Ahhhh… nothing says offseason quite like a little sense of optimism from a fanbase of what should be pretty commonly known as one of the most incompetent franchises in all of sports… but here we are. Raiders are entering year 2 of the Jon Gruden 2.0 era, the slate has been wiped clean and Gruden has brought in friend and draft guru Mike Mayock to help build this team up the way he’d like it.

I’d like to say I know what direction Gruden and Mayock could go this offseason with over $70 Million in cap space, 10 draft picks with 4 coming in the first 35 picks, and many, many needs, but nobody really has a clue at this rate. So let’s not act like anyone really knows what the Raiders could do, I’m just going to focus on what the Raiders should do in my humble opinion.

Re-Sign – Jared Cook, Marshawn Lynch

Free Agent Targets

EDGE – Ziggy Ansah, Trey Flowers, Za’Darius Smith, Cameron Wake

MLB/WLB/SLB – Jordan Hicks, Kwon Alexander, Mark Barron, Anthony Barr, Shaq Barrett

WR – Tyrell Williams, John Brown, Golden Tate

S – There’s so many good ones, just get one.

At the end of free agency, I think the Raiders should come away with a starting S, LB, and either DE, DT or WR. They can fill out some depth with other additions, but these should be priorities. Now on to the draft.

The Raiders will approach the draft one of two ways. One with Derek Carr being their QB of the future, and one without. Lets start with the one without since that is pretty cut and dry. They will either trade enough compensation to move up to 1.1, or sit tight and see if Murray, Haskins or Lock fall to them at 1.4. Then they fill in roster needs with whatever picks they have left.

Now for the draft approach assuming they really do believe Derek Carr is the franchise QB. While the Raiders can certainly add some talent in free agency, I think they should still attack this with a BPA approach since there is so little talent to speak of. So here is a mock draft to see what that may look like through 5 rounds.

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There is a million ways to go about this offseason with all the resources the Raiders have and the lack of foundational talent that is on the roster as of now, so it is anyone’s guess. This is just my opinion. Don’t trade for Antonio Brown, don’t sign Le’veon Bell unless either comes fairly reasonable. Find a few upper end starters in free agency with front loaded deals similar to what we did a few years back, and build this thing the right way by utilizing the draft capital we have in what appears to be a very high quality draft class.

With a new regime in Denver and with some current free agency issues we will take a short dive into players that could be targeted before the 2019 season.

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Offense

The offensive side of the ball will surprisingly see the least amount of changes due to the addition of Rick “they call me Mello” Scangarello and Mike Munchak, and here’s why. First off Scangarello will be implementing his form of the Shanny Jr offense which relies greatly on the run game. Denver is already successful on this front with their current offensive line and their crop of running backs. While Munchak typically likes to have larger players on his OL, he still runs a ZBS that can be run with a Shanny sized OL. Food for thought: SF’s OL has multiple players under 300 lbs, including their LT who is built like current Broncos LT Garrett Bolles, who weighs 297 lbs. The heaviest player on their OL is their RT at 315 lbs and current Broncos RT Jared Veldheer weighs 322 lbs. The only question marks on the line will be retaining injury prone Ronald Leary and resigning Matt Paradis.

I believe they keep Leary, due to what I will refer to as the Flacco factor. I believe that trading for Flacco was in the plans way back when they were trying to add Kubiak without Dennison. While Kubiak was coaching Flacco at Baltimore the starting LG was Kelechi Osemele who is built exactly like Leary. Paradis is a maybe in my opinion, who could get top dollar elsewhere. Either way I think last year’s draft pick Sam Jones will see more action in the new zone based system.

Where I could see Denver making some moves in free agency on Offense would be at the TE position and possibly an insurance WR.

At WR I only really see them looking at a guy like Jamison Crowder from Washington, who while didn’t perform to a true #1 WR, has the same build and skill set as Sanders, for whom he would be insurance for. I would expect him to pick up the jet sweeps and quick route duties that aren’t part of Courland Sutton’s game.

At TE I only see 2 names that I would accept. One would be taking a flier on the injury prone Tyler Eiffert who if healthy can dominate in the passing game. The other name is Jared Cook who played well despite being 32. But the draft is deep at TE so Denver could address the issue (yet again) there.

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Defense

This is the side of the ball that I expect most of the changes to happen. Between Vic Fangio and Ed “TMNT” Donatell, there will be some extremely different schemes in the passing game. First we need to look at which positions these guys covet which are LB and CB.

With the departure of Marshall into FA (the Denver community will miss him but the playing field may not) you can expect Denver to look there immediately.

The names to consider here are CJ Mosley, Corey Littleton and Jordan Hicks. Mosley is obviously the best of the three, but I don’t see him making it to the open market. But the other two could be great fits as well. Hicks is injury prone, but as a CO native he is extremely versatile as he is a tackling machine and has 7 career INTs. Littleton is coming off a career year which could make him a little more expensive but is also equally versatile. An outside name that could float around would be Kwon Alexander out of TB. Names to stay away from would be Preston Brown and Denzel Perryman.

