2011 Oakland Raiders Predictions

Written by Steve Janus

The Oakland Raiders finished up the 2010 season 8-8 overall. It was the firs time the Raiders finished .500 or better since they won the AFC West with a 11-5 record back in 2002. While the Raiders have to be happy with the improvements they made last season, there was plenty of reasons to be disappointed with the finish. Oakland became the first team to not make the playoffs after going 6-0 against their division opponents, as they finished just 2-8 against the rest of the NFL.

Even though the Raiders made some big strides in 2010, they decided that head coach Tom Cable was not the man for the job, and replaced him with offensive coordinator Hugh Jackson. The Raiders definitely look like they will continue to compete in the West, but there is still plenty of room for improvement on this young team.

Offense:

The Raiders finished with the second best rushing attack in the game last year, and should continue to feature one of the top rushing attacks in the game behind Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. McFadden finally lived up to the hype in his third season in the league, rushing for 1,157 yards and seven touchdowns. Bush did a great job of moving the ball when he got the chance, rushing for 655 yards and eight scores.

While the Raiders will continue to move the ball on the ground, they still have some work to do in the passing game. Jason Campbell and Bruce Gradkowski both saw action last year. With Gradkowski gone, Jackson has made it clear that he is going to go with Campbell as his starter. Campbell finished with just 13 touchdowns in 2010, but his 85.4 quarterback rating was the best in Oakland since 2002.

The Raiders were unable to bring back tight end Zach Miller, who has been their most consistent receiving threat the past few years. Miller led the team with 60 catches for 685 yards and five touchdowns in 2010. That means some of the Raiders young receivers are going to have to step up this season. Louis Murphy, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Jacoby Ford, Chaz Schilens are all capable of making plays, and need someone to emerge as the go to guy. To replace Miller the Raiders added former New York Giants tight end Kevin Boss.

The big concern for the Raiders heading into the 2011 season is what will they get out of their rebuilt offensive line. The Raiders plan on moving in Bruce Campbell at right guard, while rookie tackle Joe Barksdale and rookie center Stefen Wisniewski both figure to come in and start right away. The Raiders only starter back from last season is left tackle Jared Veldheer, who really impressed in his first season.

Defense:

With the return of all four starters on the defensive line, the Raiders are really excited about what this unit will bring to the field in 2011. They have a couple of talented veterans at defensive tackle in Richard Seymour and Tommy Kelly, and a couple of emerging youngsters at defensive end in Lamarr Houston and Matt Shaughnessy. The biggest concern with this unit is the lack of depth behind the starting four.

At linebacker, the Raiders appear to have found themselves a star in middle linebacker Rolando McClain, who finished second on the team with 85 tackles in his rookie season. What the Raiders want to see is McClain take that next step and start to create more turnovers. Kamerion Wimbley is coming off a big season with nine sacks and should continue to be used as rush end in the nickel defense. The other starting outside spot is between Quentin Groves and Travis Goethel. Groves started most of last season, but Goethel was the projected starter before a back injury cost him most of the year.

As expected, the Raiders were unable to bring back Pro Bowl corner Nnamdi Asomugha this offseason, which will likely have the Raiders secondary taking a step back in 2011. The pressure will be on corners Chris Johnson and Stanford Routt to keep this unit from suffering a huge drop off. Tyvon Branch has been a tackling machine for the Raiders, leading the way with a 102 tackles in 2010.

Prediction: 3rd AFC West, 7-9 – I’m confident the Raiders won’t go 6-0 against the division in 2011, and with a much harder schedule outside of the conference I don’t think there is a whole lot of room for improvement this year. The loss of Miller and Asomugha will be tough to overcome. Plus, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the offensive line, which has to play well for Oakland to have success offensively.

Individual Team NFL Season Predictions

AFC
AFC West	AFC North	AFC South	AFC East
Kansas City Chiefs Predictions	Pittsburgh Steelers Predictions	Indianapolis Colts Predictions	New England Patriots Predictions
San Diego Chargers Predictions	Baltimore Ravens Predictions	Jacksonville Jaguars Predictions	New York Jets Predictions
Oakland Raiders Predictions	Cleveland Browns Predictions	Houston Texans Predictions	Miami Dolphins Predictions
Denver Broncos Predictions	Cincinnati Bengals Predictions	Tennessee Titans Predictions	Buffalo Bills Predictions
NFC
NFC West	NFC North	NFC South	NFC East
Seattle Seahawks Predictions	Chicago Bears Predictions	Atlanta Falcons Predictions	Philadelphia Eagles Predictions
St. Louis Rams Predictions	Green Bay Packers Predictions	New Orleans Saints Predictions	New York Giants Predictions
San Francisco 49ers Predictions	Detroit Lions Predictions	Tampa Bay Bucs Predictions	Dallas Cowboys Predictions
Arizona Cardinals Predictions	Minnesota Vikings Predictions	Carolina Panthers Predictions	Washington Redskins Predictions

Comments

Got something to say?