It’s no secret that when last season came to a close the Raiders roster was nowhere close to contending. It was apparent that they had their hands full if they wanted to compete in 2019 before heading off to Las Vegas.
The Oakland Raiders certainly didn’t shy away from being aggressive this offseason. From top to bottom, they were active in free-agency, the draft and signing some quality undrafted free-agents.
With that being said, ESPN’s Dan Graziano, a national NFL writer picked the Oakland Raiders as the most improved team for the 2019 season.
Graziano’s statement:
"“I count as many as eight potential Raiders starters who weren’t on their roster when the 2018 season ended. They traded for Antonio Brown, hit free agency hard and picked four players in the first two rounds of the draft who have a chance to play a lot of snaps this year. Last year was a tough tear-down, but this year’s Raiders roster looks more like what Jon Gruden is trying to build.”"
Graziano statement touches on some good points, covering the key acquisition of the offseason with adding Brown. I also agree, that this current roster looks more like a Jon Gruden football team, versus what he had last season.
Gruden certainly shored up his offense through free agency by adding Antonio Brown, Trent Brown, Tyrell Williams, Ryan Grant, and resigning Doug Martin. It appears Gruden and Mayock’s plan was to surround Derek Carr with an abundance of weapons to try to get Carr back to his MVP form.
On defense they accumulated a mix of quality playmakers in hopes for a much improved unit in 2019. Last season their defense was historically bad, so a massive turnover was expected. Some key players they brought in are Lamarcus Joyner, Vontaze Burfict, Brandon Marshall, Nevin Lawson, and Curtis Riley.
It’s also important to not forget about the haul of draft picks the Raiders had, bringing in some top-end talent, such as Clelin Ferrell, Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Abram, and Trayvon Mullen. All four rookies have the legitimate chance to start in year one.
The Raiders stayed busy after the draft signing a group of undrafted free-agents, coming away with some quality talent after the draft ended. Some notable UFA’s that inked a contract with the Raiders are Te’von Coney, Keelan Doss, Lester Cotton, Alec Ingold, and Ronald Ollie.
Pro Football Focus even ranked the signing of Te’von Coney the best undrafted free-agent signing. It was surprising to many people across the league that Coney was still available when the draft came to an end. Most talent evaluators had him as a mid-round pick, but the Raiders get a good one with scooping up Coney after the draft.
Overall, this new Raiders roster should be a much improved group on both sides of the ball. If the offense can get going early and play with the ability that they possess then I don’t see why they can’t be a top ten offense.
The defense should show some improvement throughout, but until they show a change on the field, I’m not penciling them in as a top-15 defense by any means.