The Oakland Raiders capped off their second consecutive losing season in 2014, finishing with a 4-12 record and a spot on the bottom of the AFC West. In fact, the Raiders haven’t had a winning season since 2002, when Rich Gannon led them to the Super Bowl.

Gannon led a pass-first offense that scored 26 touchdowns through the air. Since he’s been gone, the Raiders have not seen anywhere close to that much production from the quarterback position.

However, the Raiders were aggressive this offseason, looking to upgrade on the 23rd ranked offense from last season. Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin had a surprising season, combining for 3,345 yards through the air and 603 rushing yards (mostly Pryor), but it wasn’t the vision that Oakland had in mind for its quarterback.

The Raiders made it clear that they wanted a more balanced offense when they signed quarterback Matt Schaub and wide receiver James Jones. Although Schaub has a down season with the Texans in 2013-14, he will be a step up for the Raiders offense.

Jones should add to a Raiders passing game that featured Denarius Moore, who had glimpses of strong play throughout last season. The two receivers combined for 1,512 yards and eight yards.

Added on to the improved passing game, Oakland swapped Rashad Jennings with Maurice Jones-Drew, letting one leave for free agency and signing the other. Jones-Drew, as well, will make the Raiders rush offense much better.

With Jones-Drew in the fold, the Raiders will have threats at every skill position. This will give Schaub all the tools to succeed again.

Oakland should see a boost in first down production from the run game, as the Raiders threw on 168 of 258 first down attempts. Jones-Drew could give Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson many options on first down, where he had 109 carries last season. He also had 102 carries on second down, as opposed to 16 on third down.

The run game should help give relief to Schaub, who threw six interceptions on first down last season. With a reliable dump-off threat like Jones-Drew, Schaub should not feel forced to pass deep to someone like Jones or Moore.

Schaub had trouble going deep with Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins last year, putting together a completion percentage of 50 percent on passes from 11-20 yards. His division foe, Peyton Manning threw for 57.6 percent. Needless to say, it remains to be seen whether he can work with Jones and Moore.  

On the offensive line, the Raiders lost Jared Veldheer and added Austin Howard, so Olson’s zone-blocking scheme seems like it will remain intact. And the resigning of Darren McFadden and his downhill running abilities will complement the blocking structure that Olson had established.

Jones-Drew is not as powerful of a running as McFadden, but the two could work well together and keep teams off guard as two which direction the offense could go. Jones-Drew could catch passes out of the backfield and spread opposing defenses out, while McFadden will go up the middle.

Overall, the Raiders should have a much easier time excuting their offensive scheme. And with the key additions on defense, they should be a much improved team.