NFL Record Predictions: Where do the Redskins end up in the pack?
By Ian Cummings
Oakland Raiders
The Raiders are weird. Has an average to mediocre team ever received this much preseason hype? Granted, it’s not so much excitement for how good the Raiders will be, as much as it is excitement for how entertaining the Raiders will be, regardless of performance.
Jon Gruden, Antonio Brown, Hard Knocks. It all contributes to the perfect equation for audience growth. But while the people may tune in to watch Oakland in 2019, it won’t be to watch a playoff run. They’ll tune in to watch a spectacular crumbling.
It’s almost sad that the Raiders have already become this spectacle, because they do have talent. They used a lot of money to bolster their roster this offseason, and they have a great mix of youth and veteran utility. That said, Jon Gruden, brother of Redskins coach Jay Gruden, did nothing to sell me on his style in 2018, and there are just too many clashing personalities in the locker room for it to come together in 2019. It’s a master plan to everyone inside the Raiders organization, but a crash waiting to happen from those on the outside. All you can do is watch.