Las Vegas Raiders: 3 reasons why the offense will be top-10 in 2020
By Brad Weiss
Derek Carr has his outside weapons
Last year, the hope was that the Raiders would go into the 2019 season with Antonio Brown at WR1, giving Carr an elite option atop the position group. With Brown there, Tyrell Williams was brought in to be the team’s WR2, a position he is one of the best in football at, thanks to his ability to stretch the field and make big plays.
Brown’s run with the team yielded not one single snap, and while Williams was outstanding at times last season, he is best in the second wideout role. That led Mayock to use his first of two first round picks on Henry Ruggs III, a speedster out of Alabama who runs the entire route tree, and will be an impact player right away.
In addition to Ruggs, the Raiders drafted Bryan Edwards from South Carolina, who they had a first round grade on before his foot injury, and can go up and get the tough 50-50 balls. Nelson Agholor was brought in via free agency, and Hunter Renfrow returns after stellar rookie season, one that saw him finish the year with back-to-back 100-yard seasons.
When you look at the wide receiver group in Las Vegas, it is a major upgrade from the year before, and if Carr pushes the ball downfield, there are plenty of options to attack with. This offense struggled to get into the red zone down the stretch, but with this cast of players, that should not be a problem in 2020.