What Do Raiders Need Going Forward?
The Las Vegas Raiders season still has two games to go, but their playoff hopes are effectively over after losing to the Los Angeles Chargers, 30-27, in overtime on Thursday night.
It's two seasons in a row in which the Raiders won six of their first 10 games and weren’t able to finish the season off well, the Raiders are still in need of major improvements.
It’s those needs we’ll be looking at as we continue to evaluate the Raiders' season of work.
Defense
Might as well get the obvious out of the way, right?
Anyone who watched the Raiders this year knows that their defense has for the most part bleed points and yards on a weekly basis.
The Raiders took a step to try to correct that by firing defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, but the Raiders simply don’t have the talent necessary to be even a league-average unit.
That’s despite investing significant resources in free agency and the draft the last two years.
Linebacker Cory Littleton was supposed to be the big-name Pro Bowler added this offseason but has struggled in coverage at times and has missed 15 tackles.
Their young pieces in the secondary, Johnathan Abram and Damon Arnette, have also struggled with consistency and availability.
Simply, this defense needs more legitimate talent. They need to see if players like Clelin Ferrell can take that next step, because if they can’t, then the Raiders will be rectifying their own mistakes.
Playmakers
The Raiders have core pieces on offense to build around in Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller, but outside of that things get uncertain.
Henry Ruggs III has the talent to be a go-to deep threat at receiver, but health and inconsistency has plagued him as a rookie.
Nelson Agholor has had a nice season after coming in on a minimum deal, but he’s never come close to a 1,000-yard season.
Wide receiver Tyrell Williams missed the entire season because of an injury, Hunter Renfrow fits as a classic slot receiver but probably not anything more and other young wideouts like Bryan Edwards haven’t shown much.
The Raiders can’t continue not incorporating their wide receivers. They need to find someone that can definitely serve as a No.1 wideout.
Whether that ends up being Ruggs or not, it remains to be seen.
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