Three mistakes the Raiders made this season

The Las Vegas Raiders are officially in offseason mode.

On Monday, the team answered a major question about their coaching situation when Antonio Pierce held a press conference saying his status has not changed for 2025. While sudden availability of a candidate could lead the Raiders to change their tune, it is unlikely they will change course at the moment.

While fans were not overly pleased with the Raiders’ decision, it is important to know Pierce was a first-year head coach on a clearly rebuilding team. Mistakes are bound to happen, and the hope will be that Pierce learns from them and grows with a team that should be aiming to get younger.

The Raiders would know a thing or two about mistakes, as the previous offseason saw a slew of them that ultimately lead to the 4-13 disaster this season was.

Fixing these or taking a different approach would not have guaranteed success in 2024, but it likely would have lead to some better luck than the Raiders had.

With the season now firmly in the rearview mirror, here are three decisions the Raiders probably regret:

Hiring Luke Getsy

While the Pierce hiring made sense in a vacuum with how the team rallied around him at the end of 2023, this move never made sense.

When the Raiders brought Getsy on as offensive coordinator, he had just recently been fired from the same post by the Chicago Bears. What doomed him was an inability to develop Justin Fields as a true quarterback, as the Bears finished last and 27th out of 32 teams in passing offense in Getsy’s two years calling plays.

The Raiders apparently blamed Fields over Getsy for the Bears’ struggles, but the truth quickly revealed itself.

By the time Getsy was fired in November, the Raiders ranked last in rushing yards, offensive turnovers and turnover margin, while sitting at 29th in total offense.

To make matters work, Getsy was hired after Kliff Kingsbury had a change of heart due to disagreements with the Raiders in terms of contract length. Kingsbury joined the Washington Commanders as offensive coordinator instead, and his exemplary work with likely Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels will have him taking head coaching interviews again this offseason.

While interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner’s offense had its share of issues, the difference between his and Getsy’s offenses were night and day. The Raiders started looking more efficient on offense after Turner took over, which is a damning indictment on Getsy.

One could argue that the Raiders were impatient firing Getsy midway through his first season, but the easier argument is that he never should have gotten the position at all.

Letting Josh Jacobs walk

The phrase ‘running backs don’t matter’ has permeated into the collective mindset of NFL front offices.

Such was likely the Raiders’ thoughts when they allowed Josh Jacobs to enter free agency in March.

After lighting up the league in 2022, Jacobs had a down year in 2023, putting up career lows in rushing yards (805), touchdowns (6) and yards per attempt (3.5). Fearing a decline, the Raiders chose not to retain their first-round selection.

Jacobs signed with the Green Bay Packers in the off-season, and the Raiders could only watch as he returned to form.

Jacobs finished sixth in the NFL with 1,329 rushing yards and fourth with 15 touchdowns. He became only the fourth running back in Packers history to cross the 1,300-yard mark, and the first to do so since Ahman Green in 2003.

Jacobs finished just shy of the Raiders’ entire rushing attack, which finished last in the league with 1,357 rushing yards. They were also one of two teams to average less than four yards per attempt with 3.6 (the Los Angeles Rams had 3.9).

Running backs might not matter, but elite talents do, and the Raiders let one walk away in Jacobs when they should not have.

Choosing Minshew over O’Connell

In fairness, this was hardly the ideal quarterback situation for the Raiders heading into the season.

After the unexpected quarterback run in the 2024 Draft, the Raiders were left with free-agent signing Gardner Minshew and 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell as their options under center.

Minshew had had success at the NFL level before, with two 3,000-yard seasons under his belt and even making the Pro Bowl in 2023 as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. It likely factored into the decision to name Minshew as Week 1 starter.

The end result was not pretty, as Minshew was benched midway through the Raiders’ Week 5 matchup against the Denver Broncos. He would replace an injured O’Connell in Week 7 before suffering a season-ending broken collarbone in Week 12, also against the Broncos.

Minshew would finish the season with 2,013 passing yards, nine touchdowns and ten interceptions. Analytics compound Minshew’s struggles further; he was the fourth-lowest quarterback in terms of touchdown percentage and sixth-highest in interception percentage.

O’Connell did not necessarily light the NFL on fire, but he was reliable when called upon. He finished the season with 1,612 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions with one less game and two less starts than Minshew.

Neither did enough to change the narrative regarding the Raiders’ quarterback room, but it would have benefitted a rebuilding team like the Raiders to see what they had in O’Connell before switching to Minshew if they did not like what they saw.

Instead, the position capped whatever upside the Raiders had, which is a shame given the seasons receiving weapons like Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers had.