After all the drama of this offseason regarding Antonio Brown, it finally comes to an end. The Raiders announced the release of Brown this morning after he made a post on Instagram asking for his release.
This was a good move for the Raiders locker room and culture, but their receiving corps has taken a hit. It also becomes harder to evaluate Carr without him having the top-notch players around him to fully get a gage if he is the future.
Now Carr is left throwing the ball to Tyrell Williams, Ryan Grant, J.J. Nelson and Hunter Renfrow. Fans should expect the Raiders to hit the free-agent market to bring in more talent at the position or bring up Marcell Ateman from the practice squad.
With the talent outside depleted, the new main target of this offense might come from the tight end position. Darren Waller has been the buzz of the Raiders whole offseason, and Jared Cook became Jon Gruden’s “X” receiver last season. Waller will be lined up in the same areas as Cook, and Gruden will attempt to make him the same matchup problem he created in Week 1 against the Rams in 2018.
Williams could see plenty of targets as well, but he is more of a one-trick pony. His struggles with press coverage won’t create big windows for Carr, and he is better running over routes from the slot to help him get free releases. Nelson can’t catch the football consistently, and Renfrow is a rookie.
The Raiders passing offense last year was still solid with a less talented receiver corps. The Raiders should be able to move the ball better and be more efficient on offense than a season ago. It will be interesting to see how Gruden mixes it up.
Josh Jacobs, hope your back is ready.
