Where do the Raiders rank at WR within the AFC West?
By Jason Willis
With the draft concluded and NFL rosters set for the most part, where do the Las Vegas Raiders rank in terms of the WR position in the AFC West?
The Las Vegas Raiders made a big change atop their depth chart at the wide receiver position this offseason, trading for Green Bay Packers star Davante Adams. When you couple Adams with the likes of Hunter Renfrow, Bryan Edwards, and a host of other veteran wideouts, do the Raiders have the best group in the AFC West?
Here, we rank each AFC West team in terms of their wideout group.
Where do the Raiders rank at WR within the AFC West?
PROJECTED STARTERS: Juju Smith Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Skyy Moore
After years of placing highly on lists such as these, the Chiefs made one of the league’s biggest moves at the position in the 2022 off-season. Of course, this would be the trade of superstar wideout Tyreek Hill. To say losing Hill was the biggest loss suffered by any team this off-season is not a stretch. While Patrick Mahomes is incredible and will continue to play at a high level, Hill allows the offense to function at the level it does.
Since it is nearly impossible to replace Hill’s skillset, the Chiefs have gathered many different players to help fill the gaps. The most notable of which is former Steeler, Juju Smith-Schuster. After playing in just five games for Pittsburgh in 2021, he will be looking to get his career back on track in Kansas City. Former Packers speedster Marquez Valdes-Scantling has joined the fray as well. With lots of potential, he is a worthy flier.
Continuing to add, they selected Skyy Moore in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Diminutive in size, Moore was electric in his time at Western Michigan. Look for him to be deployed all over the field by Andy Reid during his rookie year. Mecole Hardman and Josh Gordon return to this group as well. However, Hardman has never proven to be much more than a situational deep threat who can feature on some gadget plays as well. Gordon has not played a full season since 2012.
Overall, this group has lots of potentials. In an offense that features one of the NFL’s best play designers as well as its best quarterback, any receiver has the potential to produce. Look for Moore to have a quality rookie season but on paper, this group is not as good as the others in the division.