How Greg Olson Will Impact Geno Smith, Raiders' Offense

The Las Vegas Raiders hope a sudden change will create immediate results.

Raiders' Big Changes

The Raiders' decision to fire Chip Kelly impacted quarterback Geno Smith first and the most. Olson will now be tasked with helping Smith and the Raiders' offense by calling competent games. At the very least, Olson cannot be any worse than Kelly was.

Earlier this week, Smith noted what he anticipates one of the biggest differences will be for him moving forward.

"Well, the play caller will now be right next to me, so I think the communication, I won't have to get on the headset or talk on the phone. I can just talk directly to him. And other things we'll have to figure out as it goes. I mean, it's the first time he's calling plays for us, for me particularly, so I have to learn those things as we go," Smith said.

"I think there'll be a lot of benefits, and I think, again, Oly [Greg Olson] is a guy who's done it, and I think he knows what to do and how to do it, so I expect great things."

One area Olson and Smith must work around is the team's offensive line. Las Vegas has the worst offensive line in the league, which is the primary reason the Raiders have one of the worst offensive rankings in the league in several statistical categories.

Smith was sacked 10 times against the Cleveland Browns last week, which is hard to fathom. The Raiders invested draft capital into skill positions on the offensive side of the ball. However, those have been rendered useless by the offensive line and the coaching staff's inability to develop players.

This has forced Smith into forcing throws and an overall disappointing season. Earlier this week, Smith noted how some of the responsbility to avoid sacks falls on him as the quarterback. Still, it is more than evident that when it comes to pressures and sacks, the Raiders' line is the problem.

“I mean, you always have to feel the pressure. Obviously, know if you're hot or not, so that's understanding your protections and knowing who's blitzing and who's not,” Smith said. 

“But you got to feel the pressure, and I try my best to not look at the rush, but to feel the rush. But when you're facing a great defensive line, similar to the Browns, you have got to speed up the process. And so, those are the things that I tried to do last week. Obviously, it wasn't good enough."