It’s Week 11 and the Las Vegas Raiders are set to take on the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. However, just about all of your questions for this week’s mailbag are about the offseason, so let’s dive into the NFL draft, free agency and coaching decisions!
Q: Are you in favor of waiting a year to draft a quarterback, starting Geno Smith for another season with the goal to go after CJ Carr in 2027?
A: I’d like to see the Raiders at least explore this quarterback class, and if there isn’t one that they like or they aren’t within range to get one of the top guys, then I wouldn’t mind waiting a year and going after someone like Carr. My concern with the latter, though, is that so much can change in a year.
Carr could regress and then the organization has to hope that another QB steps up for the plan to be effective. Or if he continues to play well next season, then he’ll likely be the No. 1 overall pick, and the Raiders would have to tank all of 2026 or give up a significant haul to go get him. In other words, the organization could play itself if it holds out for the Notre Dame product and ends up continuing to have more questions than answers at the most important position on the field.
So, it kind of depends on where Las Vegas is in the draft order and if prospects like Alabama’s Ty Simpson and Oregon’s Dante Moore declare for the draft, assuming Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza declares. I could see Simpson going back to school to get more starting experience before turning pro, and there have already been rumors that Moore will return to the Ducks.
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To answer the question, I’m not in favor of waiting for Carr unless there are no viable quarterback options where the Raiders are drafting. All of this being said, I think that if Pete Carroll does return as head coach, Geno is still going to be the starter to at least begin the season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that means the Raiders aren’t pressed to draft a quarterback this April.
A: I’m conflicted. I hate the idea of starting over with another new head coach and coaching staff, but I also don’t think it makes much sense to rebuild with a coach who will be 75 years old next September. If I had to make a decision right now, I’d say give Carroll at least one more year and go from there. Maybe he can turn it around and win for a couple of years while grooming his successor to (*coach speak warning*) change the culture and hand the keys over to someone who can keep what he has going.
Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is all a moot point and Carroll steps down after the season. I’m not saying that will happen, but his comments in the second half of the campaign suggest that this was a much bigger project than he envisioned when taking the job. So, I could see him looking at the situation and asking himself, “Do I really want to see this out just to win for a couple of years before stepping down?”
I know Pete’s a “young” 74, but the guy is going to be halfway to 80 at the start of next season. Father time catches up with everyone at some point.
Q: Have you mentally prepared yourself for Kyler Murray at QB?
A: No, lol! I know this rumor is floating around right now because Murray’s time in Arizona is probably coming to an end, but I think it’s more likely that the Raiders stick with Geno and draft someone to develop rather than bringing in another retread quarterback. Granted, that could depend on the question above, since Geno is Pete’s guy. However, I think the league’s perception of Murray is pretty low, and a new head coach—if there is one in Las Vegas next season—would rather work with a rookie of his choice anyway.
Q: It seems like the key player missing in the Raiders’ defense is someone to play the Earl Thomas role. I don’t think anyone could replace a guy like Earl Thomas, but do you think the Raiders need a safety that can play single-high like he did in the Legion of Boom? Seems like we should’ve held on to Tre’von Moehrig to do that.
A: Absolutely. After Moehrig walked in free agency, I thought John Spytek would target a free safety in the draft. Obviously, that didn’t happen, so I think the position will be one of the team’s needs in the spring. In my opinion, Thomas was the most important member of the Legion of Boom, and Carroll doesn’t have anyone close to that caliber of safety on his current defense.
That could make Ohio State’s Caleb Downs a sneaky first-round pick for Las Vegas, if the club doesn’t take a quarterback.
Q: If Raider fans and game announcers can clearly see that the offensive tackles desperately needed help, why didn’t Pete insist on Chip Kelly putting extra tight ends to block or at least chip the edge rushers? As a follow-up, why doesn’t Pete insist that Geno go under center more often?
A: Those are good questions and ones I don’t have good answers for. You’d have to ask Pete! My best guess is that because he’s a defensive guy, he doesn’t want to step on Kelly’s toes and trusts the guy he hired to take care of the offense. That being said, the results aren’t there, so I agree that it’s time for the head to step in and start asking for some changes to the play-calling/design.
Q: Do you think Spytek has the power to fire Pete, his sons and Chip at the end of the year, if Mark Davis and Tom Brady go along with his decision?
A: If Spytek has the backing of the two most significant team owners, he’d definitely have the authority to fire Carroll. However, he’d have to be pretty confident that Carroll isn’t the guy to lead the team and be convincing to Davis and Brady, because if Sptyek isn’t, now the target is on him. If I were in Spytek’s shoes, I’d wait until at least halfway through next season before going behind Carroll’s back and talking to ownership about firing the head coach.
Q: Going forward with the season over, the ONLY criterion that matters is what the team has with the players we drafted and signed this season. How can Spytek assess the team’s needs next year by not playing Charles Grant, Tonka Hemingway, and JJ Pegues while rotating out some starters like Leki Fotu and Jonah Laulu since we know what we have in them as well as permanently starting Darien Porter???
A: I’m with ya and would like to see the young guys, especially the rookies, get more playing time down the stretch of the season. I think we are starting to see that shift, though. Hemingway got some action last week, and it sounds like Caleb Rogers will be a starter with Jackson Powers-Johnson likely out for the rest of the year. We’ve hit that point in the season where it’s time to flip the depth chart around, and I’d expect to see a lot of the guys you mentioned get more run moving forward.
A: Lockett has been taking snaps away from the rookies, but writing any draft pick off after one or even two seasons is a bad idea.
Some guys take time to develop and adjust to the NFL, and Thornton was always going to be a significant project. I know people (myself included) got their hopes up with the reports coming out of training camp and him being a Week 1 starter, but that was clearly a mistake, and don’t lose sight of the fact that he was viewed as a raw prospect coming out of Tennessee. Bech is more disappointing to me because I thought he was more “pro-ready”, but I wouldn’t write him off after nine games.
Grant is in the same boat as Thornton. It was no secret that he was going to be a big project and that 2025 was likely going to be a “redshirt” year for him. We aren’t having this conversation if Kolton Miller doesn’t get injured, and I can completely understand not wanting to veer away from the rookie’s development plan when the team isn’t in playoff contention and there’s no young quarterback to protect. That being said, I could see Grant getting playing time in December to get him some game experience heading into year two.
A: Here’s what I’d do, hindsight being 20/20:
- Armand Membou in Round 1
- Andrew Mukuba in Round 2 (after the trade backs)
- Stick with Darien Porter in for the first pick in Round 3, then Cam Skattebo over Rogers or Grant
Q: This is more of a statement or comment or even a thought….How about the Raiders fire, get rid of, remove Chip Kelly altogether, bring in Jon Gruden as offensive coordinator, and when Pete Carroll decides to hang up the HC gig, pass it on down to Jon Gruden!! He can make the Raiders relevant again in offense and once he takes the reins back over look out! I know Mark Davis would love it, Jon Gruden would love it, Pete Carroll would get used to the idea and the fans will go crazy!!! It would put many more butts back in the seats at all the games….Gruden is coming back and it makes no sense why he wouldn’t/shouldn’t be back where he belongs!!! WITH THE RAIDERS!!!!
A: I appreciate the passion, lol! I think the Gruden ship has sailed, especially considering his lawsuit against the NFL is still ongoing. Not to mention, it wasn’t like he stepped away from the team for no reason…
Also, I highly doubt he’s taking an offensive coordinator job. He wants to be a head coach if he gets back into it. I like the outside-the-box thinking, though!
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
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