The Raiders were quite busy this offseason. Especially during the free agency period. Putting together a list of top ten newcomers might seem like too many for some teams, but not for this one.
The Raiders added some 20 new free agents this offseason. Then when you add the 7 draft picks and 8 undrafted free agent signings and you’re up to 35 newcomers.
Not all newcomers are created equal, however. Some figure to make bigger impacts in the immediate future than others. Here are the top-10 as I see it.
10. TE Jason Witten
With one of the best tight ends in the league in Darren Waller already leading the way for the Raiders and Foster Moreau looking like a great number two tight end, they didn’t exactly need one. But could they use Witten’s talents? Sure.
Last season, he came out of retirement at the age of 37 and caught 63 passes for 529 yards and 4 touchdowns. Who couldn’t use that kind of production? And he’s always been a solid blocker.
Sure, there were probably better places they could have spent the $4.75 million they’re paying him, but this isn’t really about that. Gruden figures to have a nice looking trio of tight ends to work with and we know how much he loves tight ends.
9. WR Bryan Edwards
Many people, including myself, had Edwards as a second-round talent in this year’s draft. So, to get him at pick 81 in the third round would figure to be some great value. This isn’t really about draft value though, it’s about the value to the Raiders.
Edwards has the makings of a potential starting wide receiver in the not so distant future. Should Tyrell Williams get injured or falter in some way, the 6-3, 212-pound Edwards is a similar type of receiver to step in and run the same plays. Or if Williams disappoints again this season, Edwards could be the heir apparent.
The future aside, what he brings right now is a receiver who can outmuscle most DB’s and who is hard to bring down once the ball is in his hands. That means first downs and red zone touchdowns. He was just the right type of receiver the Raiders needed to bolster their receiving corps this season.
8. S Damarious Randall
I wouldn’t have put safety as a major need this offseason with Johnathan Abram and Erik Harris already on the roster. The Raiders clearly felt differently as they had been tied to several free-agent safeties before ultimately landing Randall.
The thing about Abram and Harris is both can play either safety position, but their strengths are as thumpers. Randall is better suited as a free safety and he has strong enough coverage abilities to step in at cornerback as well.
Last season the Raiders found themselves in a bind in the secondary. Abram was lost for the season in the opener. Then Karl Joseph was lost for the season in week nine. They signed D.J. Swearinger off the street, but for that didn’t last long. Lamarcus Joyner can play safety, but if they moved him, who would play the nickel? Curtis Riley was tried there and he was awful, so they moved Daryl Worley over from cornerback to safety, which meant weakening both positions.
Long story short, they don’t want to find themselves in that situation again. Randall could be the key to that. He or Harris could start the season alongside Abram. Either way, there is a solid starter and much-needed depth.
7. DE Carl Nassib
Any good pass-rushing team needs more than just a couple good starters. You need a rotation of at least three guys. Last year they didn’t have that luxury. They had to draft their edge talent and hope for the best.
Those drafted players are Maxx Crosby and Clelin Ferrell. Both figure to start on the outside, but with Nassib seeing a large role as well.
The 6-7, 275-pounder has been very productive over the past two seasons in Tampa, putting up 12.5 sacks in those two seasons along with a combined total of 25 QB hits. Those are welcome numbers for this team.
6. LB Nick Kwiatkoski
Kwiatkoski has never been a full-time starter. But the Raiders have designs on changing that. He is pegged as the middle linebacker for the team and was the first free agent to agree to terms with the team once the negotiating period opened up.
He’s the closest the Raiders have come to putting a priority on the middle linebacker spot in many years. Some may be skeptical of him as the answer, but he is just 26 years of age, so he is in his prime. He also put up 76 combined tackles last season despite not playing a single snap in six games and starting the final seven. That’s 122 tackles over a full 16 games.
5. CB Prince Amukamara
This addition is so new, it has yet to be officially announced by the team. But that doesn’t make it any less of a great signing. I would argue he’s a better addition than their near signing of Eli Apple that fell through back in early April.
