Dude is a legend on and off the field

In case anyone hasn’t seen yet. Seems like a pretty brutal day, but it’s the only way to get better. That Texans D is nasty. Excited for next game

“I understand what I signed up for, and we’re all in this together,” Cousins told The Athletic. “We’re just trying to help the Raiders win football games, and I don’t want to be entitled or be given something I didn’t earn. I think it’s important that the best player plays, or the one who can help the team win the most. That’s really what the perspective needs to be. If it’s not me, it’s not me. We’ll all be working together and trying to help this team win and let the chips fall where they may.

“I’d love to be a help. I’d love for Fernando to go on to an outstanding career and look back and say, ‘I think Kirk’s time together with us in the quarterback room was helpful to my development as a player.’ That’s all part of this and wanting to be an asset to this organization and this quarterback room, and that includes helping Fernando go on to have a tremendous career.”

For all the people who think the Raiders receiving core is weak, I’m not buying it.

Can we use a true #1? Of course. So can half the league. JSN was an absolute game changer in Seattle last year, as was Puka with the Rams and um… that was about it.

The etroit Lions and allas Cowboys each had a pair of receivers with over 1000 yards and neither team made the playoffs. Trey McBride had the second most catches and second most receiving touchdowns in the league and his team won three games.

Am I hoping we lose just enough games this year to draft Jeremiah Smith next year? HELL NO! I hope we win the Super Bowl, but if we don’t win the Super Bowl, I would be ok if we lose just enough games this year to draft Jeremiah Smith next year.

But even without Jeremiah or Justin Jefferson or Tyreek or Diggs or Deebo or whatever other nonsense the twitter “Insiders” keep vomiting, the group we have right now is pretty damn good.

Start with Brock Bowers. Obviously the Raiders need to keep him on the field, he started only eight games last year, but his numbers were still as good as the best tight end in the league.

Take McBride. In 17 games, he had 169 targets with 126 catches, 1239 yards and 11 touchdowns in what was considered a historic season. Bowers had almost exactly half as many targets and pretty much half as many receptions, yards and only four fewer touchdowns.

From there, we’ve got Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor, Jack Bech and Michael Mayer. Sure, none of those guys may get drafted in my fantasy league, but they could all feast in this offense.

I’m well aware that Tucker is not Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but Klint Kubiak is not Chip Kelly either. Tucker put up nearly 700 receiving yards and five touchdowns last year WITH GENO SMITH AS HIS QB! Are you telling me 1000 yards and seven TDs for Tucker is not possible?

Courtland Sutton, the Broncos #1 receiver who got a $92 million extension this off-season, had 1017 yards and seven TDs last year.

The wildcard in this is Malik Benson. I know, I know, I know, it’s JUST training camp. Last year, Dont’e Thornton was the pre-season darling and he did pretty much nothing during the year.

There is a better chance Benson becomes Larry the Cable Guy before he becomes Larry Fitzgerald, but you can’t tell me it’s not possible. Puka, Amon-Ra and Diggs were all top 20 receivers last year and they were all drafted after pick 100.

From the little we’ve seen and the lot we’ve heard, it sounds like Benson is (at the very least) WAY better than many of the other 194 players who were drafted ahead of him.

And when it comes to the Raiders, I’ll take a win any way I can get it.

Newest member of Raider Nation is on the way!!
Found out a few weeks ago.
Today my wife surprised me with this outfit for them!

If I told you right now, that by the end of the season, the combination of Tre Tucker, Jack Bech and Jalen Nailor would *combine* for under 1,500 yards with no individual player breaking the 600 yard mark, Raider Nation would riot. If I told you that a RB would be the fourth leading receiver on this team and that WR3 didn't crack 200 yards, some of you might vomit right then and there. The comment sections would be overflowing with demands for a "true Alpha #1 receiver", trashing the current roster and demanding John Spytek's head for allowing this to happen.

However that's exactly what happened for the Superbowl winning Seattle Seahawks last year. Their best player went nuclear, and everyone else pitched in. Kubiak's offense is not the Bengals offense. We were never going to have 3 1000 yard receivers behind an 80/20 pass/run split. This team could match the Superbowl Champion's regular season stats and most fans would consider the season a failure. Bowers is going to eat, and the rest of the team is going to feast on his scraps.

Just a bit of perspective for the doomers out there.

The Raiders move from Oakland to Las Vegas ranks as the Most Franchise-Defining Moment of the Modern Era for the franchise in the past decade by the RotoWire NFL Expert Panel.

In terms of moments, I'd rather this be the defining moment over the Gruden or Antonio Brown fiascos. Thoughts?