Raiders offense: 5 games in, it’s a work in progress

The Raiders entered the bye week with the eighth-most productive offense in the NFL, averaging 25 points per game.

Interestingly, they have done so while ranking only 22nd in red zone touchdown scoring percentage, with an offensive line that continues to be a work in progress and without big contributions from normally productive veterans Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow.

If the Raiders can address those issues, they have a chance to become one of the best offenses in the NFL.

Here are three observations:

Adams the real deal

In spite of an early season adjustment to a new offense and a new quarterback, Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams has been as advertised through his first five games. And there is reason to believe he could be on the verge of an even bigger breakout.

Adams ranks eighth in the NFL with 414 receiving yards and second with five touchdowns. He has done so while amassing only the 13th- most catches at 29. His targets, meanwhile, are the fourth most at 54.

Given how he has produced 12 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns on 20 targets over the last two games, it appears as if he and Derek Carr are becoming more comfortable working together again. That could and should mean his production will be more in line with the number of times he’s being targeted.

Run game emerges

The Raiders tinkered with their offensive line through the first five games, trying to come up with an effective combination. That included their last game before the bye week, when Alex Bars and Dylan Parham switched spots. Parham moved from right guard to left guard and Bars went from left to right.

The Raiders might still have one more move up their sleeve, with rookie Thayer Munford taking over for Jermaine Eluemunor at right tackle. That would make the Bars and Parham flip-flop more understandable, as it breaks up an all-rookie right side and allows Munford and Parham to be flanked by veterans.

In any case, as the Raiders have succeeded in establishing a physical identity that marries up perfectly with veteran running back Josh Jacobs, who is off to the best start of his career.

Jacobs has 490 yards and three touchdowns and is averaging career highs in yards per carry (5.4) and yards per game at 98. He’s also added 17 catches for 129 yards, which puts him on pace for career highs in catches and receiving yards as well.

Between the physical scheme Josh McDaniels has cooked up, and the developing synergy between Jacobs and the offensive line, the Raiders seem to have come up with a run game they can rely on.

Renfrow, Waller struggle

Between injuries and an obvious transition to a new offense — and a new top target in Adams — the Raiders have yet to get Renfrow and Waller rolling. This leads to either hope or resignation.

The hope rests in McDaniels being too good of an offensive mind and Waller and Renfrow being too talented to not believe the Raiders will find a way to tap deeper into two major weapons.

If so, an already potent Raiders offense has a chance to be even more productive.

Resignation is the possibility that Waller and Renfrow have become merely second fiddles to Adams and that their production to this point is what can be expected.

The former seems more likely, and if the Raiders can get their two veterans more acclimated and involved, it will open things up even more for the offense.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.