ESPN’s Louis Riddick is right about the 2019 Oakland Raiders
By Brad Weiss
ESPN was at the Oakland Raiders joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, and one man came away quite impressed with the Silver and Black
The Oakland Raiders welcomed Sean McVay and his Los Angeles Rams to practice on Wednesday, kicking off a two-day session of joint practices with the NFC Champions. The Rams, coming off a 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, have one of the more talented rosters in the NFL, so this was a good test for the Raiders early in training camp.
Of course, these two teams will kick off the preseason schedule against each other this Saturday night, and this is the second straight year the two organization will both practice, and play each other before the season. Last year, they went on to play each other in Week 1, with the Rams trouncing the Raiders late.
With two big-name teams battling it out in practice on Wednesday, there was no big surprise that ESPN would send some of their people to go check it out. One person who was in attendance was Louis Riddick, a highly-respected analyst for the network, who certainly had some big things to say about the Raiders.
A former member of the Silver and Black, Riddick liked what he saw from the Raiders, and said that they will be his surprise team in 2019. Here is what the former general manager tweeted out on Wednesday night.
Looking at the @Raiders up close and personal today, let me assure you of this: this team is light years more talented than their team from 2018. They have athletes all over the field and a nice blend of young sprinkled with experience. They are no doubt my “surprise” team ‘19.
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) August 8, 2019
It is true that this team bolstered the roster in a big way this offseason, and being someone who used to put rosters together, this is high praise from Riddick. The 2019 Raiders are certain to be a formidable team from week to week, and if they can navigate a very tough early season schedule, there is no reason why they cannot be a surprise team this upcoming season.
Next. Rams will test Raiders OL in joint practice. dark
It is very early in training camp to be thinking about the regular season, and we still have not seen a healthy Antonio Brown on a consistent basis this summer. This team does have a ton of talent, and are a much better squad than last year, and I, for one, think Riddick is correct in his assessment of this team heading into 2019.