Klint Kubiak’s Las Vegas Raiders offense finds itself on the razor’s edge after the first four games of the season.
This isn’t about the Silver & Black’s ground game, although it has issues of its own and will come up often here. The bigger question is the wide receiver conundrum in Las Vegas, the WR1 enigma. “Paradox” might be the better word.
According to ESPN, Kubiak’s offense faces stacked boxes (eight or more defenders near the line of scrimmage) on 30.3% of its plays, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL. The Raiders have a 27.8% success rate against those fronts, which ranks 26th among 32 teams, and their run game has struggled mightily outside a few fleeting moments.
Raider Nation has spoken…
As a result, the calls from Raider Nation for a true WR1 have grown louder. The fan base has been reinvigorated by Kubiak’s rapid turnaround, which has the Raiders at 3-1, and Las Vegas now heads to New England for a Week 5 matchup with the Patriots on Sunday. Trade and draft scenarios have been plentiful, as have requests for a lid-lifting speedster who could force defenses to back off the box. All of those ideas have logical merit.
However, the eight defenders eagerly awaiting the Raiders’ ground game are partly of Kubiak’s own making. He is the son of former head coach and player Gary Kubiak and learned under both San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and former head coach Mike Shanahan. His core offensive tenets rely on a productive run game to open up the play-action passing game, and part of that ground-and-pound approach is heavy personnel groupings with multiple tight ends and a running back in the formation.
Defenses answer with base formations that are heavy on linebackers to match that physicality, and naturally, that puts more defenders in the box. That is the precarious Catch-22 Kubiak and the Raiders find themselves in.
This is only part of the story…
It also explains why a lid-lifting wideout is often the go-to solution. Speed is supposed to deter those fronts and force defenders to play off instead of press, lest they be beaten over the top. But that is only part of the Raiders’ razor’s edge.
Nor is this an argument that Brock Bowers is WR1, though Kubiak’s usage of the elite tight end merits the conversation.
The 23-year-old played just 16 snaps as a traditional in-line tight end in his 2026 season debut in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints. He has lined up at traditional receiver spots, both on the perimeter and in the slot. That continued against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, with a 4.40-second 40-yard dash, Bowers is a difficult cover because of his versatility. He has 16 receptions for 202 yards and two touchdowns in those two games.
The true mitigating factor in the WR1 conundrum is the quarterback: Kirk Cousins.
Don’t get me wrong, what the 38-year-old has done this season is worthy of praise. He is completing 64.6% of his passes and has thrown for 1,026 yards and a league-leading 11 touchdowns, with just four interceptions. He has been hit often but sacked only five times through four games.
Related: Klint Kubiak Sends Clear Message Ahead of Week 5
The Raiders might not need more speed…
Still, the argument for a speedster who can go deep loses me because Cousins’ arm is no longer what it once was. He is more in the mold of former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon, who used anticipation, accuracy and timing to deliver the ball on short and intermediate routes. We have seen plenty of that.
What we haven’t seen consistently is Cousins pushing the ball downfield effectively. There are fleeting moments, mainly to speedy receiver Tre Tucker. The grimace on Cousins’ face shows he is putting everything he has into those YOLO bombs.
That won’t change if the Raiders acquire another speed option to serve as WR1 alongside fleet-footed wideouts such as Tucker, rookie Malik Benson and Dont’e Thornton Jr. Thornton is trying to get back in the mix after an injury in training camp sidelined him.
Enter Brock Bowers…
With Cousins at quarterback, at least for this season, the ideal top receiver is one who creates quick separation with crisp, precise routes and can generate yards after the catch. That is more the route-running technician mold of Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown or Los Angeles Rams receiver and former Raider Davante Adams.
Here is the kicker: Bowers already does that. A Cliff Branch type would be lost with Cousins slinging the rock.
A pure deep-threat speedster at WR1 makes more sense for the Raiders’ future quarterback, Fernando Mendoza. If the Silver & Black want a wideout of that caliber and profile, there is an ideal one with whom Mendoza is all too familiar: Indiana junior Charlie Becker, the Hoosiers’ explosive deep threat, who stands 6-foot-4 and 208 pounds. That scenario depends on Becker declaring for the 2027 draft and on Las Vegas holding high picks in the early rounds.
Ultimately, a big, fast and trusty deep threat is tailor-made for the future, not the present.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images