Las Vegas Raiders Thread

Prefab Sprouter

I'm still scatching my head somewhat at our Free Agency. It apears that Gruden has decided to blow up the O-Line and start again. For a coach in his 4th Season in charge, it isnt a good sign. Everyone was expecting Defense to be the focus and now he has added to our needs as opposed to solved them. Drake was a decent pickup but RB was already seen as a position of strength. Sometimes I really do struggle to understand our team's Modus Operandi.

Kev8360

Prefab Sprouter wrote: »

I'm still scatching my head somewhat at our Free Agency. It apears that Gruden has decided to blow up the O-Line and start again. For a coach in his 4th Season in charge, it isnt a good sign. Everyone was expecting Defense to be the focus and now he has added to our needs as opposed to solved them. Drake was a decent pickup but RB was already seen as a position of strength. Sometimes I really do struggle to understand our team's Modus Operandi.

I agree , its a strange decision but we did have one of the highest paid O-lines in football over the last few years so if any area of the team had to take a cut to bring in better players on defense that was always going to be a prime candidate especially with the cap situation this year due to Covid.

I do expect the offense to be worse next year but if they can reduce the points conceded in a meaningful way they wont need to light it up every week and the ball control offense with Jacobs and now Drake will have a better chance to control games.

Too many times last year Josh Jacobs was a non factor because they had to score fast to keep up.

Thats my hope anyway but the draft and rest of FA will tell the tale....

golfball37

Arden Key and Mo Hurst both cut. Strange move as they are both still on their rookie contracts and ain’t saving much

Kev8360

golfball37 wrote: »

Arden Key and Mo Hurst both cut. Strange move as they are both still on their rookie contracts and ain’t saving much

Very true - I thought both were solid role players, both have been snapped by the 49ers.

With Ngakoue coming in maybe the thinking is they can reinforce via the draft I am guessing.

Will know soon enough.....

Prefab Sprouter

Kev8360 wrote: »

Very true - I thought both were solid role players, both have been snapped by the 49ers.

With Ngakoue coming in maybe the thinking is they can reinforce via the draft I am guessing.

Will know soon enough.....

With a pick at 17, its really tough to figure out what way the Management are going to view this draft.

Will they address an area of need?

Will they pick the best available (something we havent been able to do in decades!!)

Will they trade back (or God Forbid, mortgage the future on trading up??)

This year seems a real quandary. We all have ideas about what they SHOULD do, but it rarely pans out that way with Gruden and Mayock.

heyjude

The Raiders are in the NFL version of purgatory, not bad enough to get a top 5 pick and draft a future Hall of Famer, while not being good enough to seriously challenge for the Super Bowl.

Darren Waller and possibly Josh Jacobs aside, the team is bereft of playmakers on both sides of the ball and all the extra first round picks from trading Mack and Cooper hasn't helped, as they were frittered away.

I had hoped that we would go defence heavy and find the playmakers on defence to allow the team to make a step forward, but trading away over half the O-line has created more holes to be filled and the re-signing of Karl Joseph just a year after allowing him to depart in free agency is a total head scratcher. So now I can see 2 of our first 4 picks going on a right tackle and guard.

If Gruden is calling the draft shots behind the scenes, then he needs to let Mayock do the job that he was hired to do and stay out of the way, because the past few drafts(especially in the early rounds) have been awful. If recent drafts are Mayocks' work, then I'd say this is his final chance.

I think we need quality over quantity, so I wouldn't be averse to trading up a spot or two in the early rounds if a player you really like is still available, so long as the price isn't too steep. We must come out of this draft with playmakers that our opponents need to gameplan for and fear, like they used to for Mack. We can't afford to end up with more players like Lynn Bowden and Tanner Muse.

Kev8360

I am certain that the HC who has a 10 year 100million dollar contract is calling the shots in the draft - I have yet to see any indication that Mike Mayock is the final decision maker when it come to draft picks.

From the little that I have read about the draft this seems to be a bumper year for QBs and not much else so trading up is not likely unless we want to go top 5 to get a QB and I cannot see that - I am not sure outside of Waller/Jacobs/Carr what we have to use as draft bait.

