Why the Raiders Have an Uphill Battle

The remainder of the Las Vegas Raiders' season will be decided by their ability to adjust their depth chart. There are few groundbreaking additions of any kind the Raiders can make at this point, if the Raiders want to improve, they have to do so with the players currently under contract.

Ranking the Raiders

Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports recently ranked every team in the National Football League headed into Week 9. Vacchiano ranked the Raiders as the 31st-best team in the league. After their most recent outing, it is hard to blame anyone for doubting the current state or direction of the team.

"Will this be Geno Smith’s last stand in Vegas, or are the Raiders ready to turn to Kenny Pickett? Big decision for a team that has only one win — over the Titans — in its last six games," Vacchiano said.

Entering the Bye Week, Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll noted that Las Vegas is open to competition at several positions, including quarterback. They have had enough time off to get Pickett up to speed enough to face the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Regardless of what they do, the Raiders cannot afford to not change their approach. The first half of the season was a mess. Las Vegas' only hope is to shuffle things around. Carroll seems ready to make changes but whether or not he does or what changes he will make remains to be seen.

“We'll see. The competition is on. And we're not through thinking that way about opportunities for guys. I thought it was right to get G [Geno Smith] out, and Kenny [Pickett] needs to get some snaps. You know, right off the bat, he screws up and missed the freaking first snap. He just needs some playtime in case we need to call on him, so he feels comfortable jumping in,” Carroll said. 

“Darien [Porter], I'm always looking for chances to get him out there and get him playing. So, that's good and we'll continue to do that. There are guys up front on the offensive line and on the defensive line that we would love to give some playtime to. We stuck a couple guys in there just to get a couple snaps in at the end. They just need to be on the field, so we're going to continue to push that way.”