Oakland Raiders in 2018 - A Fans Perspective

As a Raiders fan, I went in to the 2017 season with much optimism. A massively disappointing 6-10 season ensued, key players hadn’t performed, and the coach was fired. Needless to say, I have less optimism heading in to the 2018 season.

It’s been an interesting off-season for the Raiders. We have to start with the new head coach, Jon Gruden. Gruden definitely was a great coach but I’m dubious as to whether he will be able to coach a modern NFL team to great success. Gruden has spent many years as a TV analyst and many consider his philosophy and terminology to be outdated. The one thing we can be sure of is that Gruden will demand 110% effort from his team. Offensively, The Raiders need improved play from both Quarterback, Derek Carr, and Receiver, Amari Cooper. Both players had surprisingly down years but are extremely talented players and I expect them to bounce back. If Derek Carr gets injured the Raiders will be in trouble as only EJ Manuel and Connor Cook sit behind. The offense is the strength of the team but that may only be because of the weakness of the defense.

Marshawn Lynch returns in the backfield and he’s joined by Doug Martin. Both backs are aging but the Raiders will hope that the run game can flourish with Martin and Lynch working in tandem. The O-line is good with the interior of the line a particular strength with Osemele and Jackson at Guard and Hudson at Center. Oakland drafted Kolton Miller with their first-round pick in the draft (after trading down) and he could push veteran Donald Penn for the starting job at Left Tackle, which seems to be the case already given that news out of the Raiders camp indicates Penn is lining up at Right Tackle.

As mentioned, Amari Cooper leads the receiving corps and he should return to top form in 2018. Cooper is joined by new recruits, Jordy Nelson and Martavis Bryant. Bryant is a risk but could provide something different, Nelson should be a reliable target for Carr as he had been for so long, in Green Bay, Rodgers. The Raiders don’t have much at Tight End and that could be a real issue in the red zone.

The Defense was a mess in 2017 but it is not without talent. Khalil Mack is the star of the unit but he’s currently holding out for a new contract. If Mack doesn’t show up for the season in top form, 2018 could be an even worse year for this unit. Mack provides the pass rush opposite Bruce Irvin. Irvin is a good player but can’t do it all on his own. The D-Line is poor in general, Justin Ellis and Mario Edwards are pencilled in as starters at Tackle, but they may be pushed by rookies, Maurice Hurst and PJ Hall. Arden Key could be a nice surprise off the edge but drafting him was a big risk in my opinion. The Linebacking corps is bereft of talent. Tahir Whitehead comes over from Detroit and Derrick Johnson from the Chiefs. Johnson has been a great player but it’s debatable whether he can continue to produce at age 35. If Johnson can’t produce, or can’t last a whole season, then the lack of depth means that our defense may struggle to stop the run or pass.

In the secondary, the Raiders are reliant on seeing improvements from Gareon Conley at Corner and Karl Joseph at Safety. Both are talented but there may be too much pressure on them to perform especially given the same lack of depth as we have elsewhere on the D. I was surprised that the Raiders didn’t do more to address the secondary in the draft but with so many holes elsewhere I can understand why it was seemingly ignored.

Overall, I am resigned to 2018 being a year in which a playoff berth is unlikely. Gruden, himself, will take time to get back into coaching an NFL team and the team is too disjointed to maintain high quality play for a full season. I hope the team pay Khalil Mack what he deserves, and he returns to the team soon. We’ll lose some veteran players next off-season and then we can push forward again. The best analogy I can give for the 2018 Raiders is that we are an injured player who has been patched up to be able to try and perform. In lots of ways, the pressure is off in 2018 but Gruden may push the team on to 6 or 7 wins and it would be nice if some of those were against Denver, KC or the Chargers. The AFC West is a tough division again, but I’ll take great pleasure if we can stop the Chiefs making the playoffs again.

Raiders, Raiders, Raiders !!!

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