Don’t adjust your eyes, but the Las Vegas Raiders look good. No, you are reading that correctly. The Raiders are looking extremely impressive.
This is even though the Raiders are again being disrespected by the national media. Included in this attitude is Fox Sports One host Colin Cowherd who attacked the team as a “carnival” with broken rides, the front office as clowns, and a delusional fanbase. This was in addition to Cowherd’s attack on rookie Head Coach Antonio Pierce’s recent financial issues.
Despite the Las Vegas Raiders going 9-8 in 2023 after dealing with Josh McDaniels, an interim head coach, and the benching of Jimmy Garoppolo, they’re projected to fall to last place in 2024. Instead, I think they’re being slept on. The Las Vegas Raiders have a team that can threaten the AFC West this season.
Las Vegas Raiders Added To a Dominant D
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Last season, the Las Vegas Raiders finally had a good defense after years of torturing their fans with terrible defenses. For the first time since 2002, the Raiders had a top-10 scoring defense, and their first top-20 scoring defense since 2006. After almost two decades of bottom-tier defenses, Patrick Graham helped coordinate a unit led by Maxx Crosby that kept opposing offenses out of the endzone.
After an outstanding offseason including the signing of Pro Bowler Christian Wilkins, expect the Las Vegas Raiders to have an even better defense in 2024. The secondary is still suspect, which was not helped after losing cornerback Amik Robertson to Detroit. However, with Patrick Graham returning as defensive coordinator, Las Vegas is projected to have another top-10 unit this upcoming season.
It’s Time for ‘Zeus’ To Strike
Nobody could deny that Josh Jacobs was the best running back in the 2022 NFL season after he led the league in rushing yards. That was followed by an intense holdout leading to bad blood between the two sides. The 2023 NFL season might have been the worst in Jacobs’ career as he missed several games due to injury and struggled to perform when he was on the field as well.
This led to the breakout of second-year running back Zamir White. Nicknamed “Zeus,” White fought off two torn ACLs in college as well as being a fourth-round pick to emerge as the team’s featured back. With Jacobs loudly ripping the team on his way to Green Bay, “Zeus” is set to explode onto the scene in his first full season as the starting running back for the Las Vegas Raiders.
A Great Draft Creates Optimism
One of the key factors that has to have “Raider Nation” excited has to be the excellent draft class. While it surprised quite a few people, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers went to the team in the first round as they opted to select the best player available on the board. They didn’t reach for a single pick that they made the entire draft, something that surprised fans and experts alike.
Second-round pick Jackson Powers-Johnson looks to be the starting right guard the team has sought for a long time with the right mentality to be a Raider. An extremely underrated draft pick that shouldn’t be ignored would be running back Craig Berube, whom the team might look to as their version of San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffery.
Last Season Was Not a Mirage
Last season the Las Vegas Raiders seemed content to put their fans through yet another cycle of pain and torment. That was until Halloween when Mark Davis fired General Manager Dave Ziegler and McDaniels. Since that very evening, “Raider Nation” has been filled with nothing but hope and optimism.
Under new Head Coach Antonio Pierce, the Raiders have spat on the “Patriot Way” moniker and instead promote the “Raider Way.” To old-school football fans, the “Raider Way” is a way of returning the team to their classic identity. It should be noted that as interim Head Coach, Pierce had a winning record last season(5-4) and went 4-2 against the AFC West including beating the Kansas City Chiefs.
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