Josh McDaniels’ first season in charge of the Raiders certainly didn’t get off to a great start. The team won just two of their opening nine games amidst rumours of locker room unrest. Whilst they improved slightly down the stretch, this was overshadowed by the growing divide between the head coach and the quarterback. The Raiders finished with just six wins, their worst mark since 2018 and their first losing season since the move to Las Vegas.
Roster changes
It is tough to find a team that was more active in free agency than the Raiders in 2023. They brought in no fewer than 18 new players, the most notable of which was obviously Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo re-unites with Josh McDaniels to replace Derek Carr, and has signed a three-year $72.5 million deal. Outside of a new quarterback, they also signed another former Patriot in wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who joins on a three-year $33 million deal.
There were some pretty big departures too. The Derek Carr era ended in acrimony, with the four-time Pro Bowler cut in February. The Raiders also decided to part ways with Darren Waller, who they traded to the Giants in exchange for a third round pick. In addition to those two former franchise stars, the team said goodbye to a handful of starters including wide receiver Mack Hollins, safety Duron Harmon, and tight end Foster Moreau.
Coaching situation
Josh McDaniels is set to enter his second season as the Raiders’ head coach, with continuity at other spots too. Mick Lombardi is returning as the offensive coordinator and Patrick Graham is back for a second season as the team’s defensive coordinator.
The biggest addition comes in the form of Scott Turner, who will serve as passing game coordinator. Turner has spent the three previous seasons as the offensive coordinator for Washington. The other changes included a few new position coaches and assistants, including former Patriots and Dolphins receiver Danny Amendola, who joins as the returners coach.
2023 NFL Draft
| Pick | Player |
| 1.7 | Tyree Wilson – EDGE, Texas Tech |
| 2.35 | Michael Mayer – TE, Notre Dame |
| 3.70 | Byron Young – IDL, Alabama |
| 3.100 | Tre Tucker – WR, Cincinnati |
| 4.104 | Jakorian Bennett – CB, Maryland |
| 4.135 | Aidan O’Connell – QB, Purdue |
| 5.170 | Christopher Smith – S, Georgia |
| 6.203 | Amari Burney – LB, Florida |
| 7.231 | Nesta Jade Silvera – IDL, Arizona State |
This class started off with a high risk, high reward selection in Tyree Wilson. Wilson has ungodly traits but he is still raw and underdeveloped and their decision to pass on Christian Gonzalez despite an obvious need at cornerback was perplexing. Michael Mayer was a nice addition though and should fit well in McDaniels’ offense. Keep an eye on Christopher Smith too. He might be a fifth round pick, but he could plausibly start.
Offense
If you are searching for positives with this Raiders offense it starts in the pass catching department. Davante Adams is still arguably the best wide receiver in football and is one of just four players to average 2.4+ yards per route run in each of the last three seasons. Jakobi Meyers is a very reliable secondary option and Hunter Renfrow is an exceptional slot receiver, even if he was under-utilised in 2022. They also obviously added Michael Mayer in the draft, a tight end with tonnes of potential.
That is about it for positives, and is hard not to think the Raiders offense has taken a major step back this offseason. The most noticeable area is the obvious downgrade at quarterback. It sounds like the team was expecting to get Tom Brady when they jettisoned Derek Carr. That obviously didn’t work, resulting in a panicked move for Jimmy Garoppolo, who comes with some legitimate injury concerns. We also haven’t really seen Garoppolo outside of a Shanahan scheme that is famous for inflating quarterback performance.
Josh Jacobs is admittedly a tremendous talent to have in the backfield, but right now it appears that there is a very real chance that he holds out in the absence of a new deal. They have little else beside him in that backfield and he will be running behind an offensive line that, outside of left tackle Kolton Miller, is very weak. Starting guard Dylan Parham allowed 55 tackles as a rookie in 2022, the second most in the NFL.
Defense
The Raiders’ defense struggled massively in 2022, ranking in the bottom three for yards and points per drive as well as drive success rate. That could get even worse this season. They might have added Marcus Peters, but this secondary is still noticeably thin on talent. That isn’t great when you consider their aggressive playstyle – this is a unit that ranked seventh and eighth in Cover 1 and Cover 0 respectively last season.
The concerns continue when looking at the interior of their defensive line, especially in terms of how they can handle the run. Andrew Billings isn’t a household name, but he was a very competent run defender. With him gone, this leaves Bilal Nichols and Jerry Tillery as their two starting defensive tackles. The pair ranked 69th and 98th in run stops last season, with 13 and 9 respectively.
If there is a saving grace it is their collection of edge rushers. Maxx Crosby is a top five player at the position, with his 182 pressures since 2021 leading the NFL. Chandler Jones did start to show his age at times last year but he is still a good contributor. He can also now share the load with the size/speed freak that is Tyree Wilson.
Prediction
The Raiders roster is the embodiment of the phrase “stars and scrubs”. There is talent at several positions, but this feels like a team that has taken a step backwards on offense without really improving much on defense. In a tough division and conference they could easily get left behind.
