Cousins Will Add to the Connectedness Between Kubiak, Janocko

Kubiak's History with Janocko

The Raiders quickly filled out Kubiak's coaching staff, filling all three of his coordinator position in about a week's time after being hired. One of those hires was Andrew Janocko, whom Kubiak hired as his offensive coordinator. The two have worked at least five seasons together, with multiple teams.

Las Vegas should be better off because of their long-standing history together. The Raiders have plenty of new players and coaches, connections like the one between Kubiak and Janocko should only benefit the Raiders and help shorten the inevitable learning curve everyone will experience.

Kubiak's History with Cousins

Kubiak, Cousins, and Janocko are extremely familiar with each other. For all three to end up in Las Vegas is likely more valuable than many may believe at the moment. After multiple recent Raiders coaching staffs have tried to fit square pegs into round holes, Janocko's hiring makes sense.

The two already possess greater connectedness than the Raiders' past three head-coaching and offensive-coordinator combinations. Kubiak, Janocko, and Cousins should make life a little easier for the upcoming NFL Draft's presumed No. 1 overall pick, Fernando Mendoza.

How Cousins Ties It All Together

Cousins spent three seasons on a Minnesota Vikings offense that had Kubiak and Janocko on it. Both Janocko and Kubiak worked directly with the Vikings quarterbacks during that time. The group was primarily led by Cousins during arguably the peak of his career in the league.

Three seasons is plenty of time for a player and two coaches to get to know each other extremely well. This undoubtedly factored into the Raiders' decision to sign Cousins, and rightfully so. With as many new parts as the Raiders have this offseason, every bit of familiarity helps.

Biggest Beneficiary Should Be Mendoza

The Raiders signed Cousins to a deal that does not really cost them all that much in the grand scheme of things. They will get at least a few starts out of Cousins, if not more. Theoretically, that will buy Mendoza time to develop during the early part of the regular season.

Having additional time at the start of the regular season to develop, in addition to Cousins likely, or potentially, helping mentor Mendoza in one way or another, should help Mendoza's long-term development. This alone makes signing Cousins worth it for the Raiders.

Kubiak and Janocko will be able to develop their quarterback room and game plan efficiently with Mendoza, with little to no concerns about his ability to grasp the overall goal. Mendoza has already shown the ability to process things quickly, but there is a jump from college to the pros.

Between his play on the field, his preperation in the classroom and on the practice field, Cousins should work as an intermediary, of sorts, between the coachings staff, Mendoza, and others on the offense who may be new to Kubiak's ideals, scheme and playcalling.