Amukamara sat on the market for two months, sure, but sometimes good players have to wait for the right situation to sign on to a team.
It’s been ten years since the Giants made him the 19th overall pick in the draft. As it happens, the 30-year-old figures to start at cornerback while mentoring Raiders’ rookie cornerback Damon Arnette.
The selection of Arnette at No. 19 shocked a lot of people. Obviously the Raiders see things differently, but just to be sure, Amukamara can step in and allow Arnette to ease his way into the lineup in much the same way Trayvon Mullen did last season when he took over as the starter midseason with the team trading Gareon Conley to the Texans.
4. QB Marcus Mariota
I absolutely love this signing. After weighing all the quarterbacks headed for free agency this offseason, even before they made the deal, Mariota made so much sense it simply had to happen.
The former number two overall pick had lost his starting job last season to Ryan Tannehill, who, as it happens, saw his former team give up on him and trade him away. Tannehill was a great fit for the offense in Tennessee. Mariota was not. He is a fantastic fit for Gruden’s offense.
This doesn’t mean Mariota is a lock to start. Far from it. But what the Raiders couldn’t do at this point was bring in another pack of obvious backups for Derek Carr, who has not done enough to show he is the long term answer for this team.
Carr looks great in practice, so it will not be easy to unseat him if that’s all you have to go off of. Then again, recently former teammate Logan Ryan has some great things to say about how Mariota performs on the practice field and how he made the defense better. So, Carr will have his work cut out for himself to hold Mariota off.
This team needed a legit competition at quarterback and they’ve got one.
3. WR Henry Ruggs III
General manager Mike Mayock said plainly on several occasions that the Raiders needed speed on the outside. There was no reason for him to beat around the bush because… I mean… duh.
What many people didn’t surmise was just how serious he was with regard to the need for speed. With Ruggs, he gets plenty of that. More than any receiver in this draft by a considerable margin.
While I personally would put Ruggs as the third-best receiver in this draft behind CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy, there’s no question the Raiders had to get one of these three. They chose Ruggs and now we see if they were right.
Regardless of any draft grades or future projections, the Raiders got the speed they needed and he will be an instant starter and should stretch the field the way they had hoped Antonio Brown would before he went and ruined his career.
2. DT Maliek Collins
While there was plenty of turmoil going on in the linebacking corps and the secondary for the Raiders due to being shorthanded, the issues along the defensive line kind of got overshadowed. But they were no less a problem.
Consider that the Raiders spent the 4th overall pick on Clelin Ferrell and then played him inside, which was a terrible waste of his talent. I mean, he may not have been worthy of the 4th overall pick, but that doesn’t mean he’s not plenty talented as an edge rusher.
What the Raiders were hoping to do was get their best front four out there. If that meant Ferrell inside with Benson Mayowa rushing the edge, that’s what they did. They also wanted to see if they could get some pressure up the middle. The even signed Dion Jordan midseason and put him in the middle.
Well, they finally stopped messing around and got a real inside pass rusher. That’s what the 6-2, 308-pound Collins does. He gets in the backfield. If you can get pressure straight into the QB’s face, the play is usually over within a couple seconds. And then the QB has to test his luck against the edge rushers. Collins should make a major difference in the success of the Raiders’ defense.
1. LB Cory Littleton
No position this offseason had a greater need than at linebacker. And no linebacker on the market was better than Littleton. He does everything well. Most importantly, he is stellar in coverage.
Littleton put up 134 combined tackles (78 solo) last season along with four sacks, five quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions.
He can play inside or outside due to his combination of stout run defense and sticky coverage. For the Raiders, he will play on the outside while fellow newcomer Nick Kwiatkoski will wear the green dot. But, let’s be honest, both will fill gaps and drop into coverage plenty.
Littleton was one of the top prizes in free agency at any position. He’s just 26 and coming off two straight seasons as a full-time starter with a combined 259 tackles, five interceptions, and 22 pass breakups. He has the makings of being the best off-ball linebacker the Raiders have fielded in years.
