The Las Vegas Raiders and their front office finally decided to do something about their awful defense by drafting five defensive players, but is it enough?
Last season, I felt that the Las Vegas Raiders’ issues were never about Derek Carr, but the defense that gave up nearly the most points in team history. Despite this, fans still called for Carr’s head in the offseason, and rumors swirled of trades to the Eagles for Carson Wentz and Seattle for Russell Wilson.
Las Vegas was even linked to the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson, as Carr endured another offseason where people wanted him to the door.
Despite the talk, the front office made the choice not to go forward with any trade, but rather draft Alex Leatherwood, a mid-second round pick at best, in the first round. After this puzzling pick, the front office went all-in on the defense and bolstered one of the worst defenses the Raiders have had in a long time.
Raiders attack the defense in the 2021 NFL Draft
Mike Mayock was brought in mainly due to his ability to evaluate talent and with good reason. The Raiders had plenty of draft picks in the 2019 NFL Draft, picking up Josh Jacobs and Johnathan Abram, while in 2020, they picked up Damon Arnette to help a secondary that struggled and has struggled in recent years.
So far Abram, outside of his first game in Denver of 2019, hasn’t played very well and has committed a ton of penalties; Josh Jacobs has been the best pick; Clelin Ferrell hasn’t developed fully; Arnette isn’t a full-time starter nor the shutdown corner he was in college. All of this adds up to a disappointing couple of drafts with another losing season.
This year, however, the front office decided to go all-in on the defense. They drafted a future star in Trevon Moehrig, a dynamic player in Divine Deablo, an edge rusher in Malcolm Koonce, and a cornerback in Travis Gillespie. Safety and corner were the weak spots along with the pass-rush and the linebackers were constantly and consistently beat in the passing game leading to multiple 40+ games and the majority of the opposing teams scoring 24+ points, including that embarrassing loss to the Falcons.
Las Vegas Raiders: Top-5 2021 offseason additions
The Las Vegas Raiders have had a busy offseason as they attempted to revamp the roster, and here are their five best additions so far.
Las Vegas will have to be better on that side of the ball if they want to do anything of substance this season, because if they do not, Mayock could be out of a job. Gus Bradley will be tasked with turning this group around, and with all the new faces, the hope is that they did enough to get to the playoffs in 2021.