Raiders breakdown: Offense, defense and special teams

New look. New season. New Raiders.

Here’s a breakdown of the 2022 Raiders.

Offense

The plan: Mick Lombardi is the nominal offensive coordinator as the protege of head coach Josh McDaniels and his longtime understudy in New England. The McDaniels offense uses a great deal of movement both in formation and pre-snap motion to create mismatches for playmakers and is traditionally good for slot receivers and running backs who can catch the ball out of the backfield.

Strengths: This team is absolutely loaded at the skill positions. An offseason trade that brought in superstar receiver Davante Adams and reunited him with college teammate and close friend Derek Carr, who already had a solid stable of running backs and elite pass catchers in Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller, should make the offense one of the most potent in the league.

Weaknesses: The biggest question facing this team throughout training camp was whether the offensive line would be good enough to give Carr and a talented group of backs and receivers enough time to make plays. Kolton Miller is very good at left tackle and Andre James returns as starting center, but they are surrounded by an inexperienced group long on promise but short on resume.

Player to watch: Davante Adams. It’s not often a team gets the chance to trade for the best wide receiver in the NFL.

Defense

The plan: New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is overhauling the unit from a 4-3 base to a 3-4, though he doesn’t like those kind of labels. The Yale alum says his scheme includes multiple fronts and often operates with five defensive backs in a league with more and more emphasis on sub-packages on defense to combat the increase in passing offenses.

Strengths: There are few teams in the league that will be able to get after the quarterback the way Raiders should be able to this season. Maxx Crosby is about to enter his prime as one of the most consistent generators of pressure in the league and offseason acquisition Chandler Jones is a potential Hall of Fame edge rusher. There is also plenty of depth behind them that should be able to come after opposing signal-callers in waves.

Weaknesses: There’s not a glaring weakness, per se, though there are several questions the unit must answer. While the defensive front should be able to generate pressure, they will also need to find a way to set the edge and be stout against the run. Will undrafted rookie free agents Luke Masterson and Darien Butler follow up their excellent training camps and provide depth at linebacker? Can the mix of returners and newcomers jell quickly enough in the secondary to slow down the high-powered offenses in the division?

Player to watch: Nate Hobbs. He was an absolute revelation as one of the best rookie cornerbacks in the league last season, but he will take on an even bigger role and needs to keep up that level of play.

Special teams

Tom McMahon has the unenviable task of taking over for beloved special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, who also guided the team to the postseason as interim head coach after Jon Gruden’s resignation last season. Fortunately for McMahon, he takes over as solid a group as there is in the league in punter A.J. Cole, kicker Daniel Carlson and long-snapper Trent Sieg.

Coaching

It’s not often a new staff takes over a team that made the playoffs the previous season, but that’s exactly the situation Josh McDaniels finds himself in with the Raiders. His second chance as a head coach comes more than a decade after what he called a “failed” stint at the helm of the Broncos. He’s far more prepared this time around.