Telesco Putting Together a Roster to Compete in AFC West Arms Race

The Las Vegas Raiders play in one of the toughest divisions in the National Football League. They have to play in the same division as Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, which means they have to face one of the greatest quarterbacks in National Football League history twice yearly. 

The Raiders also have to compete with quarterback Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers, who nearly always go toe-to-toe with the Raiders, and they face the Denver Broncos twice a year, who also have shown the ability to battle with the Raiders no matter how good or bad either team is when they play.

Although the Chiefs have dominated the division for nearly the last decade, with seven playoff spots per conference, there is room for another AFC West team to make the playoffs, even if the Chiefs continue dominating. That makes the race within the division worth watching beyond the Chiefs.

Every year, the Raiders face division opponents willing to improve their rosters and coaching staff to compete with each other, in some instances more than other teams around the league. Telesco was hired partly because of his familiarity with the division.

Chris Jones got such a big contract from the Chiefs because they knew that if they did not pay him, the Raiders likely would. Considering the contract the Raiders gave defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, the Chiefs were probably right in that assumption. 

Part of the reason the Raiders had to fix their offensive line was the defenses of the Chargers and Chiefs. The Raiders drafted two cornerbacks and may still be open to signing another because of the Chiefs' many receiving options. Whether during free agency, the NFL Draft or game days, teams in the AFC West always compete against each other. 

The AFC West is an arms race, and there wasn’t an available general manager who understood that more than Telesco. The veteran general manager, who began his tenure with the Raiders with a decade of experience within the division, began fixing the team’s roster in a way that only a former rival could.

The good news for the Raiders is they have a general manager in Telesco, who has been in the AFC West for each of the Chiefs division championships over the last eight seasons and is ready to change his and the Raiders’ luck within the division.

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