The Oakland Raiders' streak of seasons without a playoff berth hit 13 this year, but they enter the offseason with tremendous momentum. The Raiders have become one of the NFL's most promising young teams thanks to General Manager Reggie McKenzie. McKenzie became the team’s general manager in 2012 following the death of Al Davis and took over a team that had no identity and did not have first or second round picks that year.

That Raiders team had Carson Palmer, Darren McFadden, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Rolando McClain. A team of misfits that finished 4-12. 

Fast forward to 2014, and the Raiders slowly began their trend towards relevancy. It will be remembered as the year McKenzie found the franchise’s quarterback and defensive playmaker to build rest of the team around. The Raiders finished 3-13 in 2014, but Derek Carr and Khalil Mack established themselves as building blocks.

The 2014 draft class plus the 2015 class finished 7-9 and were in the playoff picture in the AFC for much of the season.

In the 2014 draft, the Houston Texans selected Jadeveon Clowney first overall and three teams selected quarterbacks in the first round. The Raiders picked Mack fifth out of the University of Buffalo with the fifth pick. Mack was an outstanding college player finishing his senior year with 100 total tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, seven pass deflections, five forced fumbles, and an interception.

As a rookie, Mack came into the NFL with that same intensity and impact, playing in all 16 games, while collecting 75 total tackles, four sacks, three pass deflections and a forced fumble. If 2014 was his introduction to the NFL, this season Mack put himself on the map as one of the premier, young defensive players in the league.

This season would be a season to remember for him as he had 77 total tackles, 15 sacks, two pass deflections and two forced fumbles. Mack’s 15 sacks this season earned him first-team All-Pro. He finished second in sacks behind Houston’s J.J. Watt, who had 17.5.

Mack’s impact this season helped the defense as they sacked the opposing team's quarterback 38 times, which ranked 16th in the NFL. The Raiders’ defense only had 22 sacks in 2014, which was good for 30th in the league.

While Mack has made an immediate impact on defense, Carr has been the franchise quarterback that they’ve yearned for and he was found at the top of the second round. 

As a rookie, Carr completed 58.1 percent of his passes, to go along with 3,270 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 76.6 quarterback rating. Carr did all of this with a receiver corps composed of James Jones, Denarius Moore, Kenbrell Thompkins, Andre Holmes and tight end Mychal Rivera. Carr’s favorite target was Jones especially in the red zone, who had seven receptions for 40 yards and five touchdowns.

In 2014, the Raiders’ offense was ranked 31st in the NFL scoring 15.8 points per game. But this season was a renaissance year for Carr and the offense, who had a new offensive coordinator in Bill Musgrave. Musgrave spent the previous year was with the Philadelphia Eagles and Chip Kelly. 

Under Musgrave, Carr’s play improved as he had better options at wide receiver in rookie Amari Cooper and veteran Michael Crabtree. This season, the Raiders’ scoring offense averaged 22.4 points per game, which was good for 17th in the NFL. Oakland also had 34 receiving touchdowns, which put them seventh in the league putting them only behind the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, and Seattle Seahawks.

Carr improved under Musgrave as he completed 61.1 percent of his passes, while passing for 3,987 yards, 32 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 91.1. Carr also had four fourth quarterback comebacks and four game winning drives this season.

In those four game winning drives, Carr had an average completion percentage of 57.9 with a total of nine touchdowns and two interceptions. With that type of play late in the game, the Raiders will many more games in the future with Carr under the center. 

If McKenzie continues to provide Carr with weapons at the wide receiver position, he will get better and could be the best quarterback in the AFC West.

Finally, in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Raiders selected offensive guard Gabe Jackson out of Mississippi State in the third round. Jackson has been consistent in his first two years in the NFL, starting in 28 out of 29 games. This season, he helped Oakland’s offensive line to a top five ranking in pass protection according to Football Outsiders, with a 4.6 percent adjusted sack rate. It continues with the level of consistency McKenzie is trying to create on the offensive line as last season, Oakland ranked third in pass protection with a 4.4 percent adjusted sack rate.

The 2014 draft class for the Raiders laid the foundation, while this past year’s draft class continued to build on top of that. In the first round, Oakland selected Cooper. Cooper was as good as advertised with 72 receptions on 130 targets for 1,070 yards and six touchdowns. 

This season, Cooper had five games of 100 plus receiving yards (109 vs. Baltimore, 134 vs. Cleveland, 133 vs. San Diego, 115 vs. Tennessee, 120 vs. Green Bay). Also out of 915 total snaps, Cooper played 85.2 percent of offensive snaps, which was the most out of the Raiders wide receivers. The runner-up to Cooper was Michael Crabtree, who played 76.6 percent of offensive snaps. 

Just like Carr, Cooper will continue to get better as he will get another year in Oakland’s offense under Musgrave.

The 2015 draft also mirrored the 2014 draft for Oakland as they spent their first two picks on offense and defense. In the second round of this past year’s draft, the Raiders drafted defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. This season, Edwards Jr. played in 14 games (started in 10), had 41 total tackles, two pass deflections and a forced fumble. His best game of this season was against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10, where he had 11 total tackles and a sack. 

Also this season, he played on 51.9 percent defensive snaps, which was the second highest on the defense. Edwards Jr. didn’t make an immediate impact like Mack did his rookie season, but expect him to take another step in his career next season. 

Finally, in third round McKenzie gave Carr another weapon in athletic tight end Clive Walford out of Miami (FL). Walford had a solid rookie season with 28 receptions (50 targets) for 329 yards and three touchdowns. He did most of his damage between the opponents 49-20-yard line as he had 12 receptions (17 targets) for 198 yards and a touchdown.

Walford should improve just like Cooper as they both grow together with Carr.

The future for the Raiders on the field is bright as they have young talent at all the right positions for a division that could be for the taking in the next few years.