I am not expecting great things from this draft tbh. We might pick up some late round steals but with so many areas to address its hard to see what we will go after.

Only one thing I can guarantee is that we will draft the concensus "fastest player" in the draft... however it is measured since there was no combine.

Prefab Sprouter

I'll be happy if, for once, we dont do our usual "reach" for players. It would be nice to have a safe, conservative draft and whilst I do trust Mayock to properly evaluate players, I always imagine that Gruden is looking at ways of surprising other owners by drafting players that other owners werent considering at that point in the draft. He just cant seem to just draft, always seems to be tinkering and meddling.

MrKingsley

It'll be interesting to see what they do. If be happy for them to trade down to be honest. We are not just a player or two short. We have holes all over the place.

That's even more frustrating when seeing that we've have 6 first rounders over the last 3 years.

Actually just had a look back there. We've only had 7 picks in rounds 2&3 under Gruden and Mayock in comparison.

I would much rather for them to be looking for "their kind of guys" in rounds 2& 3 instead of the first round.

heyjude

Feeling a bit apprehensive about two of the offensive tackles being linked with the Raiders - Tevin Jenkins - who is a mauler in the run game but struggled a bit with pass protection in college and apparently has short arms for a tackle, meaning he could end up playing at guard and Alijah Vera-Tucker, who is really a guard that has played tackle and could also end up reverting to guard. If we need a right tackle then we need to pick someone excels at that position in the NFL, not another Robert Gallery.

Also keeping my fingers crossed that Micah Parsons doesn't end up at the Broncos or Chargers.

Kev8360

Well O-line was going to be the top priority after shedding all the senior players so I can see why they went that way with the pick. Sounds like they could have got him in the next round but with all the top players already gone off the board there was probably not a lot of interest from other teams to trade up.

Kev8360

Well looking at what we did in the draft I can see that we were definitely trying to address the defense - main worry is that we seemed to draft a lot in the S/CB area which we do need but I worry that this feels like picking in volume and hoping some turn out to be good.

Drafting in the middle of the rounds does have that disadvantage though.

I really hope that the Rodgers mess in Green bay doesn't drag Gruden into a trade. That could end worse than the Antonio Brown fiasco.

ButcherOfNog

I'm expecting another 8-8 season at best

eire4

ButcherOfNog wrote: »

I'm expecting another 8-8 season at best

Unfortunately I have to agree especially the at best bit:(

adrian522

Well there's 17 games so 8-8 seems unlikely

eire4

adrian522 wrote: »

Well there's 17 games so 8-8 seems unlikely

Haha I forgot about that.

Prefab Sprouter

adrian522 wrote: »

Well there's 17 games so 8-8 seems unlikely

8-8 and 1!! :p

Kev8360

Prefab Sprouter wrote: »

8-8 and 1!! :p

Haha!

That would be like us alright

ButcherOfNog

Fair enough, forgot about the extra game. I'll upgrade my expectations to 8-8-1, after a 6-2 start

Prefab Sprouter

ButcherOfNog wrote: »

Fair enough, forgot about the extra game. I'll upgrade my expectations to 8-8-1, after a 6-2 start

We'll know how realistic these predictions might be later, when the Schedule is released! No doubt we'll have to travel to KC on a Thursday, following a trip to the east coast on the preceding Sunday!

Kev8360

Starting off MNF with the Ravens in LV so handy one there in the W column..... for the Ravens

Prefab Sprouter

Kev8360 wrote: »

Starting off MNF with the Ravens in LV so handy one there in the W column..... for the Ravens

:D:D:D:D:D

Kev8360

Some of it has already leaked apparently -

Sept. 13 vs. Ravens (MNF)
Oct. 10 vs. Bears
Oct. 17 at Broncos
Oct. 24 vs. Eagles
Nov. 7 at Giants
Nov. 25 at Cowboys (Thanksgiving)
Dec. 26 vs. Broncos

Kev8360

Full Schedule:

