Taking Stock of Oakland Raiders Ahead of Week 6 Bye

On Monday, Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio used the term self-scouting to describe the process of reflection for the coaching staff during the bye week. He told reporters that a 2-3 record falls short of the team’s goals, but he acknowledged the strides and improvements made over the course of five weeks.

Del Rio’s Raiders have faults, every team does, but Oakland has taken plenty of steps in the right direction. 

The Raiders played competitively in four consecutive games and emerged victorious in half of them. The team snapped an 11-game losing streak on the road, won consecutive games for the first time since 2012 and went toe-to-toe with the undefeated division-leading Denver Broncos.

Oakland shed the image as a pushover and pushed back on teams that normally had their way with an uninspired team.

Ultimately, the Raiders' culture shift attributes to changes from the top down. The new regime defined a new direction for the franchise by infusing the locker room with leaders and rolling the dice on midseason acquisitions to improve the roster.

For the most part, the results have yielded a promising outlook. However, the Raiders must continue to reinvent the wheel to build upon the improvements.

This inclusive stock report doesn’t indicate stock up or stock down, but it highlights some of the major themes within the five layers of the Raiders organization—from the front office to the roster.

Begin Slideshow

...