Avoiding plateau, continue ascending key for Raiders’ Tyree Wilson

Exploring the Rashan Gary or Clelin Ferrell trajectory for Las Vegas’ defensive end in Year 3

Three years in and three different regimes — already. Add in draft status and lack of big-time production and you’ve got a recipe for a mitigated disaster.

That’s been the Tyree Wilson experience thus far.

The defensive end made incremental improvements from Year 1 to 2 and heads into a pivotal season three in the league. Avoiding a plateau and continued ascension is key for not only Wilson but the coaching staff led by head coach Pete Carroll.

The lack of production and progression isn’t ideal for a player taken in the Top 10 of a draft class. Hence the “bust” references whenever Wilson is a topic of conversation.

Let’s see how we got here:

Taken with the seventh-overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Wilson appealed to then-general manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels due to tantalizing size (6-foot-6 and 275 pounds) as a power rusher of the edge. Considered a raw prospect with potential out of Texas Tech, the Ziegler/McDaniels regime didn’t get to see that through. Healing from a foot injury stunted Wilson’s rookie season and the lack of explosion and tardiness off the snap didn’t help as he finished with 29 total tackles (16 solo), 3.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits in 17 games (zero starts).

Then came the Tom Telesco (GM) and Antonio Pierce (head coach) era in 2024 which saw Wilson exhibit much-needed suddenness off the snap — although not consistently. The edge rusher compiled 27 total tackles (16 solo), 4.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, and 10 quarterback hits in 16 games (four starts).

Tyree Wilson
By The Numbers

• 2024: 16 games (4 starts), 27 total tackles (16 solo), 6 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, 1 forced fumble; Advanced stats (per Pro Football Reference) 17 pressures, 7 hurries, 4 quarterback knock downs, 6 missed tackles

Wilson is still a young player at age 24 (25 on May 20) and maintains the prototypical size sought from power-type edge defenders. While the regimes have changed, there’s continuity for Wilson as the Raiders not only retained defensive end Patrick Graham, but also defensive line coach Rob Leonard (who gets run game coordinator added to his title). Elite defensive end Maxx Crosby, who took Wilson under his wing, is slated to be back healthy. And if defensive tackle Adam Butler is re-signed (he too took a mentorship role for Wilson) that’ll reinforce both coaching and teammate assistance to help Wilson.

But that can only go so far and the heavy burden of a Year 3 leap falls squarely on Wilson. Former Raiders defensive tackle and long-time Tampa Bay Buccaneer Gerald McCoy laid it out in a simple way during a sit-down interview with the Raiders back during Super Bowl weekend.

“What he has to do is find who he is and understand who he is,” McCoy said. ”Understand that they drafted you for a reason, clearly you have the talent, you got to find a way to cultivate that talent and make the most of it. Just go be a football player.”

Wilson is at a fork io the road. He can a similar path carved by former Raider Clelin Ferrell (No. 4 pick in 2019 draft) or the Green Bay Packers’ Rashan Gary (12th overall pick in 2019).

Ferrell, a power rusher at 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds out of Clemson, didn’t progress and after four seasons with the Raiders (105 total tackles and 10 sacks). He did a one-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers (28 total tackles, 3.5 sacks) and most recently played for the Washington Commanders (26 total tackles, 3.5 sacks).

Gary, who offers plenty of power in his 6-foot-5 and 277-pound frame, had non-descript two initial seasons in Green Bay before a Year 3 leap: 47 total tackles, 9.5 sacks, 28 quarterback hits, and eight stops for loss. He followed up with 32 total tackles and six sacks in 9 games in 2022 before landing in on injured reserve and then a nine-sack 2023. Gary’s 2024 performance (47 total tackles and 7.5 sacks) is considered by some as a down year.

But that “down” season would be a revelation for Wilson.

And it was Gary’s Year 3 breakout and impressive start to 2023 that parlayed itself into a four-year, $96 million contract extension in late October of 2023 from the Packers.

How Wilson goes from here in 2025 and beyond will fall largely upon himself. The Raiders coaching staff will play a hand in it, too of course.

Wilson is still young and moldable. And his rookie pact isn’t exorbitant for a team flush with salary space ($6.819-plus million cap number this coming year and $7.956-plus million in 2026). Las Vegas also currently doesn’t have the best depth at defensive end at this point. The defensive ends under contract are: Crosby, Wilson, David Agoha (reserve/future), and Ovie Oghoufo (reserve/future). Both Malcolm Koonce and K’Lavon Chaisson are set to hit unrestricted free agency. Charles Snowden is an exclusive rights free agent and may return.

Free agency is slated to begin next week and then there’s April’s 2025 draft. So the opportunities to bolster the defensive end group is on the horizon. But it’d be fruitful for the Raiders if Wilson can make a jump.

Otherwise, he joins Ferrell in the scrap heap as one of many Silver & Black first rounders to flounder.