One Burning Question for the Raiders Heading into the Season

"Looking back, maybe the right move for many teams early in last year's NFL Draft was to take the only two-time winner of the Mackey Award, given to the best tight end in college football," Schwab said.

"Bowers was productive at Georgia and took that right into the NFL. He had the most receptions (112) by a rookie in NFL history, receivers included, and the most receiving yards (1,194) by a rookie tight end. The Raiders hit a grand slam with the 13th pick of last year's draft."

"It seems hard to believe Bowers could improve his numbers in Year 2, but a lot is working in his favor. The Raiders didn't add much in the passing game. Jakobi Meyers had a solid 1,027-yard season, but he's probably miscast as a No. 1 receiver, which means Bowers will get as many targets as he can handle," Schwab said.

"The Raiders' quarterback situation is better, which helps. Perhaps the offense will take a big step with Chip Kelly calling plays. Bowers had a historic rookie season, and there's no good reason to believe he can't at least approach the same numbers, or maybe improve upon them.

Following training camp, Kelly explained that the players are learning his offensive scheme as quickly as possible. Based on Kelly's words and how the offense has looked in training camp, it appears things are going well for Kelly and the Raiders' offense.

"It's awesome. This is such a good group to coach. They want to be coached. They're thirsty for knowledge. When you go into the meeting room, there's a little buzz and there's an excitement. It's not like, oh god, we're in camp. What we do here? It's like, they're excited," Kelly said.

"It's special when you get an opportunity to be on an NFL roster, and I think these guys are really taking advantage of it. As a coach, it makes it a blast to come in this building every day. And I think a lot of it from the tone that Pete [Carroll] has set. He's made football fun for these guys. And this group loves playing football, so it's been a lot of fun."

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