Even thought the Oakland Raiders season ended on a bad note, they just received some good news. It has been reported that pass rusher Aldon Smith will be reinstated after serving a suspension for violating the league’s drug program.
Smith is a dynamic player off the edge that could help the youthful Oakland defense that really struggled this year. The process is expected to be completed in March. The Raiders do have Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin, but the addition of a guy like Smith will really prove to be helpful.
Oakland took a chance on him after Smith experienced off the field issues in San Francisco so it will be interesting to see if he can stay clean and be smart.
In just a two-year stretch from the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Smith racked up 33.5 sacks- crazy good numbers. Aldon has never seen numbers like that since, but most of it has to do with him not being on the field. With a full offseason of training and in the Oakland system, we might be talking about the greatness of the Smith-Mack pass rushing duo that is impossible to contain.
The Raiders had their best season since making the Super Bowl over 15 years ago, so they are getting close to getting back. Who knows… maybe we are talking about Aldon Smith being apart of a Super Bowl next year.
