I am probably jinxing a great start by doing this.
But the Raiders look pretty damn good so far and might be worth some board conversation this year.
- Derek Carr has been playing great since halftime of game 1. I think Gruden fixed Carr in terms of improving his pocket presence and forcing him to be more aggressive and use his arm talent.
- The receiving group is really well constructed. Waller is the best non Kelce TE in the game. Ruggs is a legit deep threat. Bryan Edwards is a quality big bodied wide out. Hunter Renfrow is going to be an excellent slot recorder for the next decade or so. The extra pieces like Zay Jones, Foster Moreaux & full back Alex Ingold have all played quite well so far and punished teams who focused on Waller & Ruggs. Kenyan Drake is overpaid, but probably a perfect receiving back for Gruden & Carr.
- The Raiders chose to get younger and cheaper on the offensive line by getting rid of Trent Brown, Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson. That saved more than $35M in cap room, but there is definitely some lost effectiveness with the young guys. They can’t seem to run the ball against good defenses and Carr is being forced to use that better pocket presence quite a bit.
- Gus Bradley has taken over the defense and brought in several former players like Yannik Ngakoue, Denzel Perryman, Casey Hayward and KJ Wright with him. These guys have put former first round picks Clellin Ferrell & Damon Arnette on the bench, but with the Raiders offense being as good as they are, they only need to be competent rather than the horror show we have seen the last three years and so far that seems to be working. Maxx Crosby appears to be breaking out at RDE, but some of that might just be the fact that Ngakoue can’t be ignored like previous Raider pass rushers opposite Mad Maxx.
- This team has a divisional round ceiling, but Gruden’s slow re-build seems to be progressing towards that direction. Lastly, the stadium in Vegas is fucking amazing. I strongly recommend catching a game there. It’s a bit weird as a long time Oakland season ticket holder, in that I just don’t know what to do in a world class facility, but the Death Star will feel like home soon enough. It was really loud last Monday, so it should produce a decent home field advantage, even if there are always a bunch of visiting fans tourists at games.
But the Raiders look pretty damn good so far and might be worth some board conversation this year.
- Derek Carr has been playing great since halftime of game 1. I think Gruden fixed Carr in terms of improving his pocket presence and forcing him to be more aggressive and use his arm talent.
- The receiving group is really well constructed. Waller is the best non Kelce TE in the game. Ruggs is a legit deep threat. Bryan Edwards is a quality big bodied wide out. Hunter Renfrow is going to be an excellent slot recorder for the next decade or so. The extra pieces like Zay Jones, Foster Moreaux & full back Alex Ingold have all played quite well so far and punished teams who focused on Waller & Ruggs. Kenyan Drake is overpaid, but probably a perfect receiving back for Gruden & Carr.
- The Raiders chose to get younger and cheaper on the offensive line by getting rid of Trent Brown, Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson. That saved more than $35M in cap room, but there is definitely some lost effectiveness with the young guys. They can’t seem to run the ball against good defenses and Carr is being forced to use that better pocket presence quite a bit.
- Gus Bradley has taken over the defense and brought in several former players like Yannik Ngakoue, Denzel Perryman, Casey Hayward and KJ Wright with him. These guys have put former first round picks Clellin Ferrell & Damon Arnette on the bench, but with the Raiders offense being as good as they are, they only need to be competent rather than the horror show we have seen the last three years and so far that seems to be working. Maxx Crosby appears to be breaking out at RDE, but some of that might just be the fact that Ngakoue can’t be ignored like previous Raider pass rushers opposite Mad Maxx.
- This team has a divisional round ceiling, but Gruden’s slow re-build seems to be progressing towards that direction. Lastly, the stadium in Vegas is fucking amazing. I strongly recommend catching a game there. It’s a bit weird as a long time Oakland season ticket holder, in that I just don’t know what to do in a world class facility, but the Death Star will feel like home soon enough. It was really loud last Monday, so it should produce a decent home field advantage, even if there are always a bunch of visiting fans tourists at games.
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