Las Vegas Raiders Bye Week Deep Dive: What Is Wrong In Vegas?

After multiple failed regimes and brutal seasons, Raiders owner Mark Davis wanted to find a coach who brought a level of stability and could lay a foundation for years to come. He settled on former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll as his guy, as he was one of the best coaches in the league for a long time. It seemed like a no-brainer hire given the recent failures the Raiders have had at head coach. But after seven weeks, there have already been a lot of questionable decisions made by Carroll.

The biggest issue thus far has been the acquisition of Geno Smith. Technically, general manager John Spytek made the deal, but Carroll led the charge with the deal. He and Smith had success together in Seattle, but that has not carried over to Las Vegas, and that will be discussed later.

Another issue with Carroll thus far has been his stubbornness. Last season, the Raiders rushing attack was one of the league’s worst, but it got going towards the end of the season. The team had found the right grouping on the line, and they played well. This off-season, Carroll completely changed things up. He moved Jordan Meredith to center from left guard, Jackson Powers-Johnson from center to right guard, and Dylan Parham from left to right guard. After the unit struggled to open up the season, Caroll was asked if he would consider going back to last year’s alignment, and he said it wasn’t even under consideration.

Not only would he not consider making changes that would benefit the team, but he refused to commit to Powers-Johnson as a starter. He has preached competition since he arrived, but only certain players have had to actually compete. Last year’s second-round pick was benched in Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, and while he wasn’t playing well, he was not the only issue on Sunday. Veteran Alex Cappa, the backup guard, has mightily struggled all season long, but Carroll is still making it a public competition between the two for the spot.

It has made no sense why Powers-Johnson has had to compete, but both Parham and Meredith are locked in as starters, despite playing worse. On top of all of that, Carroll has refused to even give the former Oregon Duck a chance to play center, even though that was his position in college and most of his rookie season.

Another area where Carroll has refused to make a change is in the secondary. Kyu Blue Kelly emerged late in training camp as a starter, but he has been arguably the worst starting corner in the league this season. He has given up the most receiving yards by any corner in the NFL this year, but Carroll refuses to bench him. Darien Porter, the team’s third-round pick, has looked good in limited action and should be starting at this point, but the coach has yet to make a change. Given how rough a season Kelly is having, there is nothing to lose from playing the rookie, especially since he should be a key contributor for the future.

Additionally, Carroll has refused to give a majority of the rookies a chance this season. Outside of Ashton Jeanty, D’onte Thornton, and recently Jack Bech, the Raiders rookie class has hardly seen the field. There has been a total of 165 non-special teams snaps played by the rest of the class. If this were a contending team, then that is understandable, but they are not, and they need to prioritize development.

Carroll is a legendary coach, but he is stuck in his ways. He has shown favoritism to certain players, despite poor play. He has given too much input into the defensive scheme and messed with Patrick Graham’s unit. And he seems to be in over his head. He expected to come in and win right away, because he always has, but this roster is not built to win today. If Carroll can accept that, then it will change the entire outlook of the season. Not in terms of wins and losses, but with development, but until he realizes that, he will continue to be a major problem in Las Vegas.

2. Geno Smith

After two seasons of some of the worst quarterback play in the league, the Raiders appeared to find a solution in Geno Smith this offseason, as they sent a third-round pick to the Seahawks for him. Unfortunately, he has been anything but a solution.

In just seven games, Smith has already thrown 10 interceptions, a number tied for the most in the league thus far, and just 7 touchdowns. He has held onto the ball for way too long all season and forced throws that have no business being thrown. After playing at a very high level in Seattle over the past three seasons, the regression is puzzling.

Luckily for the Raiders, they aren’t tied to Smith for the long term, as they can move on as early as this offseason. They will still owe him money if they decide to move on, but they can save over $8 million in cap space if they do. And then in 2027, they will be completely off the hook. Given how poorly Smith has played, moving on this offseason may be best for the franchise. His turnovers have cost the Raiders multiple games, and through seven games, there have been no signs of an expected turnaround.

The 2026 NFL Draft has a lot of very interesting quarterback prospects, and the Raiders need to do a deep dive on all of them. They have to find a young signal caller to take control of the offense for the foreseeable future. After another massive whiff on a veteran, they need to find a stable presence at quarterback, and it has to be through the draft.

End Of My Las Vegas Raiders Rant

While Carroll and Smith are not the only issues, they are the biggest ones. The former seems not to have changed his ways, and the latter has regressed in a way that no one saw coming. In a perfect world, neither will be a part of the franchise next year, and the Raiders can once again do a reset, but that feels unlikely.

If Carroll is around next season, he needs to take a hard look in the mirror and realize he has to adapt to the new NFL. He has to let the coaches coach and let the GM do his job. He is no longer the coach of the Seahawks, a place where he won. He is the coach of a team where he has not done anything, and he needs to realize that. Carroll has shown he can win at the highest level, but he needs to change his ways if he wants to do so in Las Vegas, and thus far, that feels unlikely.

Every year, it feels like it can’t get worse for the Raiders, and then it gets worse the following season. This season was supposed to be the beginning of a new era, but it has been no different than the last 20 seasons. Carroll and Smith are the main culprits for the season going so poorly, but this team has a lot of holes, and they can’t fix them all in one offseason. Hopefully, they realize how far away they are from contention and put together a strong plan to attack the offseason.

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