5 Oakland Raiders primed for bounce-back years in 2018

2017 was a down year for the Oakland Raiders. After going 6-10 and missing the AFC playoffs, here are five players primed to have bounce back years in 2018.

It was a rough year for the Oakland Raiders. Just watching the team struggle, it felt like the Silver and Black were playing the blame game with everybody pointing their index finger at somebody else. Whatever worked in 2016 absolutely did not in 2017, as former head coach Jack Del Rio was fired after only three years at the helm.

But this is a new year and this team has a new coaching staff. Hopefully Jon Gruden and his men can reclaim this sunken ship in the Bay Area and get the Silver and Black back to respectably. Frankly, the Raiders haven’t been a good team consistently since Gruden last coached the team in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

He will bring with him a fiery passion for the game of football, as well as an increased level of on-field accountability. We will see a Raiders team that adheres to discipline and hopefully that translates into a few more wins than losses. For that to happen, several players will need to get back to good under the new coaching staff.

While would should expect improvement all across the board, here are the five Raiders that are poised to have bounce-back 2018 NFL seasons playing for Coach Gruden and his staff. Down years were so 2017 anyway. Let’s get it done, boys!

One player that we are still holding out hope for is linebacker Cory James. In two years out of Colorado State, James has shown us that he is at least a starting level linebacker at the professional level. However, injuries limited him to only 10 games and nine starts in 2017.

It really felt like he was about to make great strides playing next to a pro’s pro in NaVorro Bowman in Oakland at linebacker. However, James succumbed to injury to have another sub-par season for the Silver and Black. While his NFL ceiling may not be that high as a former sixth-round pick out of Colorado State, don’t we all feel that James can get to another level if he’s healthy and with the right coaching?

Assuming the Raiders bring back Bowman, James will learn from the savvy veteran much like last year’s rookie standout Nicholas Morrow did, particularly in pass coverage. Incoming Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther likes late-round picks and small school guys at the linebacker position. Do keep in mind that Guenther does come from the Division III level as a coach before transitioning to the Cincinnati Bengals at the next level.

James might be under contract with the Raiders through 2019, but he will want to make the trip to Las Vegas when the team moves in 2020. This new staff is going to do great things with the personnel in place. If he’s healthy, we just might get the best NFL season out of James to date.