Raiders Making Wide Receiver a Priority this Season

Las Vegas Raiders General Manager Mike Mayock didn't mince words at the scouting combine in February when he was asked about improvements that needed to be made to the team, specifically at the wide receiver position.

"We're a pretty good offensive team, and I think everybody standing here knows we need help at wideout," Mayock said. "We need to be better. The Antonio Brown thing left a void that we weren't really able to fill. So, we need to get better there."

Said void resulted in no other Raiders pass catcher other than tight end Darren Waller to finish with more than 651 yards, and the only wide receivers who had more than 40 catches were Tyrell Williams and rookie Hunter Renfrow.

The Raiders were able to still finish 11th in total yards last year despite this, thanks in part to a healthy running attack led by rookie Josh Jacobs. The fact that the Raiders finished only 24th in the league in scoring offense underlines the lack of overall playmakers for the offense last season.

The Raiders certainly has done its part to fix that weakness in the offseason, most notably in the draft, when they were the first team to draft a wide receiver, taking Alabama's Henry Ruggs III with the 12th overall pick. They then drafted two wide receivers back to back in the third round, Lynn Bowden of Kentucky and Bryan Edwards of South Carolina.

The potential for Ruggs' impact has already been well documented, and there's little doubt the threat of his speed will open up the Raiders' offense in different ways.

The potential effects of Bowden and Edwards, though, shouldn't be overlooked. Rob Rand from NFLDraftScout.com told Sports Illustrated that he "just really like this collection of talent for the Raiders." According to Ran, he sees Bowden as being "more of a Golden Tate type of guy, almost more of a running back more than a receiver who is at his best at the little drag routes, slip screens and things like that.

"Bryan Edwards is a big receiver, big physical kind of guy, so they all fill different roles, and I think all three will help out Derek Carr and the passing game."

It will undoubtedly be interesting to see how Jon Gruden will incorporate all of the new additions to the Raiders' offense. It maybe could be one of the keys for the Raiders to take the next step in becoming a real playoff contender in the AFC.

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