Raiders poised to win in their final year in Oakland

The Raiders approach the 2019 season with it being their final year in Oakland. With that said, let’s take a look at how the team is destined for successes with just seven home games left.

It’s no secret, last season was dreadful for the Oakland Raiders after an inadequate season. Although, it looks like last season has been put behind them, based on how the Raiders currently look on paper with training camp approaching.

Last offseason the Raiders took numerous flyers on older veteran type players, on one-year contracts. It provided them with financial flexibility in the long-term as they weren’t tied to many contracts long-term, but that talent on the field was certainly lacking.

Perhaps Jon Gruden learned that his philosophy in year one didn’t work, but he changed gears heading into year two. This offseason Gruden and Mike Mayock acquired top talent and wasted no time spending big money on high profiled free-agents.

After free-agency and the draft concluded, the focus was switched to looking at how the team will shape up once they take the field. The Raiders are without a doubt better suited to compete in 2019, than they were in Gruden’s first year back on the sideline.

This Raiders team will be driven through the offense that Gruden puts on display and the right arm of Derek Carr. The offense is set up to excel in several ways under Gruden, and projects to finally take flight with being back on the sideline in year two. Carr has tremendous arm talent and he’ll be asked to spray the ball to his prolific pass catchers, being led by seven time pro bowler Antonio Brown.

Although Brown isn ‘t the only weapon to Carr’s disposal, as Tyrell Williams is a large high-flying pass catcher who will likely see an abundance of throws coming his way off of play action. Fifth-round pick Hunter Renfrow also provides a quality option doing work inside at the slot position.

Establishing a running game behind their revamped offensive will help open things up for Carr when he drops back. Taking running back Josh Jacobs with the 24th overall pick, isn’t something you do unless you’re going to make him the primary back. Look for Jacobs to carry the football early and often in order to be a tone setter for the game, where Carr can then find some open receivers down field with the defense’s biting on play-action passes.

The defense is still not on par with the offense to this point, but on paper it already projects as a much better unit than last season. Bringing aboard proven playmakers on defense such as Lamarcus Joyner and Vontaze Burfict, to go along with the core of young defenders they drafted will likely provide Paul Guenther with a more talented squad on defense.

With all the new faces in the building, this Raiders team looks completely different and the result of that might look different as well. With so much history and loyalty that the Raiders have to the Oakland area, the players and coaching staff have said during this moving process that they want to give Oakland one last run and this is their shot to do so before heading to Las Vegas.