AFC West: Three bold predictions for the division in 2023
Bold prediction #2: Las Vegas Raiders bottom out, blow it up in 2024
Is this a bold prediction? Perhaps not. The Raiders as a team got appreciably worse in the offseason, and the main move that contributed to that was dumping Derek Carr for an inferior and injury-prone quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo.
That coupled with Josh McDaniels being a below-average head coach is a bad mix. The team has huge questions on defense and along their offensive line, but their cast of weapons is solid, even without Darren Waller.
I don't see this team doing hardly anything in 2023. With three other solidly built organizations in the Chargers, Broncos, and Chiefs, the Raiders may already have five losses on their record with the tough division.
This would make life a lot easier for the Denver Broncos, especially if they can get the best of the Los Angeles Chargers. It would also be funny to see the Raiders bottom out. They won six games in 2022 and I'm not sure they can get to that number in 2023.
The Raiders, in this bold prediction, would then blow it all up again. They'd fire Josh McDaniels and ship off some veteran players for draft picks. The team would then return to their rightful spot as one of the worst franchises in the NFL.