2. Will all the eclectic personalities mesh, especially with the pressure of ‘HBO’s Hard Knocks’ following their every move?
When the league announced the Raiders would be the focal point of HBO’s Hard Knocks, there have been whispers of concern the extra distraction might affect the team as it attempts to shake off a sub-par 2018. it’s one thing to learn a new locker room in the heat of the 2019 training camp but it gets exponentially more difficult to keep little conflicts in-house when you have film crews following your every move.
Here’s a sneak peek of Hard Knocks with the Oakland #Raiders:
(via @NFLFilms) pic.twitter.com/oEWmrPhXdx
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) July 26, 2019
While Antonio Brown is a master of self-promotion, not every player in a locker room is open to sharing their process. This could create drama where there is none, hurting Gruden’s continued push towards building a contender. Since it debuted more than a decade ago, there have been 12 teams documented on “Hard Knocks,” and just five of the 12 teams documented improved their record in the season immediately following the show while five finished with a worse record and the last two had exactly the same record. In addition, five of the 12 teams made the playoffs in that next season — but four of those five teams already had winning records the season before the HBO film crews ever showed up.
Based on these numbers, one might not believe the Raiders have very good odds of improving but, then again, there is no team like the Silver and Black in the NFL. Many observers actually wondered why the Raiders were chosen this year, instead of next year when the team moves to Vegas. I guess the NFL felt this would be a better way to introduce its new Vegas market to the team before it arrives, instead of of after its moved into its new digs off the I-15.
