The Las Vegas Raiders had a very busy offseason. They released Jimmy Garoppolo and replaced him with Gardner Minshew. They selected Brock Bowers in Round 1 and completely rebuilt their offensive line.
But what was the best move of the offseason for the Raiders? Was there one that stood out among the rest? In a recent article by Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus, he wrote about the best offseason move for all 16 AFC teams this year.
For the Raiders, that meant reinvesting in their defense to make a strength stronger. Here is a snippet of what Sikkema had to say about their offseason moves:
They established a direction of team building and stuck to the plan after hiring defensive-minded head coach Antonio Pierce. It began with spending a ton of money on Christian Wilkins to get Maxx Crosby some help on the defensive line, and while the team didn’t go defense with its first-round pick, the emphasis on beefing up that unit was still there. The Raiders are in rebuilding mode, and they’re rebuilding through the defense first.
The Raiders finally have an identity and that is something they haven’t had in some time. Under Pierce, they want to be a physical team that punishes opposing offenses. Time will tell if that strategy works, but at least they have a clear-cut plan. And adding a player like Christian Wilkins to the defense will only make them that much better.
