4-Down Territory: Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders are in the midst of a bunch of changes, some familiar, some not so familiar. Within those changes, they must figure out which direction are they going in after finishing with a 6-10 record. Due to that poor record and things taking a step back from a 12-4 record (second place in the AFC West), head coach Jack Del Rio was fired.

Now as the Raiders face an identity crisis, here are the four biggest questions for the team in 2018:

1st Down: Is Jon Gruden prepared to take over the Oakland Raiders in the NFL season?

Gruden has had a lot of success as an NFL coach. From 2008-2001, he made the Raiders in his swashbuckling image. They were gritty and played tough defense, but they also had a quarterback by the name of Rich Gannon. After a playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in the 2001 AFC Conference Championship, Gruden would go on to win a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003.

Fast forward to 2018 and Gruden has been out of the NFL since 2009. Will he know how to operate an offense and a defense in today’s NFL?

2nd Down: Is the offense going to return to it’s previous glory?

In one head-scratching move, they cut Michael Crabtree, who led the team in touchdown receptions (eight). In another head-scratching move at the time, they signed Jordy Nelson, who finished with 53 receptions for 482 yards and six touchdowns in 2017. However, Nelson has reportedly looked much more explosive than he did during last season.

The club signed running back Doug Martin during the offseason to presumably spell Marshawn Lynch. The issue is, they didn’t add anyone else of relevance at the offensive skill positions. It makes things tougher understanding that they are severely aging at these positions as well.

3rd Down: What have they done to fix the holes on the pass defense?

The short answer is: Little to nothing. This is a club that ranked 20th in scoring defense (23 points per game), 26th in yards allowed per game (241.1 yards per game) and 30th in turnovers generated (14 during the season). These numbers aren’t good and on paper, they didn’t add many pieces at their positions of need.

At corner in free agency, the club added linebacker Tahir Whitehead, as well as corners Rashaan Melvin and Shareece Wright. In the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Oakland selected defensive tackle P.J. Hall and defensive end/outside linebacker Arden Key in the third round. The Raiders didn’t draft a cornerback or middle linebacker until the fourth round, where they drafted cornerback Nick Nelson and didn’t draft linebacker Azeem Victor until the sixth round.

They haven’t patched any of the holes on the ship. These Alaska-sized holes on the defensive side of the ball and they still don’t have a foolproof plan.

4th Down: What is this team’s identity?

This team is full of veterans and a few young players here and there. However, it doesn’t have one specific quality that makes it stand out. It’s certainly not the old offense or porous defense that the club has that’s their identity. Maybe it’s Gruden who is their identity. It could also be Khalil Mack, at least if they re-sign him. They are also a team in transition from Oakland to Las Vegas. Could it be why they want one last hurrah with veterans and a former coach of the team? Nostalgia’s sake?

Usually a club that has no identity struggles in the regular season, so it may be another tough one for the black and silver.

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