Official Las Vegas Raiders Thread

BACK Malcolm Koonce DE (1/12m)
-After surgery and rehab, Koonce is a huge question mark. His 2023 season featured 23 pressures, 17 QB hits, 8 sacks, 7 hurries, and 3 forced fumbles. Those were elite numbers.

BACK Adam Butler DI (3/16.5m)
-Butler's greatest ability was availability. He played the third most snaps in the NFL among DIs last season. He applied 31 pressures, which was 35th among DIs, but his overall grade was 103rd out of 219. He's tough up front and should be able to clean up from Crosby, Koonce, and Wilkins's dirty work.

IN Geno Smith QB (Trade)
-Smith immediately offers an upgrade from Minshew and AOC. He posted a top 5 WAR last season and is a 90 Composite Rating. He's not young, but he provides a high floor to the 2025 season.

IN Jeremy Chinn S (2/16m)
-Chinn was the 50th graded safety overall last season at PFF. He's solid in run defense and can do well in coverage when not left on an island. By comparison, Moehrig was elite in the run game and poor in coverage.

IN Alex Cappa G (2/11m)
-Cappa is an iron man (16+ games started 5 seasons in a row; 96%+ snaps played, too), he's just turning 30 this season, and he doesn't miss plays. He had no penalties accepted against him last season, but he did allow a ridiculous 51 pressures, dead last in the NFL.

IN Lonnie Johnson JR S
Johnson saw only 13 snaps last season. He's a great athlete who did some solid work early in his career in Houston. He misses a lot of tackles. I imagine he'll play special teams and provide depth in the secondary.

IN? Elandon Roberts
A strong tackler who has seen his snaps consistently around part-time, Roberts should step in at MLB for the Raiders.

OUT Gardner Minshew (Released)
-This was a bad signing. I don't dislike Minshew, but he deprived the team from getting a better look at AOC, ate up cap space, and couldn't move the needle. He'll find a backup gig somewhere.

OUT Treyvon Moehrig S
-Bummer. He's a good, young player.

OUT Robert Spillane LB
-He's good, and he's a leader. That hurts.

OUT Divine Deablo LB
-LB corps gutted, but I think Deablo has underwhelmed.

 

Good take, Puff.

The cap blew up, so I'm not shocked about some of the signings. I'm not shocked we didn't try to keep some of those guys.

Cappa might be an overpay.
Koonce is good value for LV.
Elandon Roberts is incredibly good. Pitt fans are not happy.
Chinn is a little overpay, according to Spotrac (8.0m vs. 6.2mAV), but I like that deal.

 

We need a WR, LB, and CB?

 

Oh, and RB.

 

IN Eric Stokes CB
Posted a 61.2 grade at PFF last season (112th), was 94th in coverage, but only 184th against the run. He can flat out fly, at 4.36. Compared to Jack Jones, he was awesome. Jones's PRWT was #91, catch rate was #69, and he allowed 7 TDs (102nd). Stokes was #32, #29, and allowed 3.
One-year deal for $4m. That's a really nice upgrade.

Raiders awarded 2 compensatory picks in the 6th round, too.

 

Building a Fierce Pass Rush

Last three seasons
Crosby 31.5 sacks, 87 QB Hits, 132 Pressures
Koonce 8.0 sacks, 17 QB Hits, 23 Pressures (one missed season)
Wilkins 14.5 sacks, 36 QB Hits, 53 Pressures
Adam Butler 10.0 sacks, 19 QB Hits, 25 Pressures (two seasons)
Tyree Wilson 8.0 sacks, 18 QB Hits, 28 Pressures (two seasons)
That's 24.0 sacks per season, 62 QB Hits, 87 Pressures per season from our defensive front.

 

Ditto. I don’t dislike any signings or any guys that got away (for the money they got). Andre James going sucks a little, but JPJ is an upgrade. We need some more moves, but I like what I’m seeing.

 

So, what do we still need?
Wide Receiver
Linebacker
Cornerback
Running Back

I did some stat diving on WRs.
Here's my ranking on some top available FAs:
Kupp
Diggs
Lockett
Amari Cooper/Tim Patrick
Zaccheaus/Cooks/Agholor/Tyler Johnson

 

I believe those will be addressed in the draft.

 

I'm honestly excited about the draft. This team is looking fun.

 

IN Raheem Mostert RB
One year, $2.1m

The Good: in 2023, Mostert was an absolute monster, rushing for 1021 yards, 18 TDs, on 4.8 yards per carry. He added 25-175 and 3 more TDs through the air.

The Bad: He's going to be 33, and he's coming off a season in which he broke *ONE* tackle on 85 carries and averaged just 3.3 yards per carry.

Overall: Mostert wasn't alone in underwhelming on the ground in Miami. Jaylen Write averaged 3.7 per carry, Jeff Wilson averaged 3.6, and Alec Ingold averaged 1.7.

He can take over for Abdullah and give the team some stability, but I wouldn't count on him as a heavy usage player.

 

It's tough to project what he will be, but I do think he was the top WR available.

Market Value or Contract
Kupp (signed 3/45m)
Diggs 13.7m
Lockett 7.7m
Cooper 18.9m
Patrick (signed 1/4m)
Zaccheaus Olamide (signed with Bears, 1 year, no $ details yet)
Cooks 5.2m
Agholor 1.8m
Tyler Johnson (signed with Jets, no details yet)

Two of these guys had success with the Raiders in the past. I don't want Cooper at that kind of salary, honestly. The best deal on that list could be Agoholor.

 

I agree about Cooper. 100%.

I'm just stopping by to say that Stefon Diggs was working out with...Geno Smith.
Houston was 6-2 with Diggs playing. He got hurt and they went 5-6 to close out the season.

 

BACK Darnay Holmes CB
Holmes played in 16 games for the Raiders last season. He racked up 30 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and defended 3 passes. He also picked up his first career sack. He logged 298 snaps on defense and 77 on special teams. In coverage, he allowed 24-32 targets to be completed, but they went for 233 yards and 1 TD. That's a PRWT of 105.3. That PRWT was a career worst by far. His 49.5 grade at PFF was 185th among 222 CBs. PFF has him at a 90.7 PRWT, for 116th. He was graded 50th against the run among CBs. Not bad. He's an important rotational player, and he'll likely see a lot of snaps if the current roster holds. I still think we need a CB upgrade.