Willie McGinist puts Raiders DE Khalil Mack as NFL’s third best pass rusher for 2018

It goes without saying that Khalil Mack, who has 40.5 sacks in four NFL seasons and who was named the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year is among the league’s best pass rushers. Willie McGinist, a former great NFL pass rusher in his own rite, put together a list of the top ten pass rushers going into the 2018 season and Mack landed third on the list.

Mack’s combination of speed and power is so unrivaled when it comes to rushing the passer that it’s not that far off when Derek Carr says Mack could rack up 30 sacks in a season. He’s a beast on the edge and will continue being the cornerstone of the Raiders’ defense for years to come.

Mack’s best season as far as sacks are concerned was 2015 when he put up 15.0 sacks. That season he made history by being the first NFL player ever to be named All Pro at two different positions (linebacker and defensive end).

That season was one of the few when he had some interior pass rush help, first from veteran Justin Tuck and later from rookie Mario Edwards Jr.

Since then, Edwards has rarely been the same force on the interior and has been injured quite a bit as well. There has been no help from the day two draft picks of Jihad Ward and Eddie Vanderdoes since then either, which prompted the team to try again, drafting PJ Hall in the second round and Maurice Hurst in the 5th round. If they can bring the Raiders some long lost interior pass rush, Mack will feast, along with Bruce Irvin on the other side.