Las Vegas Raiders
2019 Record: (7-9) 3rd
AFC West
2019 Season Recap:
Offense
Points: 19.6 (24th)
Yards: 363.7 (11th)
Pass Yards: 245.4 (9th)
Rush Yards: 118.3 (13th)
Defense
Points: 26.2 (24th)
Yards: 354.8 (19th)
Pass Yards: 256.7 (25th)
Rush Yards: 98.1 (8th)
When you jump back to what the Oakland Raiders were this past
season, so much controversy occurred and it all began with Antonio Brown. When
Mike Mayock came to the Raiders as the new general manager – his goal was to
make this club expeditiously better. One of those moves was trading for Brown
from the Steelers. While Brown appeared to be a team player, his tenure and exit
was documented with every circus step. After seeing more than enough of the
sideshow, Brown was given his release and the Raiders moved forward.
For the positives, the Raiders held a massive amount of draft
capital for the 2019 NFL draft and selected many new talents that should be
fixtures for this club for a long time. Selecting Clelin Ferrell, Josh Jacobs
and Johnathan Abram with their three picks in the first round – how can this
fan base not be excited for the future of this team.
In terms of what went down over the regular season, many ups and
downs were seen with some level of strong play teamed with high levels of inefficiency.
Losing players to injury and one to suspension (Vontez Burfict) the high potential
that appeared to be in view was lost as the year concluded. Holding a 7-9
record but having a few top 10 stats in the overall league rankings does prove
the roster build could be moving in the right direction.
For all Oakland fans, this season was the last they will see in
their beloved city. With team owner Mike Davis moving the club to Las Vegas – a
new story will be written on this long-time franchise. While we understand if
most Oakland fans will remove their die hard nature of following the team, the
Las Vegas Raiders should be on the rise after this upcoming off-season.
2020 Offseason
WorkBook:
The Offense
Stating with the quarterback position, many eyes will be on how
the Raiders will move when it comes to Derek Carr. The objective has been to
provide more sustainable weapons for Carr to throw to, but nothing overly tangible
has been seen over his career with the Raiders. Even with that, Carr has
hovered and succeeded in reaching the 4000-yard pass mark in two but almost
four occasions. And while we can’t sit here and fully endorse his ability to be
the long-term answer for this team, they could do much worse than what’s been
given. Will the Raiders search for a new passer this off-season, its very
possible but it truly isn’t their greatest need. Carr is serviceable and would
benefit from more play-makers on this offense.
Speaking of adding play-makers, drafting Josh Jacobs was something
we weren’t overly convinced about but did eat our words after what we witnessed
this past season. For former Alabama running backs entering the NFL, the track
record isn’t overly abundant. With a few names making giant waves in the pros,
Jacobs was one of those and performed beautifully in his rookie campaign.
Jacobs was leaned upon to carry the load from the backfield which saw a healthy
242 carries. Even though Jacobs missed three contests to injury, he still managed
to gain a whopping 1150 yards and seven rushing touchdowns – very impressive.
His 4.8 yards per carry was also very remarkable and it allowed his quarterback
to exploit the play action pass that much more. With Jalen Richard locked in as
the pass catching back, we shouldn’t see much attention added to this room this
off-season.
Jumping right into the wide receiver room, the Raiders were left
shorthanded when the Antonio Brown situation unfolded. Losing a true top tier
pass catcher left Tyrell Williams as the number one receiver on this offense.
Looking to add more depth, Zay Jones was acquired from the Buffalo Bills in hopes
they could expel something from what was seen in his college days. Hunter Renfrow
was another player who saw his snap count increase and did an admiral job being
the second-best receiver on the team. Nevertheless, this is a group that requires
a top end talent to take them over the top. Williams and Renfrow could be fabulous
secondary pieces but need coverage pulled from their side to become dominating
options in the pass game. This is a place we fully expect the Raiders to add.
When it comes to the tight end position, the Raiders struck gold when
Darren Waller finally flipped that switch and became that dictating force on nearly
a weekly basis. Leading the team in all receiving categories, 90 receptions, for
1145 yards and 3 touchdowns was the end result. Possessing all the traits that
teams covet for the position (barring a history of injury), he will remain as a
top end player for the Raiders.