At CB the pickings are slim in FA. But with the scheme shift away from man to man into an attacking zone, Isaac Yiadom will definitely flourish as he played well in the zone last year.

The name I see them perusing aggressively is Bryce Callahan who had a standout year for Chicago last year and who is obviously familiar with the schemes that Fangio will implement.

The other position I can see them looking into is Safety just because the market is so deep and it could be time to move on from Darian Stewart who is on the wrong side of 30 and is coming off his worst year as a professional.

The names here are Haha Clinton-Dix, Tyrann Matthieu, Landon Collins and Adrian Phillips. HCD and Matthieu are both coming off 1 year prove it deals and will get paid this offseason. Collins would be a sure resign for NYG but Gettleman has proven in the past he doesn’t like to spend top dollar in the secondary. Phillips would just piss off Clipper fans so I approve. (Actually I don’t really want him). But the good part of signing a Safety is that the versatility of Justin Simmons means we can sign either FS or SS and plug Simmons into the opposite role.

I honestly see Denver addressing CB in FA and then drafting Devin White in the first. Then trading back into the first for Lock. Especially if they can land Bryce Callahan.

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Broncos free agents to be considered for re-signing:

Peko, Harris, Paradis, Veldheer, Turner, Krieter, Patrick.

Big week for the AFCW. Half of the division is prepping for divisional playoff games, and the most important team hired a new Head Coach. The last AFCW team is mocking everyone from the sideline.

Denver Broncos

Vic Fangio is the new man in charge. He’s a long time, respected DC, and a first time HC on any level. He’ll be 60 years next season. Lots of unknowns with Fangio, but one thing is certain: he knows how to use OLBs in a 3-4, and he has a great pair. Also Von Chubb is good.

LA Chargers

The two most unlikable NFL QBs face off in the early Sunday game. NE has been a bit under the radar this season, and I think that works out in their favor. The Chargers give it their all, but Brady pulls it out in the end 27-24.

KC Chiefs

This is a tough game to pick. Andrew Luck’s Colts are physical and will challenge Fat Andy’s offense. Playing on the road is too much for Indy to overcome in the end as the Chiefs pull out a 37-31 victory.

Our San Diego LA Chargers face off against the Baltimore Ravens in the early Sunday playoff matchup. Ed Hochuli is coming out of retirement to ref this game, and Commissioner Goodell announced Friday morning that Chargers will not be allowed to use towels, kicking tees, Gatorade/water, and cleats. Another piece of bad news for the Chargers is that a little-known rule will be enforced before kickoff: since the Chargers did not put their required number of players on IR this season, 5 players will be randomly chosen and placed on IR a few minutes before the game begins.

But fear not, Charger faithful. Despite losing to Baltimore just a few weeks ago at “home”, LA has a unique advantage against the Ravens. Bosa’s Boys are the only team to play against LJax twice. Gus Bradley should have a solid game plan to throw at the rookie QB. Expect Derwin James to be weaponized.

But you should also be nervous, Charger faithful. The Clippers are not playing well since beating KC. Rivers has thrown 2 INTs in 3 straight games, and he’s been particularly off the last 2 games (1 TD and 4 INTs). After their biggest win of the season and with the division and possible home field advantage on the line, the Chargers got beat up by these Ravens and looked uneven in a win against a shitty Broncos (boo hoo) team.

Predicktion

Vegas has the Ravens as a 2.5 favorite, but I’m taking the Chargers 23-17. The Ravens are so disillusioned about losing to Rivers that Baltimore and John Harbaugh mutually part ways, and Harbaugh is hired by His Imperial Majesty Elway, and he goes to coach the Broncos to the Third Dynasty. Ok…that got away from me a little. LJax hasn’t been a consistent passer, and I think this is when it comes back to bite the Ravens. Rivers makes enough plays to win and LAC advances to the next round.

The main benefit of having a black dad and white mom? Having a big penis and good credit.

We’re already halfway through the NFL season, and the AFCW is a 2 horse race, and unfortunately, one of those horses isn’t the Broncos.

Broncos: D+

The good: Bradley Chubb and Von Miller are going to be really scary if Denver can play with a lead. The rookies are a good group to build around.

The bad: Only road win was against a truly awful Cardinal squad. Case Keenum is not the short or long term answer. Denver’s OL continues to struggle.

The ugly: Garrett Bolles

KC Chiefs: A

The good: Their video game offense. Tyreek “It’s OK because I married her” Hill has been nothing short of amazing.

The bad: Their video game defense is gonna get them in trouble at some point.

The ugly: Sammy Watkin’s contract

Las Vegas Raiders: F

The good: Got a 1st for Amari!

The bad: Nothing. All going to plan.

The ugly: Mark Davis.

Los Angeles Chargers: B+

The good: Philip Rivers should be in the MVP conversation, and Derwin James looks like a perennial Pro Bowler.

The bad: Bosa getting hurt.

The ugly: The IR is lurking…