Bill Williamson, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Raiders go with youth to replace Lamarr Woodley

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Now that LaMarr Woodley is out for the long term and will likely go on the injured reserve with a torn biceps injury, the Oakland Raiders are looking to young players to fill his role.

C.J. Wilson will plug into the starting role and Benson Mayowa will continue to get more snaps.

Like Woodley, Wilson and Mayowa are in their first season with the Raiders. Woodley, of course, was a big-ticket signing. He signed a two-year, $12 million deal with $4.35 million in guaranteed money. Yet, Woodley, who was cut by Pittsburgh Steelers, failed to make an impact with the Raiders. He had five tackles this season.

Wilson, a bargain free-agent pickup from Green Bay, has been good in a rotational role and has a team-high two sacks.

“I’ve come in here and tried to help and get better when I can,” Wilson said. “With [Woodley] out, we need to do a lot of things and I’m just looking to get that chance.”

Mayowa, a waiver claim from Seattle, is getting his first defensive snaps of his career. He played the most snaps of the season last week because of Woodley’s injury and the coaches liked what they saw.

“He went in there and I didn’t think the game was too big for him at all,” Oakland interim coach Tony Sparano said. “He did some good things against the run, which is, when you think about him, he’s a little bit lighter player. More of a pass rush type player, but he went in and competed really hard in the run game as well. I thought he did some really good things.”

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