Adding more talent is the key objective for this offense, but we
could see a monumental change at quarterback with rumor that Tom Brady is on
their radar. While we don’t see Brady being that final piece to the puzzle to
take this team to the super bowl, it would fill the stands in their new Vegas
stadium. Get ready, we could see fireworks.
The Defense
Heading toward the defensive side of this team, there are many players
to like, but also many scenarios of improvement we would like to see. Having
completed a very sound draft in 2019, Vegas will need to continue down that
path to improve on lower league numbers in most statistical categories.
Opening with the defensive line, their top rookie Clelin Ferrell
was perceived as a reach at four overall, and didn’t light the stat sheet ablaze
with only 4.5 sacks in 2019. While we do like his skill set, he could be viewed
as a disappointment of sorts. While the expectations we large on Ferrell to
make waves, another rookie flashed heavy skill in getting to the quarterback.
Maxx Crosby was drafted in the fourth round and was fantastic in his rookie season.
Dropping quarterbacks a healthy 10 times this past season, general manager
Mayock may have hit the lotto with this player. And while we do have appreciation
for Maurice Hurst and Johnathan Hankins, we wouldn’t be shocked to see more
pass rushers added to round out the overall depth.
Moving right along to the line backers on this roster, we had some
level of belief that they could be a force in 2019. With Tahir Whitehead,
Vontez Burfict, Nicholas Murrow and Will Compton – this group had the potential
to be a lower grade powerhouse. With what transpired in the Burfict suspension,
you could see a drop off in productivity the week after. With that, the Raiders
have recently released Whitehead which came as something of a surprise to us.
With Compton a pending free agent, this unit will be operating at bare bones and
will need a massive talent infusion this off-season.
Heading down the path of what this defensive secondary was and is,
we find another group that will need more talent added - but may choose to move
on from a potentially elite player. Hearing rumor that Karl Joseph may not be in
their future plans, we can only view this as a massive mistake. With the emergence
of Johnathan Abram, they could form a tandem at the safety position like no other.
With that, they would act as the best players on this secondary. This unit will
require the most attention to help improve as a whole.
This defense has some level of talent but will get better with how
Mayock evaluates ability. We should see a much-improved defense in 2020.
Team Free Agents / Team Salary Cap
With the team moving to new pastures and looking to become a
league power, they currently rest with a decent 57.3 million in free dollars to
play with. Having a large amount of team free agents to contend with, this off-season
should bring with it a good amount of change – as we’ve echoed above.
Beginning with team free agents that may be brought back to the
fold - Daryl Worley, Karl Joseph and Will Compton should voice the most
consideration. With Worley and Joseph being the most coveted pieces, the rest
can be seen as depth which could be replaced. Holding a long list of restricted
free agents, choices will be made on who they feel would add the most value.
In terms of finding money on the books in what looks like
unfavorable contracts, Derek Carr highlights the list of potential cap casualties.
Having a whopping 21.5-million-dollar cap hit in 2020 and the team potentially
looking to upgrade the position, only seven million would be lost in dead cap
upon his release. Guard Gabe Jackson is a player that shouldn’t be cut, but rather
his contract should be reviewed to adjust his 9.6 million cap hit to a more
favorable number. Outside of that, most other contracts hold far too much dead
money to warrant release.
The NFL Draft
After seeing how this team was corrected from the 2019 draft
class, the Raiders again hold a decent amount of draft capital in 2020. Having seven
picks overall, Vegas again has two first round picks, three third rounders,
with no second, sixth or seventh round selection as of today.
While missing a second-round pick could be viewed as problematic,
having five selections in the first 91 will go a very long way. Holding 12th
and 19th overall in the first round, we would be absolutely floored
to not witness a top receiver pilfered at 12. Ceedee Lamb or Jerry Jeudy appear
as the direction we would move while adding more defense on the turn at pick 19.
Its very possible the Raiders sang the best wide receiver and the best
defensive back in this draft making them much improved after day one.
Its not out of the question to observe Mayock trade down from pick
19 in hopes to garner more draft capital and round out this roster build quicker.
We have nothing but positives to promote on Mayock’s ability and Raiders fans
should feel a sense of security with him running the show. With possible key additions
off the open market and nailing another draft class – the Las Vegas Raiders could
be vastly different and much better in 2020.
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