Silver And Black Pride
The Las Vegas Raiders are sitting 2-8 when I write this and could either be 2-9 or 3-8 after their matchup vs the Cleveland Browns. Raiders QB Geno Smith has not been as expected throwing 13 interceptions to 12 touchdowns while also ranking bottom 8 in big time throw rate and and having the 3rd worst turnover worthy plate rate in the NFL this season. The Raiders can, and likely will, move on from him following this season though that decision is heavily dependent on if Pete Carroll remains the Raiders head coach in 2026. Las Vegas can take on an 18 million dead cap hit but will also free 8 million in cap space if they were to release Smith following this season, and from there the focus becomes drafting a rookie QB to potentially be your face of the franchise.
As stated by Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, “teams fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail the team” and that couldn’t be more accurate with recent history where the Vikings alone have helped revive the careers of Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, who both have looked like potential future franchise quarterbacks going forward along with 49ers QB Mac Jones who has seen his career rebound this season. Geno Smith is not the Raiders answer at quarterback, the ideology of consistently going for veterans and journeyman quarterbacks is not a successful strategy, and in no way can it continue for Las Vegas. The worst case for the Raiders is they draft a young quarterback who doesn’t turn into the franchise option, and they end up having to take that shot again, you consistently draft a quarterback till you’re able to get it right. That said, the Raiders right now are not in a position to start a rookie quarterback and they will need to supplement around him before they can even consider throwing him into the fire.
The Raiders offensive line is young and inexperience, but it’s also not good. Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson anchor your offensive line with fellow 2024 3rd round T DJ Glaze having his ups and downs but looking to be a piece of the future at either tackle or guard going forward. Outside of those three, the Raiders have to look into adding a left guard, and then either a right guard or right tackle pending on Glaze. The team drafted Caleb Rogers and Charles Grant this season in the third round and while both have the future to play on the offensive line, neither have seen snaps this season (outside one snap from Grant on a kneeldown in the Raiders 33-0 blowout loss vs the Chiefs where he did what you should do on a kneel). Las Vegas needs to see what they have in Grant and Rogers going forward, and if neither are getting developed that’s a massive issue for the future. In addition to the offensive line, which will need to be addressed likely in a collection between free agency...
