Las Vegas Raiders Thread

I do think some of the teams above us in the draft order will win at least 1 more game but you are right - we wont get to number 1 pick this year at this stage - the Titans have it sown up I reckon. I still think No.2 is a genuine possibility but yeah realistically a trade up will be needed to secure a franchise QB like Mendoza.

I like to think of it as realism :D - after over 40 years of watching the Raiders I have seen this movie too many times ! In-division games always have a chance of an upset but we are averaging about 16 pts per game so the opposition doesn't need to be on fire to beat us.

With the results this weekend if we lose out the rest of the season we could end up with the no.1 pick now - depends on how Strength of schedule finishes up. Knowing this team they will beat the Chiefs in the last game to drop down the draft order - :D

Yeah thats true - we still need titans to win another game - forgot about head to head tie breaker.

Well we will probably be picking top 2 in the Draft barring a miracle. And I have to say, whilst we may end up with a fantastic prospect as our Franchise QB, 2 things leave me really concerned. No matter who we draft, if you dont have a decent O-Line then that prospect will be another David Carr, spending their career getting sacked and watching a once promising career die. The second thing that worries me is that our Draft scouting leaves a lot to be desired. Most of our picks seem either reaches or misses. We occaisionally hit on a stud such as Bowers or Crosby but too many misses to trust our scouting Department. Will we end up with another Jamarcus Russell? That terrifies me.

It's going to need a multi-year rebuild so having Carroll in charge wouldn't make sense. If we take Mendoza then we need a head coach with an offense background to develop him. The OLine might not be so catastrophic next season with Miller and JPJ back fit - play JPJ at center, Rodgers at RG and Miller at LT, that leaves a LG and RT to either draft or target in free agency. We also need to address the DLine, Crosby can't be expected to do all the work again and it wouldn't make sense to trade him as it would need two players to replace him. And then there are the LBs, DBs, WRs…

Better Line play on offense and defense will help paper over the other cracks as we start to rebuild - doesn't matter who is QB if they don't have time to throw and we cant open lanes for our RB. If we can get better in the trenches by addition in the off season and getting players back from IR that will give us a foundation to kick on from.

I just don't want a draft where we put all our eggs into a QB and not strengthen the o-line to protect him. I have seen nothing from Brennan and Nate Carroll that they have any idea how to get anything going with our QB and O-line and I dont see Pete sacking them so best thing overall would be a coaching change.

Well Pete has been sacked - if that is the start of the franchise realizing that it will take a few years to rebuild then that's a good thing but at this point I am going to wait and see who we bring in as a replacement before drawing any conclusions.

Well a rare good day for the Raiders to finish the season at least with the Giants win prior to the Raiders game meaning the number 1 pick in the draft was locked in and then actually winning a game even more so against the Chiefs.

Trying to pinpoint the specific issue as to the Raiders woes is like trying to put an octopus into an onion bag, its not simple. I do think Mark Davis becomes infatuated with a specific individual (a la Gruden) and doesnt do his due diligence when it comes to making coaching choices. We seem to either go with coaching retreads (Pete Carroll) or unproven individuals (Lane Kiffin, Antonio Pierce). We never seem to hire an individual who is seen as a rising star (I know Kiffin has become extremely successful in the College game, but when we appointed him he was like a deer in the headlights) like Ben Johnson or Liam Coen. We also appointed coaches who were out of their depth. McDaniels being a case in point (Great Co-ordinator, not a great Head Coach. Dont believe me? Ask the Broncos fans about his tenure there). Point being, Davis cant seem to get appointing his Coach right. This has a trickle down effect on the rest of the Franchise. Free Agents tend to see the Raiders as a Money making opportunity and draft picks dont seem to relish coming to our Franchise. Speaking of Draft picks, our performance in the draft is patchy at best. The Mayock/Gruden 2019 draft is a case in point. Yes, we got Josh Jacobs but Clelin Ferrel and Jonathan Abrams? Both busts. And if a Franchise gets 3 first round Draft picks, you have to nail them. We dont. If Mark Davis sold the Franchise I wouldnt be too upset. But it has to start with getting the Coaching staff right. Everything flows down from there. I guess I'm saying that there are a number of issues but if we can at least appoint the right Head Coach (And no matter what you're opinion about Pete Carroll, he's 74. To argue he is a long term solution is foolish) it would be a start. And if our Franchise can stop being obsessed with the past and stupid comments like "The Raider Way" and "Commitment to Excellence" then we might have a chance.

No Carroll deserved to go, if anything other than the disaster that was bringing in Chip Kelly and then the nepotism of having his son Brennan the OL coach where they had a complete dysfunctional offense - couldn't protect Geno or scheme a decent offensive plan to utilise the likes of Bowers to full potential when healthy. Also Jeanty had one of the worst yards before contact in the league, hard to get your 1st round running back going when he getting creamed as soon as he receives the ball behind the line of scrimmage. He fired Kelly but did nothing about his son.

Just on Lane Kiffin, it was Mark Davis father Al who hired and fired him in complete disaster but Al knew football- had brought in similar profile head coaches in their 30s like Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden(first time round) who were successful. Mark has zero football knowledge but now Spytek and Brady in charge of operations maybe they have more success. Alot of cap space, some offensive pieces and no1 pick.

Just to be clear I am not and never ever will be a Raiders fan! I also agree that the organisation needs to take culpability for its actions that has meant it has had 5 head coaches since 2021 but Carroll still deserved to go. All the other situations of head coaches coming in like BB, Andy Reid were when they were young coaches and given time under clear directuon. Hiring Carroll as the oldest head coach at 73 was to win immediately not a rebuild. Search any article from when he was hired - these are his words from the press conference when he was hired as Raiders HC

“It took us a few years to get to the very top of the last couple programs I was with,” Carroll said, referring to leading USC to a national championship and winning a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. “We’re starting right now and going for it immediately. … We’re going to start right now, (we’re) going to go after it and build this team as quickly as we can.”

9 months later after finishing 3-14 and failing miserably at what he came in to do and win straight away then deservedly fired.

Fully agree the Organisation(and by that I mean Mark Davis) is 100% responsible for the current state of the Raiders. Yes Pete Carroll is a winner in College and NFL and will be in the HoF when eligible but lets be real here - he's 74 and I am not sure what he saw in the roster that made him think he could turn this around quickly - he was only ever going to have 1-2 years as HC to turn it around and after year 1 it was obvious this will take a lot longer than that to become competitive in the most competitive division in the AFC - 20+ years of bad decisions will not be erased overnight.

I get the feeling that Chip Kelly was there to succeed Carroll as HC eventually but his Offense just never got going this year - the O-line was dysfunctional and there were no signs that the personnel we have were bedding into it as the season went on and he paid the price for that with his job. It was obvious in pre-season that there was problems on the O-line and nothing was done to address it outside of shuffling players across the line to try and put square pegs in round holes. That should have been addressed by the GM and will 100% need to be addressed in the coming offseason or it will be same as 24/25 results no matter who they have in the skill positions.

Big offseason ahead for John Spytek - just hope he is given the tools to improve the team for whoever is coaching next year.

There are building blocks there - I believe the identity of the the Raiders when they have been at their most successful is a strong running game with a mean defense and the ability to stretch the field off play action- they have some of the tools to do this with the TEs, RB and DE - just lean into this and focus on getting the right pieces in the trenches. It'll take time but nothing good comes easy.