Things have really plummeted for the Las Vegas Raiders—Raider Nation wonders if head coach Pete Carroll can even develop a quarterback at this point. You then have a new but old offensive coordinator in Greg Olson, who is just trying to stay afloat. Then you have a former player and fan favorite lay into the coaching staff, one coach’s son in particular.
Let’s get you caught up on this week’s musings, folks.
The Raiders, with a record of 2-9, somehow find themselves drafting fifth overall, which feels like the most quintessentially Raiders outcome imaginable. Only this franchise could perform so poorly and still lose the tiebreaker for misery. At this point, their only strength appears to be their strength of schedule.
The notion that Las Vegas could climb even higher up the draft board shouldn’t shock anyone. At this point, “winnable games” are more theory than reality, like Bigfoot or the idea that Geno Smith would revive his career under Pete Carroll 2.0.
Quarterback of the future? Absolutely…
Ty Simpson, Fernando Mendoza, Dante Moore—pick your flavor. For once, the Raiders might actually be in position to draft a franchise quarterback instead of romanticizing reclamation projects. The problem? Developing a franchise quarterback requires time, structure and vision, three concepts this organization treats like foreign exchange students.
Which brings us to Carroll…
Carroll is 74, still full of enthusiasm, but insisting he can lead a multiyear quarterback development plan is like insisting a flip phone can run TikTok. This is the same coach who traded for Geno Smith because he believed the Raiders were ready to compete right now. Call it optimism, call it denial, call it whatever you want—just don’t call it long-term planning.
His biggest offseason swing was hiring Chip Kelly, making him the highest-paid offensive coordinator in football before firing him midway through the season. The Raiders essentially bought a luxury yacht and then sank it in the parking lot. Now Greg Olson is the interim, a familiar face who has coached more Raiders quarterbacks through disaster than anyone should have to.
If the Raiders are serious about drafting a quarterback—and there is no evidence they should be serious about anything, but let’s pretend—they cannot hand a rookie to a staff that already derailed one season and nearly two careers.
Developing a franchise quarterback is not a retirement hobby…
That task requires alignment between the GM and the head coach. It requires patience. It requires an offensive vision that lasts longer than four games. Carroll has earned respect and admiration, but he is not the steward for a rebuild that may not bear fruit until 2028.
If Spytek wants a real reset, he has to align the next coach with the next quarterback. That means making the hard decision now, not after another year of finger-pointing and offensive shakeups.
And if the Raiders finally decide to start thinking long-term, it will be the first time in decades. Which, frankly, is the biggest offseason miracle they could hope for.
Related: Raiders Have No Accountability Left
New Raiders OC Greg Olson is just trying to stay afloat…
The Raiders finally reached the point where even Carroll couldn’t pretend the offense was functional, and Kelly paid the price. His firing wasn’t surprising; the offense had become less “scheme” and more “performance art.” Now Greg Olson inherits the impossible job of making the unit resemble an actual NFL offense over the final six games.
Nothing is failing alone…
The offensive line leaks pressure, receivers struggle with timing, and Geno Smith continues taking historic levels of punishment. Olson diplomatically says “everyone’s involved,” which is one way to describe an offense where all 11 players contribute to the dysfunction. His hope is that past chemistry with Smith—dating back to their Seattle days—can spark something, though nostalgia doesn’t block edge rushers.
Then there’s the run game, a theoretical construct the Raiders discuss often but use sparingly. Olson insists they must run “when they want to run,” yet recent games show they rarely want to run at all. Abandoning the ground game has only made the passing disaster more pronounced.
Olson tempers expectations, noting there’s no way to make “wholesale changes” this late. At this stage, the goal isn’t transformation—it’s discovering whether this offense has any hidden potential left or whether the final stretch will look exactly like the first 12 games: chaotic, predictable, and deeply exhausting.
Richie Incognito is calling for Brennan Carroll’s head, as is Raider Nation…
Richie Incognito, former Raiders lineman, didn’t just ring the alarm on the Raiders’ offensive line—he yanked the fire extinguisher off the wall and started swinging it. And honestly, he’s not wrong. When an O-line looks this disorganized in Week 12, you can’t blame “communication issues” or “growing pains.” At some point, the position coach has to stop reciting buzzwords and start teaching people how to block.
Brennan Carroll was brought in to develop the trenches, not turn them into an archaeological site where blown assignments go to be excavated. High pads, slow hands, late feet—the Raiders’ technique checklist reads like a scouting report for a unit preparing for a charity flag football game.
And Incognito’s main point hits hardest: two third-round rookies can’t even sniff the field. Not because they lack talent, but because they apparently can’t be coached into baseline functionality. If developing young linemen is the job, then the job isn’t getting done. Period.
When your veterans look lost and your rookies look invisible, accountability can’t be optional. At this rate, Carroll isn’t just failing to develop the O-line—he’s turning it into a weekly case study on how not to run a position group.
Thoughts, Raider Nation?
*Top Photo: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports