ALAMEDA — When the Raiders drafted Arden Key in the third round in April, he thought he’d spend the early stages of his career learning from Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin.
Instead, he never shared a field with Mack and now Irvin is gone eight games into Key’s NFL career. The rookie edge rusher out of LSU has gone from No. 3 to No. 1 only halfway through the season after Mack’s trade to the Bears and Irvin’s recent release, and the Raiders need Key and others to step up if their pass rush hopes to be anything more than non-existent these last eight games.