Raiderstation

pfish57 wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 5:26 pm My guess is in true Raider fashion if it can go wrong it will...nothing screams at me that will turn out well...just saying.

Ok Glum

pfish57 wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 5:26 pm My guess is in true Raider fashion if it can go wrong it will...nothing screams at me that will turn out well...just saying.

Why? I'm usually with you but, this is a differen't vibe than we've had for 30 f[raiders_icon]cking years. I'm not going all in like some wet behind the ears newb fan..... but this coaching staff, off season and draft have at least 'seemed' to be something like a 'real' team woud do. I will stay cautious about my optimism.... but I sure does look like the past is the past.

pfish57 wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 5:26 pm My guess is in true Raider fashion if it can go wrong it will...nothing screams at me that will turn out well...just saying.

I dont know how you can come away from this past off season and say nothing indicates there is not plan in place to improve in strategic fashion. You must not like Mendoza or Kubiak or both.

Dr Death wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 6:09 pm Why? I'm usually with you but, this is a differen't vibe than we've had for 30 f[raiders_icon]cking years. I'm not going all in like some wet behind the ears newb fan..... but this coaching staff, off season and draft have at least 'seemed' to be something like a 'real' team woud do. I will stay cautious about my optimism.... but I sure does look like the past is the past.

Its gonna realistically take two seasons, although seeing more accelerated success would be great, so as long as there is player development in 2026 and team is not laying down, I'll feel better about.

ALLRAIDERWORLD21 wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 6:13 pm Its gonna realistically take two seasons, although seeing more accelerated success would be great, so as long as there is player development in 2026 and team is not laying down, I'll feel better about.

Of course but, the pieces are in place to build a winner. I'm not so dumb as to think we are going to win 11 games this year. It will definitely take a couple years to be competetive to the point of actually being relevant.

ALLRAIDERWORLD21 wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 6:10 pm I dont know how you can come away from this past off season and say nothing indicates there is not plan in place to improve to improve in strategic fashion. You must not like Mendoza or Kubiak or both.

I like both of them, I just don't buy in until I see results on the field...I have been f[raiders_icon]cked by this team for 25 years...will never give them the benefit of the doubt again, but that's just me & I didn't say there was not a plan in place??? I'm not a Homer...sorry! I'm a prove it to me Fan now!!!

Dr Death wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 6:16 pm Of course but, the pieces are in place to build a winner. I'm not so dumb as to think we are going to win 11 games this year. It will definitely take a couple years to be competetive to the point of actually being relevant.

Time will tell my friend, but I have been duped to many times to ride any Raider gravy train...I have to see it now. I will admit the last 10 years have made my Raider fandom become to the point I really don't give a shit anymore...I will be six feet under before we are relevant again...just saying.

Dr Death wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 6:16 pm Of course but, the pieces are in place to build a winner. I'm not so dumb as to think we are going to win 11 games this year. It will definitely take a couple years to be competetive to the point of actually being relevant.

We look much improved on paper (means nothing I guess). If we figure out the OL and get a #1 WR for next season, I could see us being legit.

...SMH.

ALLRAIDERWORLD21 wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 5:17 pm 4-5 years is a good window of ascension for the current coaching regime and QB I think. Two more drafts and offseasons like the most recent and we should be competing for deep playoff runs by 2028 if not sooner. Of course this all hinges on the development of Mendoza and the HC ability of Kubiak but at the moment I'm feeling alot more confident than the last three regimes. I had some confidence in Gruden 2.0 as well because of his resume and history with the team however then I saw his early round draft picks and lets just say, there went all the warm and fuzzys.

I knew Gruden 2 was going to be wasted years, and especially with him making the picks....his getting popped by the league, whether one agrees with how that went down or not, saved us from more wasted Gruden years, though they did shrewdly.... find ways to waste many more years to follow, anyway
Gruden 1 had a huge talent advantage, increasingly due in large part to the whole 'in Bruce we trust' stuff, and with us having been leveraged to the max and on the hook for years to come, in some cases, for guys well past their prime, and many, no longer even on the team, that reality was unavoidable. ....there is only so much cap 'magic' one can do when trying to keep it rolling while starting each year with 50 some million over the cap. .

The pessimism is because Raider fans have been burned so often, most of are posting from burn centers.

But I am optimistic this time with 911 on speed dial....

WNYRAIDER wrote: Sat Jun 06, 2026 5:00 am I knew Gruden 2 was going to be wasted years, and especially with him making the picks....his getting popped by the league, whether one agrees with how that went down or not, saved us from more wasted Gruden years, though they did shrewdly.... find ways to waste many more years to follow, anyway
Gruden 1 had a huge talent advantage, increasingly due in large part to the whole 'in Bruce we trust' stuff, and with us having been leveraged to the max and on the hook for years to come, in some cases, for guys well past their prime, and many, no longer even on the team, that reality was unavoidable. ....there is only so much cap 'magic' one can do when trying to keep it rolling while starting each year with 50 some million over the cap. .

The cap hell we endured cannot be overstated and it’s not like it was just for a couple of years. The talent that could have been brought in with the amount of money given to players no longer on the team would have changed our team in a significant way. Not saying we would have been Super Bowl contenders but, at minimum more respectable, competitive.

However, it worked out as we may have never gotten a much sought after HC or potential years long foundational QB. Time will tell if either or both work out but, it’s hard to argue with the moves made to bring them both aboard. It’s also hard to imagine being as woeful as we were last season, the bar isn’t particularly high. Maybe some players that haven’t yet impressed, especially the young guys, will flourish under new direction, leadership and scheme.

pfish57 wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 6:46 pm Time will tell my friend, but I have been duped to many times to ride any Raider gravy train...I have to see it now. I will admit the last 10 years have made my Raider fandom become to the point I really don't give a shit anymore...I will be six feet under before we are relevant again...just saying.

I get that, but at least this time it looks to be interesting. I mean, we have a head coach who just won a super bowl with a new QB on the team. We just drafted a QB first overall who looks like a geeky version of a legit QB in the league. We drafted 9 other players including McCoy who if he recovers could be an island guy for us. And we overpaid for the best center on the market (we were going to overpay regardless) and after the Maxx drama we have what appears to be an improved defensive line. So seeing how that all comes together regardless of the outcome will at least be fun. Cousins to me is the only part that I am not as interested in, but he can take the hits until Mendoza is ready so even that might be fun. I have zero expectations, but I do like watching a good show and this team might be just that.

haji81872 wrote: Tue May 26, 2026 12:23 pm So you are saying there are players with good potential in the fourth, but McCoy isn't one of those with good potential? You can find guys for depth, but how many can you find that are more than likely starters right away. We are thin at every position. CB being one of them.

I said depth, not guys who haven't played a down in nearly two years. We can get temporary veterans to patch over our d-backfield and we can likely draft a CB early next year who didn't suffer a near catastrophic injury and did play in the most recent season.

Any number of positions could have been added to with a much safer chance of success.