Raiders’ Cle Ferrell focused on new role and winning

There was a point in the Raiders’ preseason game against the Patriots last week when defensive end Cle Ferrell stood up in a two-point stance off the edge of the line of scrimmage.

It was noticeable because during Ferrell’s first three years with the Raiders he played exclusively with his hand in the dirt as a defensive lineman.

But then something else happened, and when it did it explained the noticeable weight loss of Ferrell between last year and this year, and why he is so excited about Patrick Graham’s new Raiders defense and what it might mean for his career.

Ferrell took about five steps to his right and lined up directly in front of a Patriots slot wide receiver. And just like that, the 6-foot-5 Ferrell prepared to take his first NFL snap as a de facto defensive back.

Just thinking back on it made Ferrell smile.

“It’s pretty cool being out there with the DBs, talking, doing our little thing,” Ferrell said on Thursday.

It would be presumptuous to think Ferrell will play a whole bunch in pass coverage this season, but the seed it planted relative to any offensive coordinator watching the film means more time they will have to devote to that package in the Raiders’ playbook.

The mere fact that some team will now have to account for it — or try to guess along with the Raiders if they ever utilize that package in a game — is a win.

Or, as Ferrell explained: “At the end of the day, it’s about giving people looks.”

If there is one thing the Raiders’ fourth-year defensive lineman has discovered working in Graham’s defense, the number of looks the Raiders are about to throw at teams will make your head swim. And that is just fine with Ferrell, who is embracing all the new responsibilities and ways he will be utilized.

“Pat is very multiple in what he does,” Ferrell said. “So a lot of guys, not just me, are asked to do multiple things.”

It’s a new world for Ferrell, who is working with his fourth defensive coordinator and faces a bit of an uncertain future with the Raiders after they declined to pick up his fifth-year option.

Within the Raiders’ building, there is admiration for what he brings to the table as a rotational defensive end able to set the edge against the run and generate pressure on the quarterback. A productive season could lead to a new contract that keeps him in the fold as a piece of the club’s defensive line puzzle.

That wasn’t necessarily what the Raiders had in mind when they invested the fourth overall pick on Ferrell four years ago — a pick many panned as a major reach — and no doubt Ferrell has settled in more as a serviceable player rather than the star that a player picked that high is expected to be.

Neither the Raiders nor Ferrell seem to be sweating the future or, for that matter, the past. Ferrell had no say over how highly Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock thought of him in picking him in the top five. And so he has no control over the lofty expectations he has failed to reach.

Meanwhile, new Raiders coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler aren’t wasting any time worrying about the manner in which players they inherited came to the Raiders. The only concern is who among the holdovers can help them win games now and in the future.

For now, Ferrell has shown enough to the new decision-makers that he has a spot in the defensive line rotation. What that means beyond next season isn’t yet known. So both parties will move forward accordingly.

“You got to focus on what you can control,” Ferrell said.

Right now, that simply comes down to being the best player he can be, and executing whatever role or assignment he is given, to the fullest ability. He just wants to help the Raiders win as many games as possible.

In many ways, it reminds him of playing at star-studded Clemson, a program in which talent was all over the field, playing time was earned not given and where the collective goal was to win team championships rather than individual awards.

Winning was all that mattered.

“I come from a program in college where, when you just focus on that, everything else will take career of itself,” Ferrell said.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.