Just three years since the team moved from Oakland to Vegas, the Raiders are looking to make a splash this year as an underdog team in a highly competitive division. This year they decided to shake things up and will have a brand new look this season in the silver and black.
The major change that was made in the offseason was at quarterback as veteran quarterback, who played for the Raiders for the past nine season, Derek Carr was signed by the New Orleans Saints. For the first time in almost a decade, the Raiders will line up with a starting quarterback not named Derek Carr during week 1.
That new quarterback will be Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo, another veteran quarterback, spent his previous number of seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. With the Niners, he was able to reach 2 NFC championships, win one, and just fall short in a Super Bowl to the Chiefs. Garoppolo certainly has a ton of experience to offer to this high-powered Raiders offense.
And when I say high-powered offense I mean Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs. Jacobs and Adams are arguably one of the best running back-wide receiver duos in the league, proving that just a season ago. Jacobs was the leading rusher in the NFL and Adams had yet again another breakout season in his first year in the silver and black.
But, this offense did take a hit this offseason when they lost tight end Darren Waller. Waller was with the team for multiple years and developed into a reliable and one of the best tight ends in the NFL during his time in the silver and black. The Raiders did go out and sign veteran tight end Austin Hooper and draft Marcus Mayer out of Notre Dame to try and replace him, but Waller will be a tough player to replace.
The Raiders also added to their receiver room, locking up free agent receiver Jakobi Meyers for three years. Meyers will get a new chance to show what he can do in the silver and black after really not being used properly in his time in New England with the Patriots. Meyers will most likely take the reins as the WR2 on this Raiders offense.
Switching sides to the defense and when you think about this Raiders defense, you immediately think of Maxx Crosby. Crosby has asserted himself as one of the best defensive ends in the league, absolutely dominating offensive lines left and right the previous couple of seasons. Along with Crosby, the Raiders may have the best defensive end duo in the league with Chandler Jones to pair alongside Crosby. The two veterans when healthy and paired together are a scary duo for opposing offenses to deal with.
This Raiders team on paper looks like a pretty scary team on both sides of the football, but have to play 6 games against one of the toughest divisions in football. That division is the AFC West consisting of the Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos. In an already stacked AFC, all of these teams are playoff contenders but there isn't enough spots for all of them to make it. The Raiders have a great team, but are surrounded by unfortunate circumstances. I believe their ceiling is a wild card berth and second place in the division and floor is last place and no playoffs for Raider Nation.
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