As the Las Vegas Raiders move closer to their preseason finale and August 27 roster cuts, they’re busy putting the finishing touches on their 2024 roster.
Ideally, Las Vegas will enter the regular season with a squad that is capable of competing in the AFC West and possibly pushing for a playoff spot.
The Raiders showed late last season that they can, in fact, pick up divisional wins.
After Antonio Pierce took over as head coach, Las Vegas went 5-4 and beat the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers along the way.
However, the Raiders haven’t won their division since the 2002 season.
Will this year mark the start of something special in Las Vegas, or will it be yet another rebuilding year for a franchise that has them almost annually? Let’s take a look at what’s in store and make a few predictions.
The Raiders have spent much of the offseason holding a quarterback competition between incumbent Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew. A decision was finally announced on Sunday.
“We feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start, and that’s what we’re going with,” Pierce said, per NFL.com’s Grant Gordon.
We support him, our team’s behind it, our staff’s behind it, our organization’s behind it.”
The QB competition might not have a significant impact on the team’s expectations, however. Minshew brings more mobility and playmaking juice to the proverbial table, but he did not appear to be a clear-cut better option than O’Connell through the first two games of the preseason,
And if Minshew doesn’t pan out, the Raiders will go back to O’Connell anyway.
The Raiders’ success or failure in 2024 will largely depend on their improving defense, their collection of potent pass-catchers and the potential emergence of new starting running back Zamir White.
The Vegas oddsmakers don’t seem to believe that these factors will be enough.
The Raiders over/under for wins currently sits at 6.5, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, and Las Vegas isn’t expected to be a major factor in their own division.
The Raiders are +900 (bet $100 to win $900) to win the AFC West in 2024. Only the rebuilding Broncos have longer odds.
