There is no question Mark Davis enjoyed seeing all of the former Raiders players in the locker room Sunday afternoon, smoking cigars and celebrating finishing the season on a winning note.
The owner is close with the team’s alumni and badly wants to return to the winning ways the team enjoyed with those players and his late father, Al Davis. So, when Marcus Allen, Jim Plunkett and Charles Woodson tip their caps to interim coach Antonio Pierce, it means something.
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But, when Davis considers bringing back Pierce and interim general manager Champ Kelly (not in that order), the more important component should be the improvement players on this year’s roster showed. It’s unprecedented in the 14 years I have been covering the team.
(The Tennessee Titans seemed to notice, requesting permission Wednesday to interview Pierce for their vacant head coaching position.)
On offense, rookies Aidan O’Connell, Tre Tucker and Michael Mayer all got better from Week 1, not to mention second-year players Zamir White and Thayer Munford Jr. as well as veteran tackle Jermaine Eluemunor.
The defense was more in sync on a weekly basis, with edge rusher Malcolm Koonce having a breakout year. First-round pick Tyree Wilson is still a little bit of a project, but there is more reason for hope than there was in September. A young secondary backed its toughness with know-how and chemistry, and Tre’von Moehrig, Nate Hobbs, Amik Robertson and even backup Isaiah Pola-Mao made strides.
I wanted to include linebacker Robert Spillane on this list, but while the former Pittsburgh Steelers backup surprised many around the league with his pass coverage, Kelly has been telling me all year that the Raiders knew the free-agent signee was this good.
There is reason to be optimistic about the 8-9 team’s future, assuming Kelly and Pierce are back with this group. We have no idea what a new general manager or coach would do with the Raiders’ roster — maybe Davante Adams’ $25.4 million cap number doesn’t sound so great compared to trading him for draft picks — or schemes.
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I spoke to people in the building as to how and why they thought certain players improved during the season, and here are some quick thoughts:
QB Aidan O’Connell
In winning three of the last four games, O’Connell threw eight touchdowns against no interceptions. The rookie’s lack of mobility might limit his ceiling, but there is no question he has shown poise and deserves at least a chance to compete for the starting job next year.
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He can process what’s going on down the field while standing tough in the pocket and definitely was much better down the stretch than when he made his first start for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 4.
RB Zamir White
The second-year back filled in for an injured Josh Jacobs and ran for 328 yards on 67 carries (4.9 yards a pop) over the last three games. Everyone knew he had some power, but he learned from watching Jacobs and did a better job of hitting holes with explosive acceleration. White also seemed to get better as the games went on.
TE Michael Mayer
The first couple of weeks, I was really concerned with his blocking. I just wasn’t expecting it to get better as the season went on, but it did. Mayer’s tight-window pass-catching was not a surprise, but his wiggle and yards after the catch were, as he doesn’t have great speed.
Mayer’s ability to pick things up and his determination were traits the Raiders scouts really liked. He loves the game and loves the process, and the staff did a good job of bringing him along slowly during the first month of the season.
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WR Tre Tucker
Tucker finished his season with a career-high five catches for 79 yards in Sunday’s win against the Denver Broncos. Tucker’s speed is tough for cornerbacks to deal with, but his route running and hands have improved since the start of the season.
Tucker used his hips well to transition during routes and was looking to come back and help the quarterback more and more. He earned a bigger third-down role and was the reason Hunter Renfrow returned to the bench after a brief resurgence. The Raiders’ front office and coaches loved Tucker’s maturity and approach.
OL Thayer Munford Jr.
The second-year player filled in for injured Kolton Miller at left tackle and showed that he should be in consideration for a starting job at right tackle next season. The Raiders’ brass had hoped he would make a push in training camp this year, but Munford wasn’t ready then to beat out Eluemunor. They think he has the confidence now, and especially with Eluemunor entering free agency, they have stressed the importance of Munford working hard and getting even stronger and quicker this offseason.
