Kubiak Keeping Raiders' Plans for 49ers Under Wraps

On the field, Las Vegas' summer has centered around maximizing the time they have to install the offensive and defensive foundations of the Kubiak era. The Raiders have done few things right in recent seasons; their offseason reset has allowed them to start from scratch.

Las Vegas has been hard at work installing a brand-new scheme on both sides of the ball while also trying to find the best group of players at nearly every position group. These are two different things the Raiders are trying to do at once, and they are doing so with a new coaching staff.

Kubiak's approach to ensuring those two things happen this season has been to trust the coaching staff he hired upon his arrival, while also leaving many roster and depth-chart decisions to the players' performance relative to their teammates in camp.

The coaching staff will also use the team's first two preseason games and their upcoming exhibition matchup against the 49ers to help make the roster decisions on the horizon. Yet exactly what that will look like for the Raiders to start the game on Thursday remains a mystery.

Several Possible Ways To Improve

"We'll see Thursday. I don't want to talk about who's playing, who's not playing, but we'll see Thursday," Kubiak said on Tuesday.

"It doesn't matter, they've all got to get ready. Whoever is playing quarterback for us, it's a team thing. It's not the QB playing well and everyone else is not, or the other way around. The offense will play well when everybody is contributing."

Kubiak's words confirmed that the Raiders still have unanswered questions on both sides of the ball. What remains unanswered is how much they plan to use the final preseason game to make those decisions. Some of those roster and depth-chart decisions may already have been made.

Still, the Raiders' new coaching staff has used, and will continue to use, the preseason games to work on all the gameday logistics they are set to face this upcoming season. With their head coach and both coordinators in their first season in elevated roles, there are other areas for improvement beyond the field.

“I'm really just thinking about just improving with the guys. You're really over the scheme right now and you can get into your own head, what to show, what not to show. I wanted our play style to improve from game one to game two, and I think we did that,” defensive coordinator Rob Leonard said.

“Just the focus of what I'm asking these guys to do. Klint [Kubiak] talks all the time about our operation, substitutions, getting in and out of the huddle, a sense of urgency to get lined up, safety rotation, like that's really been the focus over all of those things, of improving with that.”

The rebuild the Raiders are embarking on will be daunting, but they appear to be off to a good start. At the very least, the front office and coaching staff have done as much as they reasonably could have in one offseason to set the team up for success.

Las Vegas' final preseason game before the regular season will give them a chance to answer more questions beyond those already addressed in camp and the first two preseason games.

No matter who starts or does not play on Thursday, it will be another day of improvement for Kubiak's Raiders. With so many new aspects surrounding the team, some of the unknowns could work in their favor in 2026, especially early in the season.