The Oakland Raiders have been mired in futility for a decade. Poor play, laughable drafts and ill-advised free agent deals have crippled this team over the last ten-plus years. In that time, the organization has gone from storied franchise to NFL punch line.
But perhaps that trend is coming to an end.
The Raiders have slowly but surely collected a few foundational pieces and appear to be on the right track as a team. But have they done enough this offseason - new head coach, better offensive personnel, etc. - to finish .500 this year?
"Three of the first four Raiders picks in the draft went to the offense, most notably wide receiver Amari Cooper in the first round to go with tight end Clive Walford in the third," ESPN's Jeff Legwold wrote. "They have a promising quarterback in Derek Carr, who needs to show continued progress. They have fared slightly better in the past two drafts. But this isn't a team trying to get from 7-9 to 8-8. This is a team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 2002 and has won 11 games combined in the last three seasons - or one fewer win than the Broncos had in '14 to win the division. That's an awful lot of ground to cover. If Carr's finger injury doesn't impact his training camp and he deals with the blitz better in a passing game that simply has to be more diverse, the Raiders could get to six or perhaps seven wins. But 8-8 and beyond may still be a year away."
In addition to Cooper and Walford, the Raiders also added free agent running back Roy Helu. Helu is a quality third-down back who can be a solid receiving option out of the backfield for Carr. Second-year back Latavius Murray is expected to be the starter. On the other side of the ball, linebacker Khalil Mack is primed for a breakout season as Jack Del Rio plans to put him in more pass-rushing situations.
As legwold mentioned, none of this will likely be enough to push the Raiders to 8-8. Based on last season's records, Oakland will play the eighth-toughest schedule in the NFL next season. That includes games against the Packers, Steelers, Ravens and other. This wouldn't be as bad if Oakland could compete within the AFC West, but the Raiders are just 2-10 within the division over the last two seasons.
In other words, the Raiders may finally be building a winner again but it's going to take some time for it all to come together. Don't expect any quick-fix miracles in 2015.
