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It’s become abundantly clear this offseason that new defensive line coach Rod Marinelli has a lot of influence over a number of signings the Las Vegas Raiders have made. The former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator has gotten a couple of his former players signed to the team and now there’s another one coming to town. According to DEC Management, defensive tackle Daniel Ross will be heading to Las Vegas.
Ross joins a loaded group of defensive tackles and there’s probably no one who is a lock to make the team. Maurice Hurst, P.J. Hall, Maliek Collins, Johnathan Hankins and Ross will be battling it out in training camp. The Marinelli connection certainly helps Ross’ chances, but the Raiders haven’t shown a proclivity for picking favorites. Talent and work ethic usually wins out with Jon Gruden in charge.
Ross Missed the Entirety of the 2019 Season
Ross spent the first part of his career in the Canadian Football League but didn’t have a very productive stint thanks to some injury issues. Eventually, he made his way to the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent and was put on the practice squad for a brief time. He then had short stints on the practice squads for the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs.
In 2017, he was signed by the Cowboys and played in three games. In that time, he notched one sack, one fumble recovery and five combined tackles. He saw his role expand in 2018 and played in 13 games. He was only able to get one sack on the whole year with 14 combines tackles.
Ross has got a lot of work to do to catch up to NFL speed. Before the 2019 season, he was placed on injured reserve due to a shoulder injury. He hasn’t played an NFL game in over a year. Marinelli clearly likes him as the Raiders probably wouldn’t have signed Ross if the defensive line coach didn’t give his approval. Ross isn’t about to be a starter from day one, but he’s got a chance to be a solid depth player for the Raider defense.
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Raiders Have Signed 4 Cowboys This Offseason
Now that Ross is coming to Las Vegas, that makes four former Cowboys that have committed to the Raiders this free agency. Jason Witten, Maliek Collins, Jeff Heath and Ross are trading their stars for silver and black. That’s not even mentioning two former Cowboys who were with the Raiders in 2019 that re-signed in Rod Smith and Kyle Wilber.
The team also has two recent Cowboys coaches on staff in Marinelli and Rich Bisaccia. Gruden clearly has a lot of faith in what was going on in Dallas, despite the fact that they’ve won fewer playoff games than the Raiders since the year 2000. Regardless, the team will be getting a lot of veteran talent to come to town. Marinelli’s defenses in Dallas were always solid, so it can’t hurt to bring in more proven talent. The Raider defense is about to look very different in 2020.
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