Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr wasn’t kidding when he said All-Pro teammate Khalil Mack will have 30 sacks in 2016.
“I think he’s going to sack the quarterback 30 times,” Carr said, via NFL.com. “Watch the tape. He’s held every play. He’s like nobody else in the league. He’s talented.”
The NFL record for sacks in a season belongs to Michael Strahan, who had 22.5 sacks during the 2001 season. A player has produced 20 or more sacks in a single season 11 times in NFL history.
But 30? That’s a huge jump for anyone, even Mack.
He finished 2015 with a career-high 15.0 sacks, which included a five-sack performance against the Denver Broncos in December. So dominant and disruptive last season, Mack was voted as an All-Pro at both defensive end and linebacker.
Still, he’d need to average almost two sacks a game over a 16-game season to get to 30, while also doubling his output from last season.
Meeting Carr’s goal is probably an impossible bar for Mack to clear.
A 30-sack season would break the current record by 7.5 sacks, or a 33.3 percent jump. It would be equal to a quarterback throwing 73 touchdown passes or a running back rushing for over 2,80o yards.
While Mack was very good last season, he still managed a sack in only eight of 16 games. He had more than one sack in just four of those eight contests.
Carr’s quote is a fun one for May. But it’s a mostly unrealistic expectation for September through January, even if Mack is one of the few players capable of threatening the sack record next season.
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