Do you feel that, Raider Nation? That's the feeling of regular season football returning. In a little more than one week's time, the Las Vegas Raiders will be in Los Angeles to battle the Chargers in Week 1. That means it's time to make some 2022 Raiders predictions for the upcoming NFL season.
A month of preseason football has gone by, and boy did it treat the Silver and Black well.
Josh McDaniels took over as the Raiders head coach this offseason, and with a dark shadow of his head coaching past in Denver following him, the former Patriots offensive coordinator knew he had to prove things would be different this time around. His first test: Leave a good first impression during the preseason period.
After four contests, the Silver and Black finished with a perfect record under Josh McDaniels' rule, marking the first time in franchise history the Raiders went undefeated in the preseason.
It would've been bold to predict the Raiders finishing with an undefeated record in the preseason, considering it had never been done before. As bold as it may have been, that's exactly what happened. It almost makes you think, what other bold predictions will come true?
Let's test our luck with two bold Raiders predictions for the upcoming 2022 NFL season.
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2. Ameer Abdullah finds himself on the field more than both Brandon Bolden and Zamir White
If you were to make this prediction a mere two months ago, it would've seemed quite insane. Now, one preseason and training camp later, we're here to boldly predict Ameer Abdullah will see the field more than any running back not named Josh Jacobs, barring injury.
Veteran Ameer Abdullah signed a one-year deal with Las Vegas this offseason, and no one thought anything more than camp body. After all, Abdullah has been in the NFL since 2015 and has only rushed for over 170 yards twice. In the last four seasons combined, the 29-year-old has totaled 324 yards on the ground with a goose egg in the scoring column.
Against all odds, Abdullah not only found his place on the roster, but overtook Kenyan Drake's role while Drake was nursing an injury. Abdullah filled Drake's role so well that the Raiders parted ways with the former Cardinal.
This prediction doesn't come without reason, as bold as it may be.
The role Kenyan Drake played was the Swiss Army Knife role, or the gadget role — the back who does a little bit of everything. Drake's role in Las Vegas was the same role James White had under McDaniels in New England. Check out how often James White was on the field performing in this role.
When James White was healthy in 2020, his 330 snaps led all running backs on the roster by 61. There's two things to consider here. One, White missed two contests, appearing in only 14 games. Secondly, the now-retired Patriots running back started a total of zero matchups.
That's Abdullah, and that's how he'll be used after he overthrew Drake of his role. The running back with the second-most snaps in 2022? Not Bolden and not Zamir White. Ameer Abdullah.
1. The Raiders finish second in the AFC West with a postseason trip
No division in football benefited from the offseason more than the AFC West. Las Vegas acquired Davante Adams, Denver got a new franchise quarterback in Russell Wilson, and the Chargers landed both Khalil Mack and J.C. Jackson.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, they were forced to move on from All-Pro wideout Tyreek Hill, but the team capitalized with an incredible 2022 draft class.
So, if the Raiders finish second in the division, who takes the top spot? Will it be the DangeRuss Broncos with their new All-Pro quarterback manning the offense, or can the young stud Justin Herbert lead the Chargers to a division title? Well, it's neither. In this prediction, the back-to-back-t0-back-to-back (x4) AFC Championship Game attendees remain No. 1.
In fact, the rest of the AFC West falls as it did last year, with the Raiders in second, Chargers in third and Broncos in the basement.
The Chiefs might have lost Tyreek Hill, but there's simply too much that points to them staying atop the division. Not to mention, while Marquez Valdes-Scantling is far from Hill, don't be quick to forget the 27-year-old led the league in yards per reception through the 2020 season with an outstanding mark of 20.9.
The Chargers took clear steps forward this offseason, but so did the Raiders. Their additions should be enough to fend off Los Angeles.
Not only did the team bring in two First-Team All-Pros in Davante Adams and Chandler Jones, but Las Vegas was able to acquire Rock Ya-Sin. Ya-Sin's name may not be the biggest, but in man coverage last season, his play was the biggest. The 26.7% of passes he allowed to be completed was the lowest throughout the league in man coverage.
Las Vegas should give Kansas City a hard time when they face off, but the duo of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid has simply accomplished too much to write off. New Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels and Derek Carr hope to get to that point in the near future, but for now, second place is more reasonable.
While the Raiders won't take the division in these 2022 NFL season predictions, they will take a postseason spot. Playoffs, baby.
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