Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Pete Carroll
Offensive Coordinator: Chip Kelly
Defensive Coordinator: Patrick Graham
Special Teams Coordinator: Tom McMahon
2024 Summary (W-L Record: 4-13)
Antonio Pierce took over as Raiders interim head coach midway through the 2023 season and won 5 games. That performance earned him the permanent job.
But the Raiders failed to win as many games in a full season in 2024, and that performance ultimately cost him his job.
The offense was the primary culprit, as you can see below:
The quarterback position has become somewhat of a black hole for Vegas since they decided to move on from Derek Carr a couple of years ago. Their last 36 games have been started by a combination of Jarrett Stidham, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew, and Desmond Ridder with underwhelming results.
From the numbers above, you can see the impact that ineffectiveness at the most important position can have on an offense. The Raiders ranked 29th in giveaways, 30th on 3rd down, and 27th in red zone offense last season. All of those are directly tied to the abilities and performance of the quarterback.
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The running game was also a disaster for Vegas last year. They had the worst rushing attack in the NFL, finishing dead last in yards per game and per carry. That was undoubtedly tied to the departure of Josh Jacobs.
Overall, however, the competitiveness the Raiders showed in the second half of 2023 was gone just one year later. Vegas decided to go in a different direction as a result, hiring Pete Carroll as head coach and John Spytek as general manager.
Interestingly enough, they did retain defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who has held the title since 2022 and has now survived two head coach firings. That’s likely because the defense, while still needing improvements, has been headed in the right direction over the last two seasons.
Key Additions
QB Geno Smith
RB Ashton Jeanty (1st Rd, 6th Overall)
RB Raheem Mostert
WR Jack Bech (2nd Rd, 58)
WR Dont’e Thornton (4th Rd, 108)
RG Alex Cappa
G Caleb Rogers (3rd Rd, 98th Overall)
T Charles Grant (3rd Rd, 99th Overall)
DT Leki Fotu
DT Tonka Hemingway (4th Rd, 135th Overall)
LB Germaine Pratt
LB Elandon Roberts
LB Devin White
CB Eric Stokes
CB Darien Porter (3rd Rd, 68th Overall)
S Jeremy Chinn
Key Losses
QB Gardner Minshew
RB Alexander Mattison
RB Ameer Abdullah
WR D.J. Turner
C Andre James
DT John Jenkins
EDGE K’Lavon Chaisson
LB Robert Spillane
LB Divine Deablo
CB Jack Jones
CB Nate Hobbs
S Tre’von Moehrig
Did They Address Their Holes?
After a few years of instability at the quarterback position, the Raiders quickly solved that issue by trading for Geno Smith and reuniting him with Pete Carroll.
Smith revived his career in Seattle, finishing as the 15th-highest rated passer in the NFL across the last 3 seasons. Decision-making lapses and being just a beat slow with everything he does (footwork, processing, throwing motion) keep him from being an upper-echelon quarterback. But Geno’s got more than enough to give the Raiders some optimism heading into 2025.
He seems like a quarterback that Al Davis would love since he’s such a good downfield passer. PFF graded him as a top-10 quarterback on throws 20 yards or more from the line of scrimmage in each of the last 3 seasons. He was in the top-5 twice.
And that’s exactly what this Raiders offense needed. Last year, they were dead last in the percentage of throws that traveled 10 yards or more from the line of scrimmage.
The Raiders’ other major hole entering this offseason, as discussed above, was their running game. They addressed this in a big way, selecting Ashton Jeanty with the 6th overall pick and signing Raheem Mostert in free agency.
Jeanty was probably the best running back in this year’s class, and Mostert has great big-play ability. In 2023 with the Dolphins, a year before injuries derailed his season, Mostert had the 4th most 15-yard runs and the 5th-most 10-yard runs in the NFL.
Throw in the multiplicity of Chip Kelly’s offense, and this rushing attack will look completely different than it did a year ago.
Biggest Questions Entering 2025
In Patrick Graham’s defense, cornerbacks are asked to do a lot. Last year, they played a significant amount of man coverage, cover-3, and cover-0, ranking 13th, 6th, and 1st in frequency according to
of Match Quarters. The Raiders were also 11th in blitz frequency. Basically, cornerbacks were often on an island.And yet, I’m not sure they added enough on the back end this offseason to effectively play that way, at least in 2025. They signed Eric Stokes, the former 1st-round pick who had an up-and-down 4 years in Green Bay. They also drafted Darien Porter in the 3rd round. Porter is a long cornerback (6’3”), similar to the types of corners Carroll leaned on during Seattle’s dominant defensive years a decade ago. However, he’s raw and doesn’t have a ton of experience at the position.
It might take this secondary some time before they’re rolling on all cylinders.
The Raiders also have a brand new linebacking corps and project to have 5 or 6 new starters on defense. So while they have some continuity with the same defensive coordinator returning for the 4th straight year, some of that will be negated by the new faces on the field.
On the other side of the ball, the Raiders have some questions with their pass catchers. Jakobi Meyers has turned into a nice, reliable player. And of course, they have a great receiving tight end in Brock Bowers. But Geno Smith needs someone he can attack with downfield.
Rookie 4th-rounder Dont’e Thornton seems to be the plan here. He’s nearly 6’5” and ran a 4.3 40-yard dash at the Combine. That is a ridiculous combination of size and speed. Not to mention, he had 6 receptions of 50 yards or more last season, which led the FBS.
How quickly he can get up to speed and master other aspects of the receiver position will determine how often he can be on the field (and how often the Raiders can attack downfield with him). In theory, he seems like the perfect fit. But it might take some time before he’s able to be a consistent part of the offense.
2025 Outlook
The AFC West is not a great division to be in while rebuilding. We all know about the Chiefs, but the Chargers and Broncos also made the playoffs last year. Not to mention, the head coaches the Raiders have to face twice a year are Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, and Sean Payton. There won’t be any cheap wins in this division.
Still, Vegas has every reason to believe they can compete for a playoff spot this year given the new faces. The biggest thing to watch with this team, however, will be Maxx Crosby. This defense, and the team as a whole, won’t be where they need to be if Crosby misses time or isn’t 100% when he does play. That was the case last year as he missed 5 games and wasn’t quite himself while playing through an ankle injury.
Crosby is a game-wrecker when healthy. He’s more important to that secondary than any DB acquisition. And he’s critical to the Raiders’ chances of competing in an absolute monster of a division.
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