Three burning questions for 2025 Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders tanked last season, going 4-13 and firing head coach Antonio Pierce. Can they turn things around with new HC Pete Carroll? 

Along with that, here are three other questions the Raiders must answer heading into the 2025 season.

Is QB Geno Smith the solution at the most important position? 

The Raiders seem to believe Smith is their guy. After acquiring him in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks in March, Vegas signed him to a two-year, $75M extension. 

"When it came time to get it, it was automatic that we would take a shot at [Smith]," Carroll, who coached the QB for four seasons in Seattle, said at the annual league meeting in March. "We pulled [the trade] off in exactly the manner we wanted to. [Smith] gives us a great kick-start to what's going on."

Smith made two Pro Bowls and won 2022 Comeback Player of the Year in three seasons as the Seahawks starter, but he was turnover-prone. During this span, the 34-year-old tossed 11 or more interceptions twice. In 17 starts last season, he threw 15 picks, the second most in his career.

If Smith plays mistake-free in Vegas, he could flourish. The Raiders passing attack features tight end Brock Bowers. In 2024, Bowers set the rookie receiving yards record for TEs, with 1,194 yards in 17 games.

Can rookie RB Ashton Jeanty be an immediate difference-maker?

To reinvigorate their rushing attack — which finished last in the league in rushing yards last season (79.8) — the Raiders selected Jeanty with pick No. 6 in the NFL Draft. 

Jeanty won the 2024 Doak Walker Award as college football's best RB after rushing for 2,601 yards in 14 games. Taking the talented RB in the first round is still risky for the Raiders. 

RBs have been devalued in the modern, pass-happy NFL. However, Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley carried the team to its second Super Bowl victory last season, rushing for 2,504 yards in 20 games (including playoffs). 

Jeanty believes he and other star backs like Barkley could launch a renaissance for the position.  

"It's a great time to be coming into this league," Jeanty said in February, via ESPN's Ben Baby. "I can see the value of running backs is definitely going to go back up. Definitely coming back in at a perfect time."

How will EDGE Maxx Crosby benefit from the hiring of Carroll?

Carroll and Crosby may have jelled already. 

"We're not wasting time. That's the one thing [Carroll] mentioned to me in his press conference," Crosby said in January on the "Let's Go!" podcast. "We're going to get this thing rolling. So, it's exciting. That's my mentality every year. I want to win every year. That's the competition in me, and I see that in him."  

The star pass-rusher and defensive-minded coach clicking bodes well for the Raiders defense, which tied for 25th in the league in points allowed (25.5) last season.  

That could also put Crosby in a position to win Defensive Player of the Year for the first time in his career. In six seasons with the Raiders, the four-time Pro Bowler has logged 10 or more sacks three times. Under Carroll, a Super Bowl champion, his impressive numbers could skyrocket.