1. Franchise stability means less drama and more focus

Entering the 2018 season, the Raiders franchise was cloaked in chaos. Gruden was attempting to build his roster, former All-Pro Khalil Mack was holding out and demanding a trade. Amari Cooper was performing inconsistently and rarely on the same page as quarterback Derek Carr. Worse? The Raiders were embroiled in a battle for image with the city of O*kland, which included a lawsuit being filed and the Raiders temporarily looking for another home for the team’s final season before heading to Vegas.

The season started with a home loss and ended with a 32-point beating on the road in KC.

What a difference a year makes! The Raiders are set to return to O*kland in 2019, the draft picks acquired from the Chicago Bears for Mack and the Dallas Cowboys for Cooper turned into strong depth picks in the draft. Carr is healthy and, more importantly, the team went out and traded for arguably the best wide receiver alive in Antonio Brown. No more drama (unless AB’s Twitter beef counts as drama).

The Raiders roll into 2019 with some legit weapons, more defensive depth, and can open camp with what seems like exponentially less drama than when they entered the 2018 season. The overall focus should be stronger. The team atmosphere should be close-knit. The roster will be primarily hand-picked athletes who have bought in to Gruden’s system and philosophy. The writing is on the wall: Buy in or ship off, and this will benefit the Raiders while other AFC West divisional opponents like Kansas City (Tyreek Hill alleged abuse) and Denver (new head coach and a rebuild) deal with major drama.