Benson Mayowa set to start in place of injured LaMarr Woodley

With LaMarr Woodley appearing to be done for the season with an injured biceps, the Raiders will have to look elsewhere for a starter at defensive end. That elsewhere is Benson Mayowa.

Mayowa came in to replace Woodley last Sunday when he left in the third quarter with his biceps injury. He played most of the remainder of the game and actually ended up playing more snaps than Woodley. (34/28). In that time, he had 1 solo tackle for loss and a pass defended.

"I thought Benson did a good job in the ball game Sunday," said Tony Sparano. "To be honest with you, he played a bunch more plays than anticipated because of the injury situation. He went in there and I don't think the game was too big for him at all. He performed well, did some good things against the run, which when you think about him, he's a bit lighter player, a little bit more of a pass rush type player, but he went in there and competed really hard in the run game as well and I thought did some really good things."

Mayowa got the bulk of the snaps at defensive end in practice today and is in line to start this week. It's a long way from where Mayowa was prior to the start of the season. He was with the Seahawks in training camp and preseason but let go in the final roster cutdowns. The Raiders scooped him up and while he has played some defensive snaps he is mostly a special teams maven.

The second-year defensive end saw action in two games last season for the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie out of Idaho.

He has two tackles on the season in limited action which is just one more solo tackle than LaMarr Woodley had in six starts. So, it would appear he isn't a huge step down.

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