It was a busy offseason for the Raiders. They added eleven players in free agency, most of whom will be either a starter or major contributions. Seven of those additions came on the defensive side of the ball.
ESPN tallied up all the additions by each team and put together continuity rankings. Overall the Raiders landed at 12th in the ranking with 77.4% of the roster returning. But that was a split down the middle because there was a vast difference between their continuity on offense and defense.
Offensive snaps returning: 94.0% (2nd)
Defensive snaps returning: 60.4% (28th)
Starters returning: 21 (11 offense, 7 defense, 3 special teams)Non-coordinator assistants returning: 12 of 14
Coordinators returning: 3 of 3 (Greg Olson, OC; Paul Guenther, DC; Rich Bisaccia, ST)
Starting QB: Derek Carr, 7th year
Head coach: Jon Gruden, 3rd year of this stint with Raiders, 14th year overall (11-21 this stint with Raiders; 106-102 overall)
The only expected new starter on offense is top draft pick Henry Ruggs III. Other notable additions include tight end Jason Witten
The offense ranked 11th in yards and 24th in points in 2019.
On defense new starters include DI Maliek Collins, LB Cory Littleton, LB Nick Kwiatkoski, CB Prince Amukamara, and S Damarious Randall. Edge rusher Carl Nassib figures to see a lot of time as well while first round cornerback Damon Arnette will compete for playing time.
The Defense last season ranked 19th in yards allowed and 24th in points.
This is a very different approach to the team than last offseason which saw the focus in free agency on offense and the draft on defense. So, the defense was due for some attention in free agency.