2014 Year In Review: Oakland Raiders
By Matt Furtado/KHTK Sports 1140
The Year of the Draft:
There wasn't much positive for the Oakland Raiders in 2014. There hasn't been much positive for this football team in the past few years.
But the Raiders did, in fact, start 2014 with a bang and had one of the best drafts they have had in a long time.
The Raiders had many holes in the roster at the time of the draft, but they started with the two most important positions on a football team.
With the fifth pick in the 2014 draft, the Raiders selected linebacker Khalil Mack out of Buffalo.
Mack was a pro ready linebacker coming out of college, and he showed in 2014 that he will be a big time player on the defensive side of the ball for many years to come.
With one game left in the season, Mack has played in all 15 games and has posted 57 tackles and four sacks. The numbers aren't necessarily spectacular, but they show potential and room for growth for a player the Raiders hope to be the leader on defense.
The Raiders had the fourth pick in the second round, and they selected quarterback Derek Carr out of Fresno State.
In a draft class with a lot of high profile names at quarterback such as Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles, Carr was said to be the most pro ready quarterback of the bunch.
So the Raiders decided to test that theory. He started week one and has started every game since.
He hasn't put up crazy numbers, but he has had a few very good games mixed into the season including a four-touchdown game in week six against the San Diego Chargers.
The Raiders haven't had a quarterback behind center that the team could truly rely on since Rich Gannon's last full season in 2002, but it looks like Carr will be the one that will man that position for years to come.
But that's about where the positive stops, and the negative begins.
After a 0-4 start to the season, the Raiders fired its head coach, Dennis Allen.
He was hired on to be the head coach in 2012 and the Raiders were a lousy 8-28 with him steering the ship.
As a result of the firing, the Raiders named Tony Sparano as the interim head coach. Sparano was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2008 to 2011 where he only led the team to one winning season.
The Raiders played better and harder under Sparano, but they still haven't shown many signs of a good team.
The team has gone 3-8 under Sparano with just one game left in the season.
What to expect in 2015:
Questions have been swirling for months now about who will be the team's next head coach. It doesn't look like Sparano will be back as the head coach, and only two names have really swirled around the rumor mill.
Jon Gruden and Jim Harbaugh are the two coaches being talked about for head coach.
While Gruden is pretty much a guaranteed no because of his career in the broadcast booth for ESPN, Harbaugh to the Raiders is starting to make more and more sense.
Things have completely blown up for Harbaugh in San Francisco and it's almost a sure thing that he won't be back with the Niners next season.
He was an assistant on the Raiders coaching staff in 2002 and 2003, so he has familiarity with the organization. He also had a very close relationship with Al Davis, whose son still owns the team.
If the Raiders could somehow pull it off and get Harbaugh, it would be the best option for the team in 2015 and the future.
The Raiders will once again have one of the top picks in the draft in 2015, and with so many holes to fill, it may be better for the team to trade the pick and get as many picks or players as possible.
If they don't trade the pick, it would be nice if they went after a potential playmaker on offense.
Running back Melvin Gordon out of Wisconsin, or wide receiver Amari Cooper out of Alabama would be ideal players for the Raiders to draft.
2015 will still be a struggle for Raiders, no matter whom they draft or bring in as the head coach, but they have the chance to make massive strides for improvement.