Oakland Raiders: Denico Autry making strong case for extension
Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Denico Autry‘s recent play should trigger contract extension talk in the front office. Why should he return in 2018?
Before completely buying into the John Pagano effect, it’s fair to recognize the Oakland Raiders played two poor offensive lines in the NFL. How do you know? Denver Broncos quarterbacks have been sacked 39 times and New York Giants signal-callers hit the ground behind the line of scrimmage 29 times.
Oakland’s defense handled business against vulnerable pass protections. It’s a start to a positive showing for Pagano. Most notably, the switch at defensive coordinator has brought Denico Autry to life on the defensive line. Even against subpar offensive lines earlier in the season, he shared a sack on just two occasions.
Autry’s recent push toward the pocket looks even more impressive on film. He tracked down the quarterback in a variety of ways.
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In Week 12 against the Broncos, the fourth-year pro simply beat his man when rushing off the edge in the second quarter. Then, lined up on the inside and took advantage of a double team on Khalil Mack. In the previous outing against the Giants, he disengaged with an interior offensive lineman and tracked down quarterback Geno Smith late in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders defensive lineman didn’t just rack up a bunch of effort sacks that occurred on extended plays. He worked within the scheme or won his matchup in the trenches.
It’s also worth mentioning Autry leads the team with five pass breakups along with defensive backs T.J. Carrie and Dexter McDonald. In addition to dropping quarterbacks, he’s alert and keeps his hands up at the line of scrimmage.
Of course, we’ll need to see more from the 2014 undrafted player out of Mississippi State. Though, he’s in the discussion for an offseason contract extension. It’s not solely based on his play over the past two weeks. Autry has contributed to the Raiders’ defensive line rotation in each of the past two seasons as well.
In 2015, Autry played 684 defensive snaps and followed with 690 in the following season. He’s going to come close to those counts despite two rookie additions in Treyvon Hester and Eddie Vanderdoes to the defensive line.
Between the 2015-16 campaigns, the versatile defensive lineman logged 5.5 combined sacks. With four quarterback takedowns at the moment, a single-season high, Autry’s presence on the interior and ability to move outside of Mack in a four-man front should open general manager Reggie McKenzie‘s eyes.
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Together Autry and Mario Edwards Jr. could form a strong duo up front to complement primary pass-rushers Mack and Bruce Irvin under Pagano. It’ll also allow Hester and Vanderdoes to develop without pressure to play above their abilities so early in their careers. We already saw that happen to Jihad Ward with undesirable results.
Typically, McKenzie rewards his productive in-house impending free agents. Autry doesn’t have an exact sack number to trigger an extension. However, a few more peak performances should solidify his spot on the 2018 roster.