Malcolm Koonce to the Raiders

With the 79th pick of the NFL draft the raiders took Buffalo defensive end Malcolm Koonce. While it was a given he was going to be drafted most experts had him in the fourth round or later, not an early round three guy.

But Kooce will surprise a lot of people.

Koonce moved into the starting lineup at Buffalo in 2019 and racked up 34 tackles, 11 for loss, including a MAC-best nine sacks, and three forced fumbles in 13 games. In 2020, he led the Bulls with five sacks six starts.

He has great fast twitch speed and a well practiced, albeit somewhat limited set of moves to use on offensive linemen. With a little work on an NFL team he’s going to develop into a high impact pass rushing specialist.

He become the third Bull Drafted by the raiders, following Khalil Mack (2014) and Trevor Scott (2008). But he is the first Bull to be drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders.

Congrats to Koonce, it’s been very fun watching you play for Buffalo and I now have a reason to follow the Raiders again.