2018 NFL Power Rankings: Brandin Cooks, Ndamukong Suh puts Rams on top

18. Oakland Raiders

Expectations were high for the Oakland Raiders around this time last year, as many believed the Oakland Raiders were the one team with the best chance of taking down the Patriots in the AFC after earning a trip to the playoffs the year before. On offense, the Raiders were already in amazing shape thanks to Derek Carr having a talented receiving corps led by Amari Cooper to work with, but also the addition of Marshawn Lynch was supposed to take the offense to a whole new level.

At first, Oakland seemed like they were heading in that direction after an impressive 2-0 start before everything fell apart from there, as the team would go on to win just four more games over the rest of the season. As a result, the Raiders made the tough decision to move on from Jack Del Rio as head coach, and replace him with Jon Gruden, who the team hopes can elevate Carr to a MVP level when looking at his history of working with quarterbacks.

Along with Cooper, Carr should benefit from one of the newest additions in Jordy Nelson on offense after the veteran wideout signed with the team shortly after his release from the Packers. When compared to Michael Crabtree, Oakland has to love the potential surrounding Nelson to help get this offense back on track in 2018.