Week Date Team PT
1 Sep-13 Baltimore Ravens* 05:15 pm
2 Sep-19 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 10:00 am
3 Sep-26 Miami Dolphins 01:05 pm
4 Oct -4 @ Los Angeles Chargers* 05:15 pm
5 10-Oct Chicago Bears 01:05 pm
6 Oct-17 @ Denver Broncos 01:25 pm
7 Oct-24 Philadelphia Eagles 01:05 pm
8 BYE
9 Nov-7 @ New York Giants 10:00 am
10 Nov-14 Kansas City Chiefs** 05:20 pm
11 Nov-21 Cincinnati Bengals 01:05 pm
12 Nov-25 @ Dallas Cowboys*** 01:30 pm
13 Dec-5 Washington Football Team 01:05 pm
14 12-Dec @ Kansas City Chiefs 10:00 am
15 12/18 or 12/19 @ Cleveland Browns TBD
16 Dec-26 Denver Broncos 01:25 pm
17 Jan-2 @ Indianapolis Colts 10:00 am
18 Jan-9 Los Angeles Chargers 01:25 pm


My takeaways are the start is brutal with 2 AFC north matchups (steelers away on a short week) - Cant see us getting more than 3 wins
before the bye best case. The middle of the schedule (9-13) is where we really need to make hay and beat all we can outside of the chiefs.

8-8-1 here we go!

Prefab Sprouter

Jerry McDonald on Twitter made the point that fans of frequently successful teams do really care about the schedule too much, whereas the likes of us Raiders fans obsess over each week, where its played etc. Guess it shows how far we've fallen!

Kev8360

Prefab Sprouter wrote: »

Jerry McDonald on Twitter made the point that fans of frequently successful teams do really care about the schedule too much, whereas the likes of us Raiders fans obsess over each week, where its played etc. Guess it shows how far we've fallen!

yep its true - its funny sometimes you see a team get a couple of early wins in a tough schedule and they really push on above expectations so it is pointless stressing too much about it. If you think about it our 12-4 season was a brutal schedule - we had multiple east coast back to back trips and early games but we handled it well.

You just never know.

Kev8360

Nate Hobbs at CB looking decent in preseason so far. Looking like he may be in line for a starting spot.

Kev8360

some Interesting decisions on the players cut. From all reports John Brown didn’t do well in training camp so not surprised he is cut but still a strange one considering how well he played for buffalo last year. Trey Ragas I thought would survive but might be due to Jalen Richard being injured and needing to do some roster wrangling with the practice squad to keep both of them

also I found it strange that Most of the 1st team didn’t get any reps in pre season. I know there’s worries about injuries (JK dobbins is a prime example for the ravens) and 1 less game and all but even giving them a couple of drives in the first game would have been worthwhile just to knock the rust off.

not too long to go to find out if it was the right call.

heyjude

At last its time for kickoff and the Ravens will be tough opposition, even though facing Baltimore in Vegas in September rather than in Baltimore in November has got to be a plus. The Ravens have had to place 3 starters on IR in the past few days, so it might also be an advantage to play them before their replacements at RB and CB have a chance to bed in. Just maybe with Peters missing, Ruggs can have a big game.

Defence has been the Raiders' achilles heel for years, so it will be interesting to see what Gus Bradley can do. There are plenty of new faces on defence, but Yannick, KJ Wright, Perryman and Heyward, who will all see extensive playing time and have played for Bradley before, may help speed up the process, even if the best defensive performances may be a few weeks away.

Kenyon Drake is the only new offensive skill position player likely to see significant playing time and will hopefully spell Josh Jacobs who seems to have been carrying a knock in recent days. But how will the new faces on the o-line cope with the Ravens pass rush with Incognito, Hudson, Jackson and Brown, all missing, the latter 3 having left town and with Incognito a week or 2 from full fitness. Their replacements, John Simpson, Andre James, Denzelle Good and rookie Alex Leatherwood face a baptism of fire. While I'm hoping for a big season from Foster Moreau, who if he can stay fit, could emerge as a real star.

With the Chiefs, Broncos and Chargers all winning yesterday, despite the tough opposition, the Raiders really need to win, especially at home. The AFC West will rival the NFC West as the toughest division in football and could be very close at the end, so if the Raiders want to challenge for the playoffs, they need to show it from the start.

ankles

Raiders concede a ton of points but manage to squeeze out a win. But it's the first half of the season. So just like 2020 already in other words...