When the Las Vegas Raiders hired Chip Kelly in the offseason, there was excitement about the creativity he would bring to the NFL. After three games, the Raiders are 26th in points per game and have the same ranking in overall EPA. The offense that was supposed to be the leader of the football team is not holding its own weight.
One of the issues with the offense is Kelly’s scheme itself. Kelly has experience in the NFL, which led to an expectation that he would be able to transition his offense to professional football. However, what we have seen is Kelly sticking with his college style in the run and pass game, and it has led to a team that is struggling to score points.
Former NFL tight end Logan Paulsen reviewed the film after the loss to the Commanders and pointed out the glaring issues with Kelly’s offense.
“This is going to sound mean, but I don’t mean it to be in a mean way. This is like, it feels like a very collegey offense,” Paulsen said on the Take Command podcast. “It’s the spacing, the formations, the distribution, all feel very ‘collegy.’”
Paulsen does make a good point, but on the interception, that is a play the Dolphins have run for years under Mike McDaniel. When it comes to the running game, the designs of the runs are lacking. When the hashes are closer, you can’t spread teams out to take safeties and linebackers out of the run game. The NFL is more condensed, and the spacing has caused issues for many play callers attempting to make the transition.
When it comes to the passing game, you can see a few of the same issues. In the play below, Tre Tucker and Jakobi Meyers are running a post-wheel concept that is prevalent in the NFL. The players’ spread-out leads to a spacing issue where Tucker and Meyers are in the same spot. Tucker runs an unorthodox post route because of it, and Meyers can’t get separation.
Also, the timing of the offense is off due to this, resulting in more sacks on the quarterback. Since most college offenses are designed for explosive plays and not timing, it is forcing Geno Smith to hold the ball longer. His time to throw in the season is 3.05 seconds according to PFF.com.
Hopefully, Kelly will start to make adjustments and try to add more of the West Coast elements he ran at Ohio State. Right now, the Raiders are looking like Oregon.
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