Raiders No. 8 in Peter King's Rankings

NBC NFL Writer Loves the Moves Mayock, Gruden Made in Offseason

by Tom LaMarre

Even though the Las Vegas Raiders have gotten some strong reviews for the players General Manager Mike Mayock and Coach Jon Gruden have added during the offseason, few people have predicted that the Silver and Black will make a big more in 2020.

Until now.

Peter King of NBC Sports has the Raiders at No. 8 in his NFL Power Rankings and No. 4 in the AFC, even though they were 7-9 last season and lost five of their last six games after they put themselves in possible playoff position.

King wrote: “This is going to be a fun floor show in the new Allegiant Stadium, in the first year ever for an NFL franchise in Nevada. A shame, really, that crowds may not be able to flock to see this team due to the pandemic. What fun it could be, with the speedy Henry Ruggs III paired with returning Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfrow—and with twin third-round picks Lynn Bowden and Bryan Edwards fighting for receiver snaps too. Tight end Darren Waller is an emerging star and could get a few snaps stolen by in-the-twilight Jason Witten with a strange stop, at 38, on his late-career tour.

“GM Mike Mayock paid so much attention to the offense because it was simply too inconsistent last year; the Raiders scored 24 points or less each week in the last six, going 1-5 down the stretch. That led to the Raiders kicking the tires on Tom Brady in March. Derek Carr knows, and doesn’t seem to care. I probably like the Raiders more than most because of the offensive improvement and because of four defensive additions: defensive end Carl Nassib, inside linebackers Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski, and cornerback Prince Amukamara (decent year in 2019 in Chicago, very good in 2018).

“There’s a good chance that the significantly better AFC West will neuter the progress the Raiders, Chargers and Broncos have made, because they’ll all unmistakably improved. But this first edition of an NFL team in Vegas is a fascinating one.

King has the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders’ archrival, at No. 1, followed by the Baltimore Ravens, the New Orleans Saints, the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—with six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady now at quarterback.

The rest of King’s Top 10 includes the Seattle Seahawks at No. 6, followed by the Tennessee Titans, the Raiders, the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers.