Analyst predicts Pete Carroll leads Raiders to strong season

With Pete Carroll in the driver’s seat for the Las Vegas Raiders, the team now hopes to put last season in the rear view mirror.

Carroll, along with new general manager John Spytek, were tasked with engineering a quick retool of a Raiders outfit that won only four games last season. While a litany of injuries did not help, serious issues such as a poor quarterback situation, a league-worst rushing attack and a low turnover differential doomed the Raiders to the basement of the league. Some questions do persist with training camp just about a month out, but Carroll and Spytek have so far done excellent work in fixing the key issues.

The Raiders have been dubbed by multiple outlets as one of the most improved teams of the offseason, and one analyst has no problem saying that the hype will carry over when the games matter.

The Raiders have a clear ceiling heading into this season.

Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobieski believes that Carroll is going to lead the Raiders towards a successful season, particularly praising the reunion between the veteran head coach and new quarterback Geno Smith.

“During an offseason with questionable moves to be made at quarterback, the Raiders completed the most practical transaction by trading for the 34-year-old Geno Smith. The 12-year-veteran can provide stability to a Raiders organization that has lacked it for multiple years,” wrote Sobieski.

“Obviously, the quarterback’s familiarity with Carroll after five years together in Seattle with the Seahawks should ease his transition to a new team since he already understands the coach’s culture and what he plans to achieve. Smith experienced a career renaissance during that stretch and made the Pro Bowl in two of the last three seasons.”

Sobieski projects the Raiders to finish the 2025 season with a 10-7 record, more than doubling the team’s win total from last year. It would also be the third season since 2016 where the Raiders posted double-digit victories.

“Las Vegas isn’t ready to dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs, who have won nine straight division titles, but it’s not difficult to imagine a world where Carroll’s approach allows the Raiders to more than double last year’s win total (4-13),” Sobieski continued.

While the Raiders might be hard-pressed to reach such high expectations due to the state of the AFC West and questions surrounding the wide receiver corps and secondary, they look to be a much-improved unit from a season ago.