Look for these 5 NFL defenses to be greatly improved in 2020

We are now in year three of Jon Gruden leading the Silver and Black for a second time. The Las Vegas Raiders will play their fist season in Southern Nevada as a franchise, as they look to make headway in the AFC West for the first time since 2016. Fortunately for the Raiders, they do seem to have a few strong suits as a roster: The pass rush and running the football with conviction.

The Raiders have long had a strong offensive line, but haven’t had a consistently strong running game in a while. The good news is this is part of Gruden’s philosophical approach to playing complementary football by using the run to open up the pass. A sound ball-control offense centered around Josh Jacobs will definitely aid in Paul Guenther’s on-the-rise Raiders defense.

We saw solid rookie years out of defensive ends Clelin Ferrell and especially Maxx Crosby last season. Though he only appeared in one game last year, there is reason to believe safety Johnathan Abram can be a special player in the NFL like he was in college at Mississippi State. Adding cornerback Damon Arnette with their second first-round pick should aid the secondary.

Ultimately, the Raiders will be better than the No. 24 scoring defense in the NFL. Like the Atlanta Falcons, the Silver and Black should be strong enough to push towards the middle of the pack defensively. Of course, if the Raiders are to win double-digit games in 2020, it will be because of a surprisingly good top-10 offense. That could happen, but we know the defense will be improved.