The fantastic news for football fans out there is that training camp has arrived for all of the teams out there. That’s right, football is back. With this, the Las Vegas Raiders are hoping to turn plenty of heads now that Josh McDaniel is running the show and the team also traded for Davante Adams. With this, the news has come in that the Raiders emerge as ‘sleeper’ pick in Vegas to win AFC West, which is great to see.
Per a report, more and more bets have been coming in to the Vegas sportsbooks for the Raiders to stun the world and win the division. Right now, the Kansas City Chiefs are the favorites to win it, while the Broncos and Chargers are also getting a lot of love right now from the bettors. This isn’t a surprise at all, as both those teams really improved.
With the Broncos, the trade for Russell Wilson is something that’s going to be talked about for quite some time. Denver gave up quite a bit to land him, but Wilson has gotten the fresh start he was hoping for. Meanwhile for the Chargers, they traded for Khalil Mack and finalized the extension for Mike Williams. Justin Herbert of course loved both those pieces of news.
With the Raiders, though, this offense figures to take a major step in 2022, which is why people are betting on them despite them not having the best AFC West NFL odds. Right now, the Raiders have been placed at +650 to win the division. This is why they’re a ‘sleeper’ to win it. The Chiefs will hope to get in the way of that, as will the Broncos and Chargers, though.
As we’ve said before, Davante Adams has provided a spark for this team and it’s only going to add more bets coming soon for the Raiders. From the moment the Packers traded Adams to the AFC West side, people all over Sin City have lost their minds. Adams is arguably the best wide receiver in the game, as his hands and route running are second to none.
Adams is a future Hall of Famer and no one can argue with that. Packers fans are devastated he’s no longer in town, but the same can’t be said for the Las Vegas faithful. Everyone can’t wait to see how he performs during the regular season opener come Week 1. With Adams now in the fold, it’s of course amazing news for Derek Carr, who will be ready to put on a show too.
With the Raiders, they really are an interesting team this year. They made it to the playoffs last year, but suffered a Wild Card Round loss to the Bengals. That’s nothing to be ashamed about, though, as the Bengals ended up making it all the way to the Super Bowl. Cincinnati nearly pulled off a huge win in the big game, but the Los Angeles Rams ended up winning it all.
Now, though, the Raiders are motivated to try and turn plenty of heads with their new-look team. Only time will tell if McDaniels will be able to make some magic happen or if the fanbase will be in for some more disappointment. However, it really does look like good things are coming for the Raiders and the betting fans in Vegas are ready to take a chance on them. We’ll see if the Raiders make them happy or sad at the end of the campaign.
What’s important to remember here for sports fans is that the AFC West feels like it’s wide open this season. In recent years, the Kansas City Chiefs figured like they’d be able to walk away with things no problem. This is usually the case when you have someone like Patrick Mahomes leading the charge for your offensive unit. However, things are different this season and there’s no denying that fact.
That’s because all of the other teams in the AFC West have added some serious star power. We mentioned Wilson and the Broncos, Mack and the Chargers, plus Adams and the Raiders. Meanwhile for the Chiefs, they traded Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins and that’s 100 percent going to leave a void for the offense. Mahomes is surely going to miss his favorite target. That’s good news for the Chargers, Raiders and Broncos in this case.
At the end of the day, the Raiders aren’t the favorites to win the division, but they’re going to be playing with a chip on their shoulder. If Las Vegas can get off to a hot start and keep the momentum going throughout the season, then they could be in a good position to win things at the end of the year. The potential is there, but it will be on McDaniels to bring out the best of his players.
