The Oakland Raiders have ushered in some significant changes this offseason. It appears linebacker Vontaze Burfict already has high expectations for his defense in the 2019 NFL season.

The Raiders have put an emphasis on shoring up their defense through free agency and the 2019 NFL Draft. According to Jimmy Durkin of The Athletic, Burfict is confident that it will come to fruition next season:

“We can be great,” Burfict said. “We just got to fit the pieces to the puzzle. I feel like this team is very competitive and everybody feeds off each other’s energy. When Nick made that breakup, I saw the whole defensive sideline try to run out there and congratulate him. Obviously, they had to get ready for the next play, but just the energy here is amazing. I can’t wait to start the season off.”

The Raiders made headlines with their additions this offseason on both sides of the ball. Among the most notable was the pairing of Burfict and wide receiver Antonio Brown. It is no secret that the two share a long history as former AFC North rivals. Fortunately, there seems to be no bad blood between the two and both players have expressed their excitement about a fresh start in Oakland.

While Brown provides the offense with some much-needed firepower, it will be on Burfict to help lead the defense as his experience should somewhat stabilize the linebacker corps moving forward. The Raiders were utterly abysmal against opposing offenses last season due to a number of reasons. Regardless, it is clear that there is plenty of optimism about a potential resurgence in 2019.