There weren’t a lot of positive takeaways for the Raiders on defense coming out of Week 9. They surrendered 27 points and the defense couldn’t get off the field in the final two quarters.
But there was one bright spot and that was rookie defensive tackle Neil Farrell Jr. With the Raiders trading away Johnathan Hankins a few weeks ago to Dallas, it opened up more playing time for Farrell. And so far, he’s played well with more snaps.
In a recent article by Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus, he named the top 15 rookies of Week 9. Farrell made the list, coming in at No. 6 with a grade of 76.9. Here is what Renner had to say about the former LSU defensive tackle:
“It’s not often you see defensive tackles make this list, but Farrell gets his first nod of the season. He made two tackles in the run game, including one run stop on 21 run-defense snaps.”
Farrell played just 31 snaps in the first seven weeks of the season. But over the last two weeks, he’s played a combined 64 snaps. He’s certainly looking more comfortable in the defense and deserves a bigger role moving forward.
