The Las Vegas Raiders brought in head coach Pete Carroll with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to turn around their offense
The Las Vegas Raiders brought in head coach Pete Carroll with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to turn around their offense after ranking dead last in the NFL in their run game, combined with being last in goal-to-go percent, as well as 30th on third downs, tied-28th in point per game, 27th in pass yards per play and 27th in red zone percentage.
Carroll brought in a QB that he’s familiar with in Geno Smith, as well as changes at their top 2 running back spots and 3 rookie wide receivers to join the mix. The quality holdovers at the skill position players are Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers.
QB: Geno Smith
Smith had the best 2 years of his career under Carroll in Seattle. First was his stellar breakout season in 2022, where he threw 30 TDs / 11 INTs. Prior to that, Smith had 34 TDs / 37 INTs for his career. The following year, Smith’s stats dropped to 20 TDs / 9 INTs as his completion percent fell from 70% to 65% as well.
The 2023 season would be Carroll’s last as the Seahawks head coach, and the wheels came off a bit for Smith without Carroll as the coach. Smith completed over 70% of his passes for 4,300 yards but threw 21 TDs / 15 INTs. Las Vegas is rolling the dice on the duo with Kelly in place to help bolster the odds in the gambling capital of the world.
RB: Ashton Jeanty
In 2023, Ashton Jeanty ran for 1,347 yards and 14 TDs. It was a strong season to be proud of. Last year he almost doubled all of it with 2,601 yards and 29 TDs, which is just ridiculous. In 2023, he also caught 43 passes for 569 yards and 5 more TDs.
Jeanty drastically improves the unit. He looks to immediately get upfield as he’s comfortable on the interior and only moves to lanes on the perimeter if nothing’s available. He doesn’t just run for the edges when it’s closed off inside, but rather finds the next immediate open, quickly, and maximizes runs with vision and physicality.
WR: Jakobi Meyers
Meyers received an uptick in volume last season due to the lack of weapons in the offense. After Bowers, himself and Tucker, the next 2 highest volume receiving options on the year were running backs.
Meyers will remain around his average over the last 4 seasons, which included his last 2 with the New England Patriots and first 2 in Las Vegas (77 / 876 / 5).
WR: Tre Tucker
Tucker was much more involved in his 2nd season. He was targeted 81 times in which he put up numbers of 47 / 539 / 3 with a 58% catch rate. Despite his yards per reception dropping from 17.4 as a rookie to 11.5 last year, his catch rate went up only 2%.
WR: Jack Bech
The new staff knew they needed to upgrade the receiver position, so in the draft they took a receiver every other round (2nd, 4th & 6th). Bech was first when he was selected 58th overall and will contribute immediately, as he has a high IQ in the way he attacks.
Bech shows his numbers quickly underneath, creates space with routes, fakes and sharp angles with an agenda. On deeper routes he’ll slow, get the DB on his back and then accelerate and extend towards the ball. He’ll attack the soft part of zones and looks to get moving after the catch immediately.
TE: Brock Bowers
As a rookie, Bowers led all tight ends in targets (153), receptions (112), and yards (1,194). There were only 2 players in the NFL with more receptions, Ja’Marr Chase and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Bowers will still be the top option for the Raiders passing game in 2025, and he’ll repeat with similar numbers except in TDs, in which he’ll boost it to 8, which would have tied for the 2nd most among TEs last year.
BOLD PREDICTION: Ashton Jeanty
Only 5 rookie running backs have rushed for over 1,600 yards in a season. Only 2 have since Eric Dickerson did so in 1983, when he set the rookie rushing record of 1,808 yards that still stands. They were Ezekiel Elliott in 2016 (1,631) and Alfred Morris in 2012 (1,613). Jeanty will beat both of them in 2025 as he rushes for 1,650+ yards and 12+ TDs.
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