The Oakland Raiders are heading into OTA workouts this week with excitement as Amari Cooper, Mario Edwards and Clive Walford come in following the draft and Jack Del Rio has some decisions to make, as players like Trent Richardson, Latavius Murray, Mychal Rivera and Michael Crabtree will be pushing to start for quarterback Derek Carr with training camp still ahead.
The Raiders have a new head coach in Del Rio and he will be looking to improve both sides of the ball after taking over for the fired Dennis Allen and Tony Sparano. The Raiders have depth issues in some areas on the roster, but they have made some strong additions this offseason, including in the draft and free agency. The team signed Curtis Lofton, Nate Allen and Dan Williams along with Malcolm Smith and Michael Crabtree this offseason and those names should help the team improve.
Carr had a solid rookie season at quarterback and now he has more weapons on offense with Cooper and Walford coming in along with Andre Debose. Cooper comes out of Alabama with a great pedigree and he was considered by many to be the best non-quarterback offensive player in the entire draft. The Raiders received high marks for their draft class from experts in 2015, with the pick of Cooper getting widespread praise, while names like Edwards and Walford could end up making impacts this season.
According to Bill Williamson, OTA workouts could help decide who Del Rio pushes into the starting lineup in training camp and who could end up competing for starting jobs over the summer. Carr is ready to be the starter once again and on offense he should have Cooper and Michael Crabtree as the starting wide receivers ahead of Andre Holmes. Williamson writes that Walford could push Rivera in the starting lineup at some point, but that Rivera will be the starter coming into training camp.
One of the battles to watch is at running back, as the team has added Trent Richardson, Roy Helu and Michael Dyer this offseason. Latavius Murray showed some skills last year and he could push to be the starter despite the free agent addition of Richardson. Dyer signed in the offseason and he could come in as a third or fourth string option if he plays well. The battle to watch is Richardson and Murray, as Richardson has had two bad years with the Colts and needs to prove himself.
NFL.com writes that Murray should get the nod, as Richardson needs to show that he can handle being the feature back after flaming out in Indianapolis. The website also writes that the Raiders have been talking "glowingly" about Walford and that he has the potential to start one day. The Raiders likely will use Rivera first since he had a solid 2014 with over 50 catches, but that Walford's size at 6-foot-4, 251-pounds makes him a matchup nightmare. The team also likes his blocking skills compared to Rivera.
Cooper is a star in the making and he should be the new top option for Carr. Cooper comes in after making 124 catches last season for Alabama for 1727 yards and 16 touchdowns.