A Look Back at the Raiders' Offseason

"He also gives the division four coaches who have won the NFC at least once and coached in a Super Bowl, but the Raiders seemingly have the longest road to travel to get to this season's Super Bowl after finishing six games out of third place in the division in 2024."

White noted that along with changes at general manager and several coaching positions, the Raiders still needed to have a solid offseason filled with serviceable roster additions. Raiders General Manager John Spytek accomplished that in an efficient manner this offseason.

"The first step required to turn the Raiders into a playoff contender was upgrading at quarterback, and the team did so by reuniting Carroll with Geno Smith in a trade with the Seahawks. Smith made the Pro Bowl in each of Carroll's final two seasons with the team while throwing 50 touchdowns versus 20 interceptions and leading the league in completion percentage one season, so he'll represent a big improvement from the team's trio of starters last year," White said.

"The next step involved improving on a rushing attack that finished last in yards per attempt last year, and the Raiders invested the No. 6 overall pick in the draft to do just that by selecting Ashton Jeanty, who rushed for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns, the second-most rushing yards in a season ever behind Barry Sanders."

Raiders Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham will have his work cut out for him again this season. He will lead a defense with talented players at several positions, but plenty of questions elsewhere.

"Improvements were needed on the defensive side of the ball as well, though the Raiders mainly focused on new deals for in-house talent, including star pass rusher Maxx Crosby. Those investments plus the offensive additions left the Raiders to try to upgrade with players on smaller deals and less premium draft picks, with the team turning over the top of the depth chart at linebacker entirely and adding Germaine Pratt, Elandon Roberts and Devin White," White said.

"Third-round rookie Darien Porter and another free agent, Eric Stokes, may wind up serving as the team's best two corners, and Jeremy Chinn should give the Raiders another new starter at safety. It's a lot of moving parts for retained defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to make work as Las Vegas attempts to make a surprise playoff run."

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