The 2017 Los Angeles Rams are identical to the 2019 Oakland Raiders
By Jason Reed
The Oakland Raiders have been making improvements throughout this offseason, which includes a former player from the Los Angeles Rams.
*Editor’s note: The article incorrectly stated that former Los Angeles Rams guard, Rodger Saffold, signed with the Oakland Raiders. Saffold signed with the Tennesee Titans.
The Los Angeles Rams had some notable players hitting free agency this offseason and a notable player has stayed in California and signed with the Oakland Raiders.
Safety LaMarcus Joyner signed with the Oakland Raiders this offseason, leaving two notable holes in the Rams’ depth chart. The front office has already replaced Joyner with Eric Weddle and will likely add a guard in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The former Rams are not the only thing the Raiders and Rams have in common, though. The Oakland Raiders have had a great offseason thus far and are priming themselves to be a team that is identical to the Los Angeles Rams that we saw in 2017.
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Heading into the 2017 season the Rams were still among the bottom feeders of the NFL. The team had a new, unproven head coach alongside a young quarterback that showed no positive signs in his rookie season.
The team was poor in its first season back in Los Angeles and nobody expected the Rams to be in the Super Bowl two short years later. However, it happened. The Rams were much better than anyone expected in 2017 and broke through the barrier in 2018.
The Raiders are ready to make that same jump.
They have not yet moved from Oakland but share the same moving narrative as the Rams as the team will move to Las Vegas after the 2019 season. While their head coach is not unproven, he did make some questionable moves in his first year, which has everyone doubting his ability.
Derek Carr was not great in 2018 and has fallen drastically from where he was just two seasons ago.
While the 2017 Rams did not have many big moves (the 2018 Rams did), they obviously made improvements, as the Raiders have.
Not only have the Raiders taken two former Rams but the team has also added the best receiver in the league, Antonio Brown. Say what you will about him being a diva, a third-round pick for the best receiver in baseball is a steal.
The Raiders also have the draft picks to bolster the rest of the depth chart, which gives us even more reason to think they will be successful.
They have an extremely tough division with both the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers, who shared the best record in the AFC last season.
They still might be a year or two away from being legitimate contenders but it would not be all that surprising to see them in the playoff picture at the end of the year and even sneak in a Wild Card.
Next. First-round picks to avoid in the 2019 NFL Draft. dark
If you watch any Raider games this year look at the similarities between them and the 2017 Los Angeles Rams — they will be striking.