The O*kland Raiders have treaded water since the magical 2016 season, fighting to stay afloat while consistently sitting at the bottom of the AFC West standings. After finishing second in 2016, the Raiders have labored at the bottom on the division. In fact, the 2016 second place finish was the Raiders' highest finish since 2002, when they lost to current Raiders coach Jon Gruden, 48-21, in the Super Bowl. The team has finished dead last six times and third eight times. In spite of such a long period of failure, the recent NFL Draft selections paired with Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock working the free agent wire and another year within the new Gruden system, the Raiders don't seem to be headed for the cellar once again in 2019. Here are five reasons why the Raiders won't finish last in the AFC West.

1. Franchise stability means less drama and more focus

Entering the 2018 season, the Raiders franchise was cloaked in chaos. Gruden was attempting to build his roster, former All-Pro Khalil Mack was holding out and demanding a trade. Amari Cooper was performing inconsistently and rarely on the same page as quarterback Derek Carr. Worse? The Raiders were embroiled in a battle for image with the city of O*kland, which included a lawsuit being filed and the Raiders temporarily looking for another home for the team's final season before heading to Vegas. The season started with a home loss and ended with a 32-point beating on the road in KC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhMWAmd_Pr0 What a difference a year makes! The Raiders are set to return to O*kland in 2019, the draft picks acquired from the Chicago Bears for Mack and the Dallas Cowboys for Cooper turned into strong depth picks in the draft. Carr is healthy and, more importantly, the team went out and traded for arguably the best wide receiver alive in Antonio Brown. No more drama (unless AB's Twitter beef counts as drama). The Raiders roll into 2019 with some legit weapons, more defensive depth, and can open camp with what seems like exponentially less drama than when they entered the 2018 season. The overall focus should be stronger. The team atmosphere should be close-knit. The roster will be primarily hand-picked athletes who have bought in to Gruden's system and philosophy. The writing is on the wall: Buy in or ship off, and this will benefit the Raiders while other AFC West divisional opponents like Kansas City (Tyreek Hill alleged abuse) and Denver (new head coach and a rebuild) deal with major drama.

2. Gruden and Carr will be in sync

Arguably the toughest aspect of adjusting to a new coaching staff is not only adapting to a new offensive system, including cadence, terminology and theory, but also adjusting to the style of leadership the new coach brings. In Carr's case, he spent much of last season fighting off perception Gruden wasn't a fan. If the 2019 draft told us anything, it told us that Gruden does — in fact — have faith in his QB. "We did our job," Gruden said after the draft. "Our job is to evaluate the players that are available in the draft, and we flew to Dallas and worked out (Kyler) Murray, and we flew to Columbus and worked out (Dwayne) Haskins. You have to do your research on every player, certainly at that position...We like our quarterback, we've been perfectly clear with everybody that's asked us."

The Raiders didn't draft a quarterback. Not even in the later rounds when teams generally take flyers on potential backups.

Gruden is happy with his signal caller and his moves indicate Carr has evolved into the new system well enough to instill confidence from his skipper. Add Brown and first round draft pick Josh Jacobs (RB/Alabama) into the mix and you get quite the offense. With rookies like LSU tight end Foster Moreau and Clemson wide receiver Hunter Renfrow, the offense looks to make some noticeable jumps in youth and athleticism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxJFO3NNte8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRWyySptMHE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG2_2FDGZSM

3. Mike Mayock is bringing a new kind of energy to the franchise

Gruden has said it time and time again: Mike Mayock is bringing something more than just analytics to the franchise. He is bringing in a new sense of pride and positivity. It's one thing for Gruden to bully his way through a roster and it's another for Mayock to play nice and inspire loyalty from the rostered players who see he believes in them. In a rare circumstance where the GM was considered to be a placeholder by many, Mayock has come in and proven this perception wrong. Hell, I've already started calling them Gruyock because they seem to both be on the same page more often than not and, if they aren't, they sure are doing a great job of hiding any conflict. Mayock has added to the franchise's mindset and meshing. It's almost as if Mayock is good cop while Gruden embraces the bad cop and executioner's role. "He has energized the building," Gruden said. "He has worked well with all of the people, the scouts, the players, the agents. His ability to pick up the phone and call anybody in the league and have a legitimate conversation that has been well thought through is important, and he's got a lot of credibility in the building and in this league, and we're happy to have him. He's been on the fast track to learn all of the nuances of his new position, but his leadership and his passion for the Raiders and his passion to help this team get better is what I love being around him the most. So far, it's been great." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldLVVLD_HXY