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Playing in what looks to be the NFL’s toughest division for the 2022-23 season, the Las Vegas Raiders are fighting an uphill battle in Josh McDaniels’ first season as their head coach. With 53-man roster cuts having just been made, they have positions that still need talent added to them.
Derek Carr and the offense look to have plenty of playmakers, which will help keep them in many games this season. But will the offense have enough supporting pieces to help take some of the load off of Carr’s shoulders?
Will the defense be able to carry its own weight against the likes of Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, and Russell Wilson this year? Will their secondary be able to hold up while their pass rush goes after it in the trenches?
3 Positions The Raiders Must Improve Following Roster Cuts
3. Offensive Line
With Alex Leatherwood now off of the roster, the Raiders will have all six of their first-round selections from 2019-2021 either off the roster or their fifth-year options declined. The absolute disaster of a tandem Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock were for this franchise has set them back a number of years, even though they are still postseason hopefuls.
joins Leatherwood on the waiver wire, and even with moving both, this group needs some help. Kolton Miller is this team’s best lineman at left tackle, but every other position needs some help from the waiver wire or free agency.
2. Running Back
The release of Kenyan Drake paves the way for Georgia rookie Zamir White to pop up the depth chart and into the RB2 spot behind Josh Jacobs. McDaniels usually is a believer in utilizing a committee at the RB spot, and this year looks to be no different.
The only challenge with using a committee is that the Raiders need more talent in-house to be able to successfully roll it out, seeing as how they need one more RB option to complement their stable. Ameer Abdullah looks to be in line for a pass-catching role, which would fill out the remaining work for the RBs to scoop up, but he is far from exciting.
Jacobs was rolled out in the first preseason game, showing that the coaching staff likely won’t have a ton of confidence in their starting back. As long as White continues to impress, he will be in line for an expanded workload this year, but they need another proven option (Phillip Lindsay, Marlon Mack) to help fill out the workload.
1. Defensive Secondary
The trade of Trayvon Mullen to the Cardinals, combined with the cuts of Nate Brooks, Chris Jones, and Cre’Von LeBlanc freed up four spots in the defensive backfield for the Raiders, putting pressure on offseason acquisition Rock Ya-Sin and others to pick up the slack.
Facing high-powered passing offenses, especially in their own divisions, will be tough for the Raiders, and with how their depth is now, they will absolutely get picked apart. Mullen is the biggest name of the group but was shipped out for a conditional late-round selection, showing that he wasn’t heavily valued by the front office.
As the Raiders look to compete in their division this season, their secondary is going to be put under the microscope quite often. They will need to look into important cornerback depth more than safety, but both areas could use an influx of talent.
