Defense
The Raiders defense made great strides in 2019, especially up front, where they were a downright embarassment in 2018. The defensive line managed to rack up only 13 sacks as a team in their first season after trading away sack master Khalil Mack right before the regular season began, and in 2019, a rookie nearly had that many by himself.
Arguably the biggest addition to this Raiders coaching staff was defensive line coach Brentson Buckner, who molded two rookie defensive ends into dominant players. Maxx Crosby had ten sacks in his first season, all coming in the final 12 games, and Clelin Ferrell got better and better as the year went on.
In addition, guys like Maurice Hurst and P.J. Hall has solid second seasons, while Johnathan Hankins, Benson Mayowa, and Josh Mauro added veteran presences.
The linebacker group struggled mightily in 2019, and that is definitely an area that needs to be targeted in free agency, and in the draft. Will Compton was a nice addition down the stretch, but the group needed more consistency from Tahir Whitehead, who was once again a tackle machine for the Silver and Black.
In the secondary, there are some exciting young players to keep an eye on during the move to Vegas, including first rounder Johnathan Abram, who missed nearly the entire season after being injured in Week 1. Fellow rookie Trayvon Mullen has all the makings to be a true CB1 at the NFL level, and showed talent and grit down the stretch.
Overall, the secondary has a chance to be special down the road.