All 32 teams enter the 2015 NFL season with optimism and identical 0-0 records, so the Oakland Raiders can take solace in that fact even if they aren't quite ready to contend for the playoffs.
A new head coach in Jack Del Rio has taken the helm for the Silver and Black, and he'll be dealing with a roster featuring a ton of moving parts and new additions.
The patchwork job general manager Reggie McKenzie attempted prior to last season backfired in a big way. It's therefore likely a year still remains before Oakland makes a big move in the NFL hierarchy.
Now ...
The NFL draft is a week away and it’s fitting we look back at the Oakland Raiders' mixed history of draft day successes and failures.
The draft is where teams either build or destroy their franchises—sometimes for the short-term and in other cases for the long-term. Recently, the Raiders have taken leaps toward rejuvenation, but some significant missteps at the beginning of the decade have slowed the progress during Reggie McKenzie’s tenure as general manager.
This assessment isn’t to blame all the Raiders' woes on the late Al Davis, who served as his own GM, but there’s a clear difference between the ...
The Oakland Raiders hold the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft and could address a number of different positions at this spot.
Which position should the Raiders target? Could Oakland trade down?
Watch as Stephen Nelson and Bleacher Report Analyst Matt Miller discuss the Oakland Raiders' upcoming draft strategy. Read more Oakland Raiders news on BleacherReport.com
With less than two weeks to go until the 2015 NFL draft, the top of the Oakland Raiders' draft board has become pretty clear. The Raiders have some glaring needs—wide receiver, guard, defensive end—and they should address those within the first three rounds.
But which players should the team target later in the draft?
Rounds 4-7 (the later rounds) are where front offices really show what they're made of. That's not to say that making picks in rounds 1-3 (the early rounds) is easy, but it's certainly easier.
Contributors can still be found in the later rounds if you know where to look ...
Through 10 games of the 2014 season, the Oakland Raiders were averaging 63 rushing yards per game—the fourth worst start for a rushing offense since the merger. Had the pace continued, the Raiders would have finished with the worst 16-game rushing season in NFL history.
It’s easy to see why the Raiders are one of the teams in play to trade for Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, as Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman first reported. The Raiders need difference-makers like Peterson on the field, so although they may be “on the outskirts” of the chase, it makes a lot of sense ...
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (at least that's what it feels like), the Oakland Raiders lived by several tremendous mantras.
Pride and poise. Commitment to excellence. And, of course, the gold standard, courtesy of the late, great Al Davis: Just win, baby.
To say that the last 12 seasons haven't gone according to those maxims would be an understatement: The Raiders haven't made the playoffs since losing Super Bowl XXXVII following the 2002 season, and they also don't have one winning campaign in that span.
The Raiders have won a grand total of 11 games over the past ...
There’s one player who will likely be available for the Oakland Raiders at No. 4 overall in the 2015 NFL draft and should be selected without hesitation, and his name isn’t Leonard Williams.
NFL analysts and fans often fall too deeply in love with overused adages and trends to realize why certain winning formulas work and others don’t.
Trending techniques and strategies are often replayed in highlights and repeated through hot-topic discussions, but are exceptions to these trends ineffective?
Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft on ESPN.com has USC defensive end Williams headed to the Jacksonville Jaguars at third overall.
By debunking a few myths, ...
Until recently, most experts agreed that the Oakland Raiders would take either Amari Cooper or Kevin White with the fourth overall pick of the 2015 NFL draft. The Raiders had otherwise failed to add a wide receiver for quarterback Derek Carr in free agency, so it was only natural to assume that finding one early in the draft was a priority.
Maybe it still is, but the signing of former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree may have given the Raiders flexibility at No. 4 to go in another direction. Crabtree isn’t a No. 1 receiver, but by adding another ...
With the 2015 NFL draft fast approaching, the Oakland Raiders are in the final stages of fine-tuning their big board. The team made several additions through free agency, but many of those were to add depth. That means that several starting spots are still up for grabs.
The Raiders still have to address starting jobs at three positions in particular: wide receiver, defensive and right guard. Fortunately, plenty of players at all three positions will be available in the draft who can step in as immediate starters.
Given the depth in the draft at these positions, Oakland has plenty of options to ...
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane spent the offseason tinkering with his roster, and didn't stop once Opening Day rolled around. Four days after outfielder Cody Ross was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Beane picked him up off the scrap heap for the major league minimum.
Arizona had signed Ross to a three-year, $25 million contract after the 2012 season, but ate nearly $8.5 million of his contract to free up space on a rebuilding team for young outfielders David Peralta and Ender Inciarte.
Bay Area fans know Ross for his heroics during the San Francisco Giants' 2010 World Series run. He ...