Las Vegas Raiders: Improving secondary key in the AFC West

The Las Vegas Raiders need to improve their secondary in a big way if they want to be competitive in the AFC West in 2021 and beyond.

The Las Vegas Raiders struggled across the board this past season, with only 21 sacks as a team, missed tackles all over the place, and really shoddy play in the secondary. While some played well, including Nicholas Morrow, Trayvon Mullen, and Maxx Crosby to name a few, the playmakers were few and far between.

Heading into this offseason, Mike Mayock spoke about the lack of playmakers on all three levels, something they hopefully addressed by adding to the defensive line and bringing back Morrow at linebacker. In the secondary, however, the Raiders had been stagnant, but that was before bringing back former first-round draft pick Karl Joseph.

For the Raiders to do anything in the AFC West, they are going to have to improve at both safety and cornerback, as Mullen is a solid corner, but Johnathan Abram has struggled across two seasons with injuries and inconsistent play. The addition of KuJo is going to help Abram in a big way, and hopefully, Gus Bradley has plans to play him at free safety, giving the Raiders two heat-seeking missiles at the safety spots.

If they can get better in the defensive backfield, with the added players up front, and a new defensive coordinator, they should be able to flip the script from last season.

Raiders face two elite QBs in the AFC West

The huge issue with the Raiders being so bad in the secondary is that they get no help upfront either, as this has been one of the worst franchises in the NFL in terms of getting sacks since Khalil Mack was traded. That leads to quarterbacks having all day to go through their reads and find their open weapons, something that has haunted this team for the past two decades.

Making matters worse is the fact that the Raiders play two elite, young quarterbacks within their division in Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City, and Justin Herbert from the Los Angeles Chargers. Giving these guys extra time is even more of an issue, as they do not make mistakes, can make plays happen with their arm and legs, and are downright special with the ball in their hands.

Now that the Raiders have added talent up front, they have to add talent to the secondary, because rolling into next season with Mullen, Abram, Damon Arnette, and Jeff Heath is not the ideal situation.

Gus Bradley will have to prove to all that he was the right man for the job, but looking back at the Paul Guenther Era, he does not have big shoes to fill. For the Raiders to get to the playoffs, they have to be better in the secondary, and hopefully, they do enough with the rest of free agency, and in the draft to be just that.