Oakland Raiders: Don't Count Them Out in the AFC West This Season

Every year, all the teams start square.  All 32 teams in first place; and have unlimited potential to make it all the way to the Super Bowl.  Each team has the potential to become great, or fall by the wayside and hope they can find a good high draft pick the next year. 

This season, the AFC West is no exception.  The Broncos and Chargers have been dominating it for the past few years, but a new team could be heading for the top of the division: the Oakland Raiders.

Oakland has not always been a bad team.  They made the Super Bowl in 2002 (Although it seems like an eternity to Raider fans) but since then, they have been lucky to win more than 5 games. 

However, with losing a lot of games, there comes lots of high draft picks.  The talent (well, some of it) is finally starting to pay off, and they can ride that talent throughout the season.

The Offense

This is where the Raiders are looking very different this season.  The biggest draft bust since Ryan Leaf, JaMarcus Russell, is finally gone.  He never really panned out and was a terrible for the team on and off the field. 

With him gone, the Raiders can finally bring in a legitimate quarterback in Jason Campbell.  He was pretty good last season with the Washington Redskins, and was able to utilize his quick wide receivers and pass catching tight end to put up top 15 quarterback numbers. 

Campbell will have the same basic resources in Oakland, with a fast wide receiver in Darrius Heyward-Bey and a pass catching tight end in Zach Miller.  After learning the playbook, he should feel comfortable and be able to run the passing game with ease.

While the passing game is improving, the running game is also going to pick up this season.  The workload now falls squarely on Darren McFadden, and he has shown why.  He has not really been able to shine so far in his few years in the league; sharing time with Justin Fargas and Michael Bush. 

Now, they have decided to give the number one spot to McFadden, and it will pay off.  McFadden is quick and once he turns the corner, he is gone.  He can also catch passes out of the backfield, which will only add to his potential to be a breakout star this season

The Defense

Over the offseason, the Raiders have not only improved their offense, they have improved their defense as well.  The key to their defense is protecting against the pass, and they do it very well, ranking seventh in the league. 

All of the credit falls into the talented hands of their superstar cornerback, Nnamdi Asomugha.  He was the rock of the defense last season, and shutdown some of the best wide receivers in the NFL including Brandon Marshall, Vincent Jackson and Chad Ochocinco.

Along with the passing defense, the linebacker core and defensive line were stellar last season.  With the departure of Kirk Morrison in the offseason, the team leader in tackles from last season was gone, but he was replaced by their first round pick, Rolando McClain. 

McClain looked amazing coming out of college, and can easily be placed into the starting lineup and be a constant threat.  He is aligned with Kamerion Wimbley, a great pickup in the offseason that gives the Raiders a solid linebacker core. 

If you add the presence of Richard Seymour on the defensive line, this team is a real threat to the quarterback on almost every play.

Looking towards the schedule

The Raiders could surprise a lot of teams this season.  They are a younger team that most, but they are working hard to make themselves a legitimate threat in the AFC West and beyond. 

They have a schedule that is ranked 19th in difficulty, and in the first six games, they only face on real threat in the Chargers.  The other five games are against the Titans, 49ers, Rams, Cardinals and Texans.  If they can win just three out of those six games, it would set them up nicely to do very well this season.