3 Reasons the Las Vegas Raiders will exceed expectations in 2020
3 Reasons the Las Vegas Raiders will exceed expectations in 2020
Endless weapons on offense
One of the most exciting parts of this 2020 season as the Raiders head into Vegas is seeing how Jon Gruden is going to use all the endless weapons he has at his disposal. Going into this offseason, one of the biggest narratives was getting Derek Carr more weapons, and boy did they accomplish that through this year’s draft.
The first move they made was to use the No. 12 overall pick to get one of the fastest players in all of college football, Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III. Considered as one of the top-3 wide receivers in this draft, and No. 1 on many peoples board, Ruggs’ most undeniable trait is his speed.
There is no doubt Gruden got the player he truly wanted to try and incorporate a Tyreek Hill-type of speedster into this offense.
In the 3rd round, they went back-to-back, choosing Swiss army knife Lynn Bowden Jr. out of Kentucky at 80th overall, and a big physical wide receiver in Bryan Edwards out of South Carolina at 81st overall. Even though Bowden will come in and compete at running back, he can be placed all over the field, whether that be in the backfield, split out wide or in the slot.
In college he played running back, wide receiver and quarterback for Kentucky, and was used however was needed to get the ball in his hands. Edwards was an absolute beast, tearing up the SEC in his four years at South Carolina. He is one of only four players in SEC history to amass 200+ receptions, 25+ touchdowns, and 2000+ receiving yards in a career.
Inserting all of these pieces into an offense that highlighted a dominate running game with Josh Jacobs, matchup nightmare in Darren Waller, and a rising standout in rookie sensation Hunter Renfrow, the only problem Jon Gruden is going to have to face is picking which playmaker he wants to feed each week.
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The biggest thing that will make or break this offense is the cohesiveness between these new players and their quarterback. But after seeing how much work the players are already putting in together, you can be sure that they will do whatever it takes to put more marks in the win column, which is all Raider Nation cares about at this point.