2013 NFL PREDICTIONS!!! (TYLER)

THE RRRRRAIDAS!! (IN BERMAN VOICE)

For Day 15 of my 2013 NFL Prediction i will be breaking down the OAKLAND RAIDERS!

The Oakland Raiders were terrible last year behind QB Carson Palmer, injuries riddled the team, RB Darren McFadden never really got used to the Zone Blocking scheme and one of Oakland's best receivers was undrafted Rookie Rod Streater... yeah that's right. The Raider defense was one of the worst in the NFL last year especially as pass protecting and pass rushing. New GM Reggie McKenzie has done a lot this year to widdle out heavy contracts that are just hurting this organization, but with that Oakland has lost a lot of their best players. Oakland traded QB Carson Palmer to Arizona, and acquired QB Matt Flynn from Seattle. One of the best pickups by McKenzie was grabbing ILB Nick Roach from Chicago, Roach has already become a leader on the defense and the players look up to him as the quarterback of the defense. DB's Charles Woodson, Tracy Porter, Mike Jenkins, and Usama Young come in to try to tighten down a terrible defensive backfield, while DT's Pat Sims and Vance Walker come in to try to help plug up lanes against the run. The Raiders also did some work in the draft this year... Lets see who they selected.

ROUND 1: D.J. Hayden CB (Houston)

ROUND 2: Menelik Watson OT (Florida State)

ROUND 3: Sio Moore OLB (Connecticut)

ROUND 4: Tyler Wilson QB (Arkansas)

ROUND 6: Nick Kasa TE (Colorado)

ROUND 6: Latavius Murray RB (Central Florida)

ROUND 6: Mychal Rivera TE (Tennessee)

ROUND 6: Stacy McGee DT (Oklahoma)

ROUND 7: Brice Butler WR (San Diego State)

ROUND 7: David Bass DE (Missouri Western)

The Raiders surprised a lot of people by drafting CB Hayden after trading back, because of Hayden's recent injury history that almost took his life. However, Hayden was widely considered the best CB coming out of college before his injury so who knows, this pick could pan out very well. OT Watson was kind of a head-scratcher because Oakland needs players to play now and Watson is very raw, lucky for him however he will end up playing RT instead of more critical LT. The next five picks i absolutely love, Sio Moore will be a contributor this year along with TE's Kasa and Rivera. QB Tyler Wilson has already been pushing Matt Flynn for the starting spot, and RB Latavius Murray will more than likely be used as a change of pace back to complement McFadden. What was really good to see was the direction that GM McKenzie is taking this organization. With that said however, will it be enough to help them out this year? Let's take a look see... 

OPPONENTS                                   W/L

@ INDIANAPOLIS                               L

JACKSONVILLE                                 W 

@ DENVER (MONDAY)                     L

WASHINGTON                                   L

SAN DIEGO                                       W

@ KANSAS CITY                               L

BYE WEEK

PITTSBURGH                                    L

PHILADELPHIA                                 W

@ NEW YORK GIANTS                    L

@ HOUSTON                                     L

TENNESSEE                                      L

@ DALLAS (THURSDAY)                  L

@ NEW YORK JETS                       W

KANSAS CITY                                   L

@ SAN DIEGO                                  L

DENVER                                            L

FINAL RECORD                             4 - 12

To answer my own question..... NO..... i don't think it will be enough to help them this year. This team needs a lot of work, but i do see them heading in the right direction and solid QB play will be huge for the future years. There are way to many question marks on defense and not enough consistency on offense to be a contender. What I've seen is Raider's fans are more than happy to see this kind of record this year because they know contending for the division is on the horizon. 

Agree? Disagree? let me know what you think. And thanks for reading!