Official Las Vegas Raiders Thread

If I had two game balls, I'd give one to Bowers. He was ridiculous. The other might go to Mostert. His kick returns should have been game changers.

 

OUT Jakobi Meyers (Trade)
IN 4th rounder
IN 6th rounder

What's a 4th and 6th rounder worth? LV's past five in each round.

4th
Donte'e Thornton WR 5 receptions, 94 yards
Decamerion Richardson CB 17 games
Jakorian Bennett DB 27 games
AOC QB 20 games, 3830 passing yards
Zamir White RB 729 rushes in 43 career games

6th
JJ Pegues DT 2 games played
Tommy Mellott QB/WR DNP
Cam Miller QB DNP
Dylan Laube RB 17 games, 23 yards
Amari Burney LB 23 games

 

Denver 68% win
24-18

 

Totally inept offense. 2-7 on the season.

 

Raiders Draft (early grades)
1.6 Jeanty RB (A-)
Leads draftees in carries, rushing yards, and yards from scrimmage. Tied with Scattebo with 7 TDs. I'd give him an A, but I think the position was deep.

2.58 Bech WR (D)
As the 8th WR drafted, Bech has underperformed. His catches and receiving yards are 15th best among draftees. He has hurt the team.

3.68 Porter CB (B)
Porter was the 6th CB drafted. His 9 games are tied for the most in the league among draftees, and his 14 tackles are fourth among draftee CBs.

3.98 Rogers OL (D-)
The 15th OL off the board, Rogers has yet to appear in a game.

3.99 Grant OL (C-)
Drafted just after Rogers, Grant has appeared in 3 games, more than three OL drafted ahead of him. But three drafted after him have appeared in more games.

4.108 Thornton WR (C-)
For his draft slot, Thorton's 6 for 98 receiving numbers aren't bad. Four receivers taken after him have outperformed him, but he has outperformed arguably five WRs taken before him. He was the 16th WR drafted, and his numbers are about 15th best among draftees.

4.135 Hemingway DT (D)
Came off the board as the 15th DT. He has appeared in 3 games and has 1 tackle.

6.180 Pegues DT (D+)
Pegues was the 21st DT taken in the draft. He has appeared in 2 games and has 1 tackle.

6.213 Mellott QB (F)
Mellott was the 11th QB off the board. He isn't on a roster. Three QBs taken after him are on rosters, and one has seen playing time.

6.215 Miller QB (D)
Miller is on LV's practice sqad. One QB taken after him has played.

7.222 Lindberg LB (C+)
Lindberg was the 19th (of 20) LB drafted. He has appeared in 9 games. His 3 tackles are better than six LBs.

 

Some Transactions
BACK Lonnie Johnson S (was on IR)
IN Jamin Davis LB (was on Practice Squad)
OUT JPJ RIR
IN Greg Joseph K (practice squad)

Thoughts on Losses
I had JPJ at 77 and Miller at 89. Miller isn't back yet, and JPJ may be undergoing surgery. Yikes. Two huge blows, as those were #1 and #4 among our OL.

Thoughts on Additions
I had Johnson at 22 composite rating - roster body. I don't know that he moves the needle on defense.
Jamin Davis might be more interesting. A 1st round pick in 2021, Davis started 36 games in three seasons for the Commanders. He has done so-so in coverage, allowing a 99.9 PRWT across 141 targets, with 5 TDs vs. 1 INT. But he's kind of a tackling machine, and he's ridiculously athletic. He plays LB and DE.

 

Another tough game to watch.
Raiders' average yards before contact: -1.9. Negative one point nine.

 

OUT Chip Kelly
Sucks that he couldn't get it together - again - in the NFL.

Wondering where the team goes for playcalling. Though Olson has a lot of experience, I'm not sure he has a great track record. Wouldn't mind seeing someone else get a chance.

 

Olson.

 

I haven't seen an official announcement, but I imagine it's between Olson and Philbin. I'd actually like to see Philbin, but if we're switching to Olson, that would make the move to AOC smoother.

Geno Smith got into some hot water with the Raiders for flipping off the stadium. Not a good look, though I understand the frustration.

 

Oh, just saw. It's Olson.

 

The quick book on Olson is lots of experience as OC (14 years, 5 teams), long-time Raider (6 years as OC, third stint in the role). He's pass heavy, run light, has never overseen an offense in the top 10 in rushing attempts. His offenses have been very, very average at everything except scoring (they're poor) and passing attempts (they throw more than 61% of NFL teams).

 

I don't even know if we want the Raiders to win at this point.

Chargers 62% win chance

Projected Score:
Chargers 25
Raiders 18

 

Simple Offseason Plan

1. Retain Carroll
-The Raiders need continuity. I don't know that Pete will be here when the team is competing for their next title, but he has to be here while they build toward it.

2. Draft a QB in Round 1
-I think Simpson (Bama) and Mendoza (Indiana) are going at the top of the draft. If the Raiders keep it "up," they'll be able to take one of these guys.

3. Draft OL or CB on Day 2
-With Miller, JPJ, and some young talent, the Raiders really just need one more guy to break through and some healthy bodies. The offensive line could quickly be adequate. On the other side of the ball, I think Porter has the chops to make it. The Raiders could use a top cover guy, the kind they haven't had in a long time.

I don't think it's rocket science. Notre Dame offensive linemen have done well in the draft:
2024: 7th place for ORoY in round 1, 11-game starter through two seasons in round 2
2023: 19-game starter through three seasons in round 6
2021: 52-game starter through four seasons in round 2, 21-game starter through 5 seasons in round 2, 46-game starter through 5 seasons in round 3.
They could have built a better line than they have just by drafting Notre Dame guys.

4. Sign a FA OL
You can draft a line or you can buy it. When the Raiders committed to Carr Insurance, they spent.

 

Retaining Carroll would help with continuity. His son though has been a disaster coaching the O-Line. Get rid of Smith.

 

The injury report this week is absolutely depressing.

OUT
Bachman, Mayer, Thorton

Questionable
Adams, Crosby, Meredith, Parham, Chinn

The Raiders could be down four starting OL.

 

Projection

Denver 24
Raiders 17

 

24-17. Am I a genius?

 

We did not get blown out...teeny moral victory.

 

Stepping Up
It's definitely Pickett time. I don't think he's good, and I would much prefer to see AOC out there. But it's time to switch things up. Given that the team hasn't even put AOC on the active squad once (he's been the emergency QB the past few weeks), Pickett is our option. He threw a dime to Shedrick Jackson. That was nice.

Jack Bech had his best game as a pro - by far. He secured all six targets for 50 yards. He got open, used his body to outman defenders, and looked solid doing it. This is a glimpse of what he could be in the future.

Offensive line? Geno Smith actually had more time to throw than Bo Nix last game, at a hair over 3 seconds. That's plenty of time to make plays. The unit also allowed no tackles for loss on running plays. But it wasn't all good. They allowed just 0.2 yards rushing before contact, worst in the NFL (and on the season, worst since 2011).

Darien Porter was targeted 6 times in coverage. He broke up two passes, allowing just 3 receptions for 34 yards and a sub-70 passer rating. He's establishing himself as a solid starter.