The are entering a new era in a new city with a new stadium. There's reason to be optimistic for this team heading into 2020, as they have plenty of young talent on both sides of the ball with star potential. While Jon Gruden's squad finished 7-9 last season, they appeared to be a playoff contender at one point. After reeling off three straight wins, they were sitting at 6-4 and had the world wondering if could carry the Raiders to the postseason for the first time since 2016. Unfortunately, the Raiders lost five out of their last six games -- including a heartbreaker in their last game in Oakland.The Raiders may have young talent, but some questions still remain -- especially when it comes to the quarterback position. Gruden has said plenty
Charles Harris Jersey of times this offseason that on , and has done quite a lot to try to build around him. But this is the most important position in football, and the Raiders absolutely have to figure out if he's the one they want under center, or newly acquired free agent .Coming to a conclusion at the quarterback position will be something Gruden needs to addre s head on if the Raiders want to become a serious contender in 2020, but it's not the only thing. Let's take a look at three moves the Raiders can still make that would put them in position to be contenders this upcoming season. Their roster looks pretty good on paper, but there are some things they can do to get the most out of this team.1. Host a legitimate quarterback battleI'm not nece sarily calling for a change under center, but I am trying to figure out who is my guy for 2020. If Gruden is truly excited to move forward with Carr, then his quarterback should have no problem winning a position battle with Mariota. Take the for example, they traded for this offseason to put pre sure on Mitchell Trubisky. General manager Ryan Pace got straight to the point after this acquisition, saying that they have told both players this will be an " ." Gruden and the Raiders should do the same thing -- not hide under the guise of "competition at every position." Put pre sure on
Detroit Lions Men Jersey your quarterback. When it comes to Mariota, the former No. 2 overall pick certainly did flame out with the . When was given the opportunity to step in, he went 7-3 and helped the Titans get all the way to the AFC Championship Game. But what would have happened if the Titans held an open quarterback competition in the preseason instead of being adamant that Mariota was the future under center? Could the Titans have secured a first-round bye? Could they have been rested enough to defeat the in the AFC Championship Game? Could they have won the Super Bowl?Many thought Tannehill had lost his chance as a starter when he was traded to the Titans, but he bounced back in a big way. Maybe Mariota in Vegas. He clearly has talent, and there isn't a quarterback that Gruden has seen that he doesn't like. The Raiders' staff might be able to get the most out of the 26-year-old. At least give him a shot to compete for the right to start.2. Create a package that
Detroit Lions Accessories allows Jr. to be succe sfulWhile most fans are excited about what and will be able to bring to the Raiders' offense in 2020, Gruden absolutely has to get the most out of Lynn Bowden Jr. The first team All-American played some quarterback, running back, receiver and even returned both kicks and punts during his time at Kentucky, and was awarded the Paul Hornung award for being the most versatile athlete in . Previous winners include stars like , and Jr. Bowden is a player Gruden can have a lot of fun with, and if he uses him correctly, he could take this offense as a whole to another level. Why do NFL teams run trick plays? It's not because it looks cool, it's because they catch defenses off guard. Remember how incredible the ' wildcat package that Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams ran in 2008 was? With it, they took down the -- who had won 21 straight regular-season games at the time. Imagine Bowden running that wildcat package -- someone who is an electric player that has played both running back and quarterback. While the wildcat would work perfectly, using him in any versatile capacity would work. Look at him work the read option against Louisville last year: LYNN
Ryan McCollum Jersey BOWDEN JR. TO THE HOUSE SEC Network (@SECNetwork) Additionally, a quick to s turns him into a dual-threat weapon that can either choose to turn the corner on defenses or hit tight end streaking acro s the field. Once it's established that he's a Swi s army knife, defenses will have to pay attention to him whenever he's on the field, which would in turn take some pre sure off of Carr, Jacobs and the other wideouts.Vegas fans are going to love this kid, and if there's one game you want to go back and rewatch, it's his last game at Kentucky.
Detroit Lions Hats Bowden was so fired up before the Belk Bowl against Virginia Tech that he couldn't stop himself from talking smack during pregame warmups. He backed up that talk by rushing for 233 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries, and also threw for the winning touchdown in the 37-30 victory. 233 rushing yards Game-winning TD pa s Lynn Bowden can do it all ESPN (@espn) During his three seasons at Kentucky, Bowden rushed for 1,503 yards and 13 touchdowns while averaging 7.4 yards per carry, caught 114 pa ses for 1,303 yards and six touchdowns and also pa sed for 495 yards and three touchdowns with five picks. No one is arguing that Bowden has to be the No. 1 option on offense, but someone with this kind of versatility and explosivene s has the potential to make an offense special if he's utilized correctly. Whether running the ball, working as a receiver, serving as a trick play quarterback or even as a decoy, Bowden could end up being a special player at the next level. Gruden is going to have to work to figure him out, however. Just look at the ridiculous things he pulled off as a punter in high school: "I just ran. I'm a hard guy to tackle" is how Lynn Bowden describes this TD he scored in high school. Seems fair Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) 3. Get back to the vertical pa sing gameIt wasn't long ago where the wide receiver position was a weakne s on the Raiders' roster, but that is not a problem anymore. , , , and then the rookies in Ruggs and Edwards make up a solid group, and Gruden is going to have to put an emphasis on getting the most out of them. Carr did record a career-high 4,054 pa sing yards and engineered the No. 9 pa sing offense in the NFL last year, but he did catch some flack for how heavily he relied on checkdown pa ses and short routes in general. Carr actually last month."I also love when people say that we only throw checkdowns to ," Carr said, via Vic Tafur of The
Detroit Lions Women Jersey Athletic "But those are called plays for Jalen Richard. You know? These are plays where we are only running routes to get him the ball. Our yards per attempt and completion are super high and they are only going to get higher and grow higher as we're adding speed
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