Grant’s Slants: Raiders On the Go

With the Super Bowl coming to an end, a disappointing one for Raiders fans, the NFL is now officially in its offseason. Like most teams, the Las Vegas Raiders have not had to worry about official football games for a couple of months now and have had a sort of an extended offseason. The extended offseason has been nice, however, as the Raiders have been given more preparation time before unveiling their new stadium and location. In one of the more high-pressure seasons of recent history, the Raiders should have more than enough time to get everything right.

Jalen Richard Returns

Despite losing a significant part of his workload to DeAndre Washington and Josh Jacobs, the Raiders extended Richard’s contract. Head coach Jon Gruden has expressed his satisfaction with Richard, and it appears Richard has satisfied enough, even with a major decrease to his snap count last season. The ray of confusion now lands on DeAndre Washington, as he is up for a contract extension as well. Despite being a similar player to Richard, expect the Raiders to bring Washington back as well, as it would be difficult to believe that the downward trending Richard would be given rising backup Washington’s job.

Tom Brady to the Raiders seems incredibly unlikely

While it is likely the Raiders would be interested in Brady, Sin City doesn’t seem to pique his interest. The line allowed one more sack than the Patriots would, but safety might not be the biggest red flag. The biggest issue is who Brady might be throwing to. As of now, the Raiders do not have a remarkable #1 wide receiver for Brady to target.

Let the Chiefs’ success become a standard.

Yes, Mike Mayock and the team crafted an incredibly impressive draft last year. The team enjoyed growth and improvement because of it. While 7-9 is not close to 12-4, the Raiders still have much work to be done. If the Raiders intend to make it to the Super Bowl in the (near) future, chances are they will go through the Chiefs. While the Raiders were not prepared to do battle with the future Super Bowl champions last season, perhaps another incredible draft will put them in a more confident position.

Josh Jacobs, Uncrowned Rookie of the Year.

While there is no doubt Kyler Murray, had an impressive season, the 5-10-1 does not seem appropriate for many awards. Jacobs led all rookies in rush yards, placing him 8th overall, in only 13 games. While Murray did lead the rookie quarterbacks in pass yards, he finished 15th overall. In fact, Murray outthrew the second-highest rookie passer, Kyle Allen, by around 400 yards, but Allen played three fewer games. With that, Jacobs earned the OROY* around these parts.

New city, new team?

With the relocation of the organization to Las Vegas, the Raiders are already undergoing a change. Is there no possibility the Raiders can get their attitudes back to a form that “The Autumn Wind” speaks of? It would be great to see the team increase their notoriety in the league. Yet, in a more acceptable sense, such as trash-talking but keeping hits clean.