I don’t think I could’ve pictured a more raiders-like end to a season than the one we saw with them last year. After an exciting 6-3 start to the 2020 season, beating teams like the saints and chiefs the raiders looked like a lock to make the playoffs. But in a raider-like fashion, this team spiraled quickly, lost the locker room, and finished the year with a record of 8-8 missing the playoffs. One move John Gruden made at the end of 2020 that perfectly attests to his stubbornness was firing his defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. I don’t think this wasn’t necessarily the right move but to do it before the season ended as if he was the main reason their defense was so bad is just a bad way to run the team. While Gus Bradley is probably the better option, it is no one’s fault but John Gruden’s for why this defense is essentially talentless for NFL standards. You can make a long list of all the drastic mistakes this front office has made under the control of John Gruden, While Gruden can undoubtedly coach his players up and call a good offense, he has only hurt this team ultimately as the team’s GM. As someone who was lower on Las Vegas last season, they did really surprise me with their performance throughout the year, especially on offense, but unfortunately, it’s likely to see some heavy regression in Las Vegas for 2021.

Las Vegas Offense

After having somewhat of a surprising performance in 2020 this offense has unfortunately downgraded pretty significantly due to a botched offseason. While a solid receiving core is still in place and all of this offense’s skill players remain, their previously dominant O-line fell apart over the last offseason. They idiotically decided to impulsively cut Rodney Hudson the best center in the league and were only able to get a 3rd round pick when they could’ve gotten more if they had just patiently shopped a trade option. Trent Brown had his own issues with the team and forced his way out back to New England, and this all lead Gabe Jackson to request a trade as well which landed him in Seattle. Kolton Miller and Richie Incognito are all that remain from the previous team which still isn’t the worst two guys to rely on, however, they did a miserable job trying to repair what they had broken by drafting Alex Leatherwood 17th overall who was my 12th ranked tackle in the 2021 class. Denzelle Good and Andre James are the other guys expected to start which makes this O-line dramatically worse than last year. While the QB room isn’t the most exciting, Derek Carr is a reliable guy to run this run-heavy offense and Marcus Mariota is one of the better backups and may still have some potential. Now with a weak O-line, this offense’s biggest strength being their run game is less of a threat and Derek Carr is not the one to compensate for weaknesses. I would describe this offense as being one of the best among the average ones.

Overall OFF Grade: 75.5 (18)

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Las Vegas Defense

This defense is bad enough to rank dead last if compared to other NFL seasons but the Texans should have a historically bad defense as well. Despite bringing in Gus Bradley a former head coach, the personnel in place won’t make a huge difference to be running such a basic scheme. To start, this pass rush is mediocre at best as there is no quality number one type of edge rusher nor good interior players. After dumping a load of cap space into the Linebacking room with Nick Kwiatkoski and Corey Littleton, it only lands them tied for twenty in the league as Littleton played nowhere near his paygrade in 2020. An aged Casey Hayward and Trayvon mullen are underwhelming options at outside-corner and besides the rookie Trevon Moehrig (Trevon Moehrig S Scouting Report) these starters at safety are serious liabilities. Another liability on this defense is their run defense up front with three of their starters being only two-down pass rushers. Alongside the defensive coaching staff, the tackling should be the worst in the league after suffering from tackling issues since the arrival of head coach Gruden.

Overall DEF Grade: 68.9 (31)

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Projected Record: 5-12 (4th DIV)

Las Vegas 2021 Schedule

• Individual grades are based on scale of 50-100.