1. Wont: Problems on defense
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The elephant in the room heading into the 2021 season is undoubtedly the Las Vegas Raiders‘ defense, players who gave up 474 points last season. That one of the worst totals in the entire league and showed how ill-prepared they were. Despite this, the defense has remained relatively unchanged during the offseason. In fact, the only noticeable changes were the signing of Alex Leatherhead, Tyree Gillespie, Jim Morrisey, and Nate Hobbs. Is this enough?
It will be very interesting to see what happens, but don’t expect too much out of this defense in 2021.
2. Will: Pressure on Derek Carr
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Let’s be honest here.
Derek Carr has led the Raiders’ offense for a total of seven years now and has only managed to bring the team to the playoffs once. Now, you could argue that Carr is still one of the most consistent players on the Raiders offense, but he hasn’t been able to come up clutch yet. Furthermore, he has former Heisman winner Marcus Mariota gunning for his starting job.
Carr is very much in a do-or-die situation this season, and who knows what the veteran Quarterback might do with this motivation. There’s a lot of incentive on the table for Carr to finally make something happen. If he can’t, he runs the risk of losing his spot.
3. Wont: Jon Gruden
https://www.facebook.com/foxsports/photos/bc.Abo8Z5vQUNlAjCOD6UnBSQRM5foWRxuj2zuhfRm_E_vM5NhkKERjGFZgiaG3Q1urpDO18NplybwCTq4hlrjTCp2hgt5ZOttxcqZNpX2xam6zaLVW0-rkJ6I9nsvDmZrMrR1Y7eKJ0cEkihLxmedrWgTh/10157122485609552/?opaqueCursor=Aboj8aGS_DU6d1KyK4VCFBp9CbnBO-fwo8tEy_boL24h7MJwNJMKLTp7mrw2y9Q66U4xX_BBGm8e4dt2viopmiWkjaJIN1II6Ew5BCjj__eIpntq8lL0wKY0_L2a_Wk6SPAR0Qm80bFjm-P_1As1gvjDTMZRzGoGCr-gv5OjnB1oTiSZmgWPuhQOlI6x2iTio8OFsAUVvI1QhzjXwqrdhZdFxS8ymc36NGEx4tzBkPAs5k812B75v0BHYxHgJmIKSrRP_Oobvgap2NbI7JY5ep6Wz0HI3ZoD9Oo-331B_7VUhupUqqxrfJMcytKDtd7G657DtK1RqQGJzmQNA566NEsYNvjOG3PaT695nqoY5lXA9o5qVrvolwhAZ0KnKmB6mU2dbL0X7EZNmpKCsa5RknuE4lNUcO9z3mpiC3HGOc49DQtUNFlnmuKgX7TjagOTAULkMJDrDcLkynR0UWGD8yNVE-X__qAScbGlfPp4_2J5RM8c1WsERFJFuiagsXI6E9I
Another thing fans need to be honest about is that Jon Gruden may not be the coach who will lead the Raiders to a championship. He has just proven too many times to be incompetent on playcalling, seems to blindly favor Derek Carr over Marcus Mariota, and just can’t get anything going with his defense. Now, change starts from the top down, and without removing Gruden from power, there might not be a real path forward for a championship or even a playoff run.
4. Will: Kenyan Drake
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Could Kenyan Drake be the x-factor that the Las Vegas Raiders have been waiting for? While only time will truly answer that question for us, chances are good that he could be a reliable weapon for Derek Carr in key situations. He could also take some of the load off of Joshua Jacobs in the running game, giving the Raiders a more versatile offense. At the very least, this offense needs people who can play on the ball when it counts, and Drake could definitely do that in the running back flex role.
5. Won’t: Their schedule
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The Las Vegas Raiders got the short end of the stick when it came to schedules in 2021. Experts agree that they have the hardest season ahead of them in the entire league. Not only does that leave this dilapidated defense vulnerable to blowouts in the first two weeks of the season, but it also calls into question what exactly Derek Carr will be able to get done on offense. The Raiders also don’t get any easy opponent until weeks five and six, where they face the Chicago Bears and the Denver Broncos back to back. After that, they duel it out with the Philadelphia Eagles before getting a well-deserved bye weak.
After the bye week, they face a tricky opponent in the New York Giants but then move on to an even trickier opponent in the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, it’s worth noting that the Las Vegas Raiders handed the Chiefs their lone loss during the 2020 season, but they also lost the second game, splitting the series at 1-1. That’s a toss-up, which is not good for the Raiders during that part of the season. Unfortunately, they will face the Chiefs again in week 14, creating a likely do-or-die situation against their rival.
Lastly, they face the Broncos, The Indianapolis Colts, and the Los Angeles Chargers in the final three weeks of the season, making for another hit or miss situation. In the end, it doesn’t look like making it to the playoffs will be easy for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021, and the schedule is proof of that.
