One Thing Geno Smith Must Improve On

However, there are always things that Smith can improve on. After all, he will be one of the biggest factors in whether the Raiders can overperform next season, or they'll continue to reside in mediocrity.

Area of Improvement

John Kosko is a sports writer for Pro Football Focus, and he released an article going over every starting quarterback's biggest weakness in the NFL. For Smith and the Raiders, his biggest weakness is navigating scramble drills.

"Smith has put together three straight seasons with an 80.0 PFF overall grade or better and now takes his talents to Las Vegas. He showed few weaknesses in a career year this past season. But he notched just a 59.9 PFF overall grade on scramble drills, placing him seventh to last in the NFL", said Kosko.

Smith needs to be better in his decision-making and poised whenever the play breaks down, and he needs to free-style on the field. With a depleted wide receiver room than what he had in Seattle, things may be harder than ever for him to improve in this category.

However, I believe that he's already built up chemistry with his weapons in Las Vegas, and they'll be able to adapt on the field to what he needs. Besides, having Ashton Jeanty on standby to dump the ball off to if his receivers are covered is never a bad option.

Difference Maker

"His 0.275 EPA per dropback on those plays was the fifth-lowest mark. The sample size on these plays is low, but being able to improvise when the play breaks down can be the difference between a playoff berth and sitting at home in January".

Smith has a better offensive line than he was dealing with the past couple of years with the Seahawks, but it's inevitable that protection breaks down, and Smith will have to improvise on the field to make something happen.

Depending on the routes the receivers may be running and which play is called beforehand, it's possible that Jeanty isn't an option for him to dump the ball off to? If that's the case, what can Smith do?

Trust in Bowers

In the case of Jeanty not being an option, the best thing that Smith can do is trust in Brock Bowers and throw the ball his way, and hope that he can come down with a contested catch. In the clip above, Gardner Minshew is dealing with pressure, and throwing to Bowers works out in his favor.

Bowers did a lot of the heavy lifting for the Raiders' passing attack last season, and while he's certainly their best pass catcher again this upcoming season, he has a better receiving corps around him, which means he'll hopefully attract less attention from defenses.

Smith's first thought when the play breaks down should be to dump the ball off to Jeanty and let him make something happen with the ball in his hands. However, if that isn't an option, throwing it in Bowers' direction is most likely his best bet for any positive yardage.

There's always the option of Smith taking the ball and running it himself, but he increases his risk of injury. He isn't very agile anymore, either, so the likelihood of him taking the ball for himself and getting more than just a couple of yards is slim.

The Raiders will have to hope Smith doesn't find himself in many situations where he has to create for himself, but if he does, he has to have faith in his playmakers and trust they can make the most out of their situation.

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