Silver And Black Pride
Down goes Geno Smith. Down goes the Las Vegas Raiders offense.
While the Silver & Black did wise by acquiring a legitimate starting quarterback in Smith, the team found itself behind the eight ball when backup signal caller Aidan O’Connell suffered a fractured wrist in Las Vegas’ preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals this past Saturday.
While the team did well to trade for Kenny Pickett to be the backup quarterback, the Raiders’ lack of overall depth and experience is visible just beneath the surface. This isn’t just relegated tot he all-important quarterback position. And that can be detrimental or head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek in the duo’s inaugural season captaining the ship.
To meet the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline on Tuesday, Las Vegas waived 2025 sixth-round pick leaving Smith, Pickett, and Aidan O’Connell (who has a fractured wrist) as the trio of QBs on the roster. Carroll got what he wanted in an experienced backup for Smith in Pickett. It’ll take time for the North Dakota State standout to get NFL ready so waiving the late-round pick with hopes of potentially get Miller on the practice squad is perhaps on the horizon.
But expect the initial 53-man roster to fluctuate as teams can establish its 17-man practice squads Wednesday.
The starters are set for Week 1 as Kolton Miller mans left tackle, Dylan Parham is settled at left guard, Jordan Meredith claimed center, Jackson Powers-Johnson won right guard, and DJ Glaze bookends at right tackle.
If one of that front five were to miss snaps or games, it’d create a ripple effect of a shuffle that’ll force Las Vegas to dig deep into the depth chart. And its chock full of youth and inexperience.
The veteran backup is right guard Alex Cappa (30 years old) who has 96 starts under his belt. Then there’s Thayer Munford Jr. (25 years old) who started 17 of his career 46 games. The rest include 2025 NFL Draft picks Caleb Rogers (left guard, No. 98th overall pick) and Charles Grant (left tackle, 99th overall).
Pete Carroll has no qualms playing young players right away and that mentality will be tested thoroughly if any of the starting offensive linemen are unavailable.
“Well, we’re just so young on the second group. It’s just going to take time,” Carroll said when asked about he drop off between the first- and second-team offensive line group. “We feel like we move well. We have good movement by the young guys. They get out of their stance, and they get on people well. We’re just not as accurate with our calls. We’re not as clear with our technique stuff, but that takes time. And so I’m not worried about that. Athletically, we’re okay, and we just need to find our consistency, and that’s just going to take time.
“They won’t play all at the same time very often. They’ll spot in, and they’ll have the benefit of experienced...
