The Las Vegas Raiders have given the roster a makeover this offseason but how good are they after all the changes they’ve made? Not very much if you ask Pro Football Focus, who gave a blunt assessment of the current state of the team.
Anthony Treash of PFF recently painted a pretty grim picture of the Raiders’ roster, ranking it as one of the five worst in the NFL. Below them are the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Houston Texans, and the Detroit Lions. You could argue Las Vegas made some additions in the free agency, but so did every other organization, so it may be difficult to argue about the Silver and Black’s place in the ranking.
The Raiders’ offensive line lost many key contributors. However, they added others, so it’s hard to tell how much the unit improved this offseason. Then, there’s the wide receiver corps. They lost Nelson Agholor and added John Brown this offseason, will the former Buffalo Bill be an upgrade? It’s hard to tell. On the other side of the ball, Las Vegas has question marks at defensive tackle, cornerback, and safety.
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The Raiders have a couple of things going for them
On the bright side, there are a couple of things that will probably benefit the Raiders. They have a starting quarterback in Derek Carr. The other teams on the list are lacking a steady quarterback. In fact, half the league could use an upgrade at the position. Regardless of his faults, he’s been efficient and the team isn’t in dire need of a signal-caller right now. While ‘4’ isn’t a top 5 quarterback he will play like a top 10 one if the team surrounds him with better talent.
Also, there’s defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. His predecessor, Paul Guenther, didn’t look overly interested in coaching and didn’t put his players in a position to succeed. While theres’ only so much Bradley can do with the current talent, he should be an upgrade over Guenther. If the Raiders add a few defensive prospects in the draft and hit on two or three of them, they have the potential to field a competent defense, something they haven’t done in more than a decade. One good draft could quickly help Las Vegas turn things around.
The Raiders haven’t had a winning season since 2016, and their roster is one big reason why. If they draft a few difference-makers, and Bradley squeezes the most out of the defense, they could quickly change that.
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