One of the big moves the Las Vegas Raiders were able to pull off this offseason was keeping defensive end Malcolm Koonce. He was a breakout player in 2023 when he had a career-high 8.0 sacks.
He was poised for a big year last season before an injury knocked him out for every game. He had other suitors in free agency, but the Raiders were able to bring him back and hopefully see if he can build off that 2023 season.
If he does, he’ll be looking at a much bigger payday in free agency next year. It’s always difficult to be productive after missing a whole season due to injury, but he’ll likely be one of the Raiders’ starting defensive ends.
Matt Holder of Bleacher Report went through every NFL team and named their “best-kept secret.” He listed Koonce for the Raiders.
“A torn ACL just before the season opener robbed Koonce of building on his impressive 2023 performance. He finished the campaign with eight sacks in the Raiders’ final nine games, while also showing growth as a run defender with an above-average 66.3 PFF run defense grade.
“Now that the 2021 third-round pick is healthy and playing for a long-term contract, he’s in for a big year as a complement to Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins.”
Koonce Describes Injury From Last Year
As devastating as Koonce’s injury was for the Raiders last season, it was even worse for him. He was a young player coming off a breakout season, entering a contract year.
Had he stayed healthy, he may have gotten a much bigger contract. However, even when he got hurt, he had other people on his mind. Koonce described exactly what happened with his injury last season.
“It was that Thursday, it was the end of the practice,” Koonce said on “The Rush.” “I think it was a walkthrough period, and then the practice ended. Blew out my knee. For me, it was just a feeling of – it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I can’t put myself in a better position,’ it was more like, ‘I’m letting people down.’ I knew [Antonio Pierce] was depending on me, you guys and the D-Line were depending on me, and the team in general. Obviously, our team was led by a lot of defensive guys. So, I just felt an overall feeling of letting people down.”
What Koonce Learned From Injury
Koonce is a young player who hasn’t had to deal with such a serious injury since joining the NFL. It gave him a chance to sit back and really look at things differently.
“I feel like the beginning was hard,” Koonce said. “In the first half of the season, you’re like, ‘I should be out there. I should be playing.’ But you’re injured, so you can’t really do anything. Once you slowly get over that, then it’s like, ‘Oh, I appreciate seeing it from a different perspective than I would have seen.’”
It sounds like Koonce is healthy now, and the Raiders have to hope it stays that way, as he’s an important part of what they want to do on defense.
