The Oakland Raiders are in a big period of transition. Both head coach Dennis Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie enter into their second year with the team having brought a lot of change to the organization in the post-Al Davis era. But with change comes even more change as McKenzie remains dedicated to rebuilding a team from essentially scratch.
Most of the marquee names that were on the Raiders' roster last year are gone for 2013. Quarterback Carson Palmer, receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and defensive end Richard Seymour have all left the West Coast for other options. With an overhaul on both sides of the ball, Oakland could see as many as 10 to 12 new starters.
"You can call it expansion. It's a lot of different faces. I agree with that. But to say that we're just going to take our lumps and play ball, that's not the goal here. The goal here is to compete each and every week and win games...The moves that we had to make, we made them. We will comtinue to make them through training camp," McKenzie said.
The general manager is insistent that while the team may not contend for a Super Bowl in 2013, they will contend to win games. Since his arrival, McKenzie has fired one head coach and brought in Allen. He also released several recent first-round draft picks, including Michael Huff, Heyward-Bey and Rolando McClain. He was unconcerned with salary cap implications and more concerned with improving the character and work ethic of the team.
The Raiders went 4-12 last season and hope to have a new and improved offense that will finally start scoring points for the team. Under new offensive coordinator Greg Olson, Oakland has a new quarterback in Matt Flynn and strong weapons with Darren McFadden and receiver Jacoby Ford. The Raiders are banking on Flynn being the future of the franchise. The quarterback was acquired after he lost the starting job in Seattle to Russell Wilson.
However, Flynn has competition. Both Tyler Wilson and Terrelle Pryor are looking to compete for the starting job and have impressed the Raiders in workouts so far. Allen was nothing but complementary towards his rookie quarterback in Wilson.
"I've liked the way Tyler's commanded the huddle. I like the way he's gone through his reads. Obviously, picking up a new system, I think there's still a little bit of rust there, but throwing the ball, I think he's done a nice job. I don't have any question about his arm strength and accuracy," Allen said.
Rebuilding may or may not equal out to more wins. The Raiders are certainly doing everything they can to improve a struggling roster and organization. McKenzie is confident they now have football players and not "wannabes."