he addressed the media Friday. "And I think Malc is a prime example.
"Sometimes, you try to put a player in a certain role that doesn't fit him. And I think we found that role for Malcolm, we've adapted to the player because he's a legit guy who can turn the corner and burn, and you can see the explosiveness. I mean that's -- you know what you get on the other side, on the left side, with No. 98 [Crosby], right?
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce had a career game in Thursday's 63-21 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
© Stephen R. Sylvanie | 2023 Dec 14
"But now, when you see that coming from the other side with No. 51, with No. 9 [Tyree Wilson] with the push, it's very promising and good to see. But that's something that I saw, personally, and that's something that I wanted us to get to -- getting four D-ends out there on the field, three D-ends. (Defensive Coordinator) Patrick Graham and Matt [Edwards] and Robby [Leonard] did a good job of executing [and] really worked with him. Because I think there were times since I've been here that Malcolm -- he did walk around with his head down a little bit like: 'Man, what's my role? Who am I?'
"And yeah, special teams are great. We've all got to start somewhere, right? And obviously, he's done a good job there, but more importantly, what he did yesterday was wow.
"If you can do that from the left and the right, there's going to be a problem."
Koonce finished Thursday's game with two sacks, three solo tackles and two forced fumbles, including one that the Raiders returned for a touchdown.
The Silver and Black will return to action versus their AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Christmas Day in Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Don't miss it on Monday, December 25, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST.
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