There's been a little too much Raiders optimism for my taste these days. Raiders fans thrive in the chaos of a two-win season, and all this predicted winning is starting to make me feel like I'm the butt of some joke I haven't figured out yet. What do you mean things are 'looking good' in Vegas? You're really telling me the *Raiders* 'had a great draft?' Something's up.
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Surely, there's something about this Raiders' roster that's going to doom them to another year spent toiling away at the bottom of the AFC West? There must be an achilles heel that's going to show up the second that Patrick Mahomes is driving the Chiefs down the field with two minutes left in the 4th. I don't have much interest in thinking too hard about what exactly that is, so we'll turn to our favorite pessimists over at ESPN, who spent a good deal of time figuring out the weakness of every roster in the NFL. It's noble work, really. Here's what they had to say about the Raiders.
ESPN thinks that the Raiders may have a little bit of a linebacker problem in 2025
Position of need: Outside linebacker
"The Raiders' top outside linebacker right now is Devin White, who couldn't get on the field for the Eagles last season and eventually went to the Texans, where he started one game. He's known for overrunning plays and questionable pass-coverage instincts. Amari Burney is behind White and played only 9.1% of Las Vegas' defensive snaps last season, slightly more than Tommy Eichenberg's 7.2%."
I guess you have to consider every position on the roster for an exercise like this, but I'll be honest: if I had to choose one position to be a little thin at, outside linebacker would probably be pretty high up the list. I'm okay with it. The total lack of depth is, admittedly, a little concerning, but that's a problem for late August. Right now we're still riding the great, Carroll-Geno Smith vibes, and there isn't an outside linebacker on this planet that can ruin that.
(But maybe sign another outside linebacker?)
