Sometimes it truly is the hope that kills you. And if you’re the Las Vegas Raiders, that “sometimes” probably feels a little more frequent than most teams. After their first playoff appearance in five years in 2021, the 2022 NFL season felt like an opportunity to build on their success – even in a tough AFC West. They added Davante Adams to an already decent passing attack and the hope – there’s that word again – was that he would be enough to put them closer to contention.
One year later and the scenery is looking a little different in the desert. Derek Carr is no longer the quarterback – his tenure ended abruptly after he was benched towards the end of the season – and it’s now Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm of the offense. The Raiders have seemingly gone from playoff contenders to something that’s a little harder to describe. Is this a roster that’s close to bottoming out or can they cling to any sort of postseason hope?
Free agency didn’t help address many of the Raiders’ biggest needs. They were able to fill the quarterback hole with Garoppolo, a player very much suited to Josh McDaniels’ system, and gave him another solid weapon in Jakobi Meyers. But the offensive line still lacks quality, and on defense, well, the secondary might be the worst in the league. With lots of holes to fill, let’s break down the Raiders roster heading into training camp.
Offense
The biggest change for the Raiders this offseason was the switch of quarterbacks under center. While, stylistically, the change isn’t a U-turn, it’s a changing of the guard nevertheless. Carr was the starting quarterback for the Raiders for 9 seasons and always tried to put his best foot forward. It likely didn’t end the way anyone in Vegas or Carr’s camp wanted, but football is a business. Now, and who knows how long it may last, it’s Garoppolo’s team.
The product we’ll see on the field won’t be that dissimilar from what Carr and the Raiders produced in 2022. Garoppolo is probably more of a McDaniels mould quarterback: someone who likes to attack the middle of the field on short and intermediate passing concepts. How his chemistry with Adams will develop is interesting. Adams can win all over the field but his bread is buttered as an outside X receiver. He doesn’t run a lot of inside breaking routes, but that’s something that could change to accommodate Garoppolo’s style of play while trying to find a marriage between McDaniels’ vision and the players at his disposal.
After a career-year in 2022, Josh Jacobs will hopefully be ready for the start of the season, but a potential holdout feels imminent. If Jacobs isn’t ready to go by Week 1, then go ahead and ring the alarm bells. He and Adams were the offense in 2022. Putting the next man up – likely Zamir White or Ameer Abdullah – behind that offensive line could be a death knell for the offense. The same could be said for Garoppolo. But if he finds his rhythm in an offensive scheme that fits him to a tee, the offense might look a little better than anticipated. But that’s a big if.
One to watch: Michael Mayer
Defense
This is where things get dicey. Over the last five seasons, the Raiders are 32nd – dead last – in EPA per play on defense. For those counting, that’s under the guidance of three separate defensive coordinators as well. So, this isn’t just a coaching issue – this is something that fundamentally runs deeper. It’s a Raiders-centric problem.
The solution isn’t simple. But the cause is a lack of talent across the board. The Raiders, for the most part, haven’t had the horses on defense over the last five years. Well, in fact, it probably dates back longer but defensive consistency is tough to maintain year-to-year, so comparing it over the span of 10 years won’t yield much in the way of worthwhile results. Regardless, the Raiders won’t be inducting too many defensive players into the ring of honour from this period.
Maxx Crosby has been a beacon of hope on the edge, totalling 275 total pressures and 37.5 sacks since 2019. He’s elevated himself to the status of an elite edge rusher. But he’s just one player and, beyond him, the Raiders just haven’t had a laundry list of good to great talent. Not enough to build a functional defense anyway. Unfortunately, while there could be incremental improvements on the defensive line, that doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. The secondary might lay a real claim to being the worst in the NFL, and even the best pass rush can’t even rectify that sort of struggle on the backend.
That’s where we’re really at with the Raiders. Tyree Wilson is a nice addition in the draft, and guys like Divine Deablo and Nate Hobbs could take a step forward, but this team just doesn’t have that X-factor on defense and it could hold them back in 2023.
Player to watch: Divine Deablo
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.