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The defense, meanwhile, finished ninth in the league in points allowed at 19.5 points per game. From Week 9 on, the Raiders allowed just 16.0 points per game under Pierce and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. That’s the best mark in the NFL. (The Los Angeles Chargers have requested permission to interview Graham for their head coaching position.)
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Maxx Crosby set the example, and his teammates became more and more able to help him out as the season progressed. They started to play on a string as far as moving together in coverage, and more players started having confidence in themselves and the system to start making plays.
Sunday’s win against the Broncos marked the third game this season the Raiders had at least four different players record a full sack. The last time the Raiders had three such games in a season was in 2015.
DE Malcolm Koonce
Koonce was one of those players with a sack against the Broncos, and the 2021 third-round pick had six sacks in the last four games. That’s two more than he had in his first 35 games with the Raiders.
People in the building said they could see Koonce’s confidence grow weekly as he filled in for Chandler Jones after Jones was released and Koonce tried to match Crosby’s daily intensity. Coaching is more than X’s and O’s, and the staff did a good job of pushing Koonce while reminding him that he had enough speed and improved power and technique to make an impact.
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DE Tyree Wilson
The front office is still excited about Wilson — the No. 7 pick in the 2023 draft — and points to him missing training camp with a foot injury as the reason for his slow start. The edge rusher had two sacks in the last four games after having 1 1/2 in the first 13 and also started to play inside on passing downs at times.
LB Robert Spillane
Everyone knew that the former Steeler was physical and tough. The Raiders apparently knew that he also had some traits in the passing game they could polish up and that he was a leader and a good communicator on the field. The Raiders lost a former Pro Bowler in Denzel Perryman and actually improved at the position.
S Tre’von Moehrig
The safety started to resemble the sturdy playmaker that he was at TCU. He became comfortable in Graham’s system and had great chemistry with newcomer and former Philadelphia Eagles safety Marcus Epps. Moehrig has a good feel in coverage and with that comes more aggression.
CB Amik Robertson
No one ever questioned the 5-foot-9 cornerback’s toughness, confidence or ball skills. It was just that when he gave up a play (usually to a taller player), it would have repercussions. This season, he learned how to forget bad plays.
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CB Nate Hobbs
He can play inside or outside and also took on more of a leadership role. Hobbs, like others on the defense, developed trust in the coaching staff and in his teammates and didn’t try to do more than his job. Hobbs would tell you he is playing for his teammates, but maybe this season there was more confidence that his teammates would have his back. He played free but within the confines of the scheme.
S Isaiah Pola-Mao
Raiders officials pointed to his sack and physical tackle in the flat against the Broncos as a sign of the player he can be. An undrafted free agent out of USC in 2022, Pola-Mao worked hard to know where he should be in Graham’s system, and again the coaches did a nice job of slowly working him in and building his confidence.
The cherry on top of all the improved play is the lack of penalties. Sunday marked the second game this season that the Raiders didn’t have a penalty — they are only the seventh team in the NFL since 1960 to do that. The Raiders finished 2023 with a league-low 75 penalties—- the fewest in a single season by the Raiders since 1967.
Pierce beamed when he was asked about it on Monday.
“That’s the one I wanted somebody to ask me about,” he said. “When you talk about the Raiders, you talk about penalties and ejections (over the years). And I think what we did was really take pride in the individual periods and practices, techniques, fundamentals, really harped on it all the way till our last practice on that Friday.”
The Raiders brought back the weekly dance contests at Friday practices, but as Pierce said, they were “still working individually, just the technique of how to play each and every position. And that’s something I really told our staff, our players, that I wanted to make sure we hit that goal, because that’s huge.
“When we play a clean game, don’t turn over the football and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played … that’s a credit to our staff and our players really buying in and understanding what it takes to win.”
(Top photo of Tyree Wilson and Malcolm Koonce: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
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