It’s a well-known fact that the AFC West is a scary place for quarterbacks. The Oakland Raiders’ own Khalil Mack is the reigning and defending NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Von Miller was the Super Bowl MVP in 2016, in 2015 Justin Houston led the league in sacks and last, but certainly not least, Joey Bosa is the 2016 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Defensively the “Mike” linebacker is to the defense what the quarterback is to the offense. The Raiders face a lot of up and coming defenses in the 2017 season, and we’re here to take a look at some of the top candidates. Specifically, the best overall Mike, best coverage Mike, and the best run-stuffing Mike that’ll oppose the Silver and Black.
Earlier this week, Ryan Shazier of the Pitsburg Steelers talked about the New England Patriots being a problem for the rest of the NFL. He pointed out that his team needed to get over the hump in order to get to the Super Bowl and as most of the AFC knows and that includes the Oakland Raiders, the road to Super Sunday normally goes through New England.
After an impressive 12-4 campaign in 2016, it’s no secret the Silver and Black are back. This may seem rather obvious at this point in time, but one year ago the franchise and its fan base still didn’t quite know what they had in Derek Carr after going 7-9 in 2015.
Of all the positional groups heading into The Oakland Raiders 2017 season, it’s hard to ignore the potential of the stable of running backs. This was an unproven group prior to the 2016 season with former Raider Latavius Murray being their only experienced back at the time. That year, Murray faced minimal competition before he earned the starting role. The battles for the depth was settled among added 5th round draft pick DeAndre Washington, (Legendary Raider George Atkinson’s son) George Atkinson III and an unknown UDFA in Jalen Richard. Despite some highlight reel moments from Atkinson III, the retention of promising camp back Jalen Richard sealed Atkinson’s tenure with the Raiders.
The Oakland Raiders are building an offensive powerhouse and it only got better this past offseason with the addition of Jared Cook and Cordarrelle Patterson, utility and secondary weapons but effective if used correctly.
The Oakland Raiders have one of the more star-studded NFL rosters heading into 2017. Last year, the Raiders had 7 Pro Bowl nominations turning heads around the league with elite talent on both sides of the ball. Â
General manager Reggie McKenzie shuffled the roster thru various personnel transactions during the off-season which has resulted in the most competitive camp roster depth in nearly 15 years. The big names dominate the headlines, but what players are not being talked about that can fill critical roles on this team?
The Oakland Raiders will likely fulfill expectations on their way to a deep playoff run and even make it to the Super Bowl. However, some of the players might not play up to their potential and leave us hanging and wanting more. Here are the three Raiders players that could underperform.
Todd Downing who’ll be leading the Oakland Raiders’ Derek Carr-led offense for the first time discussed his weapons today.
In an article published by Raiders.com, written by Kyle Martin, Downing talked about the many options the team will have at its disposal this upcoming season. From Amari Cooper to the newly arrived Marshawn Lynch.
When Derek Carr went down in Week 16, the hopes of a dark horse run to a Super Bowl went down with him. Matt McGloin held his own early in Week 17 against the Broncos until he suffered a similar fate by going down with a shoulder injury, turning the spotlight over to Connor Cook. With McGloin now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, we turn to the two men who could be one play away from being the pivot in 2017.
