2016: Oakland Raiders Offesne Season Preview

dspbuckle

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After various seasons, General Manager Reggie McKinze has finally got Oakland going in the right direction and coach Jack Del Rio and the gang show promise after a 7-9 season.

The team is mostly stable and has some great young leaders in QB Derek Carr, WR Amari Cooper and Defensive Player (DE, LB, hell maybe he's a Kicker too) Khalil Mack on the road to stardom. Not to mention incredible pick ups to solidify the O-Line, the defensive line and a hurting DB squad last year. Optimism is high, but it means nothing until we kickoff.

Here are some highlights:
Quarterbacks

After a virtually 25 year carousel (if we ignore the resurgence of Rich Ganon in the early 2000's) we finally have a franchise QB in Oakland. Tim Brown was elected to the Hall Of Fame last year and named a barrage of quarterbacks in his thank you speech that threw him a completion. You would think Mr. Raider was traded constantly. Carr rarely sees the dirt as he his poised under pocket and shows patience. His accuracy has gone up since his debut including his TD to INT ration which was equivilant to that of Aaron Rodger and Russell Wilson last year.

Running Backs
This is a rough area for a young Raiders team. Latavius Murray looks to be the cowbell of the team but lacks any real help. Behind him is a list of unproven names who is led by utility man Taiwan Jones. Jones sure knows how to stay on a team, that's for sure. DJ Hayden must sit next to him in the locker room.

Wide Receivers
The king of the bubble screen, Amari Cooper hopes to improve on his 1,000 yard rookie season. The man is ellusive and has a great downfield skill. He may be the name in Oakland right now, but let's not forget a great supporting role from Michael Crabtree. Supporting doesn't do him justice as Crabtree is just as important to this receving core as Cooper. The question is can the underlying hands of Roberts and Holmes shine as much as they did last year? When needed to they came through, but they need to step it up.

Tight Ends
Cliff Walford showed promise last year and even got Mike Rivera on the trade block this last offsesaon. No one bit so he's still on the roster. This is good because fans in The Town enjoy his sister's presence at the games. (Cue Big Sean song when he scores a touchdown from section 225).

Speaking of which, let's cut this preview short and get down! That song is on my mind now!

 
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