Returning Raider Nation’s questions for the week
I feel like a Raiders season doesn’t truly start until the drama gets going. So, given all the Davante Adams trade talk and hoopla surrounding it recently, consider this Week 4 matchup against the Denver Broncos the Las Vegas Raiders’ 2024 season opener!
Joking of course, but we certainly have plenty to talk about for this week’s mailbag.
Q: Does the Broncos defense have any weaknesses that the Raiders can exploit?
A: Denver’s defense is pretty strong overall, especially in coverage as Patrick Surtain II has become one of the league’s best corners and Riley Moss has stepped up this season to serve as a good second cornerback.
But the Broncos’ defensive line isn’t that good against the run. The problem is, as you all know, the Raiders have struggled to run the ball for the majority of the season. Granted, they did finally break through on the ground last week so hopefully the Raiders can continue that this weekend, especially with Adams sidelined again.
Q: What can we expect the rotation of defensive ends to be, with and without Maxx Crosby?
A: I think Tyree Wilson earned some more playing time with his performance last week, so I’d expect him to get more run moving forward. If Crosby plays, Wilson and he will be the starting defensive ends and get the lion’s share of reps while Charles Snowden comes in on third downs.
If Crosby is out, Snowden will probably start again while splitting reps with K’Lavon Chaisson. That’s what Las Vegas did last week and Janarius Robinson would be the next guy off the bench.
Q: Ideally, I would prefer trading Adams for a 1st and no compensation. And, trade him to New Orleans only because I think their draft position would be more favorable. My question is, what realistic trade and with who, do you think the Raiders can get?
A: My knee-jerk reaction when the trade talks surfaced was that Las Vegas could get a first-round pick for Adams. However, I dove into recent wide receiver trades (see the related post below) and I think a second-rounder is probably the most likely compensation.
Plus, it sounds like that’s what the Raiders are asking for or are expecting in return based on what’s been reported. Hopefully, they can get something else added onto that to sweeten the deal.
I hear ya on trading him to the Saints. But if the Jets are willing to part ways with Garrett Wilson to reunite Aaron Rodgers and Adams, then I’d start to lean toward that direction since the team would have an immediate replacement for Adams. Getting Wilson might be a longshot but I could see it happening.
A: It’s a combination of all three things you brought up. Luke Getsy is insistent on calling zone runs but Zamir White isn’t a zone back, the offensive line is missing blocks or not getting much of a push and White isn’t making good reads.
However, we did see the Raiders break a few runs last week. Some of those were gap runs with White or at least inside zone where he’s moving downhill, and Alexander Mattison had a couple of good cutbacks on outside zone carries. Hopefully, we see more of that moving forward and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mattison take over as the lead back since he’s a better zone runner.
Brock Bowers definitely has the worst hairline. Dude was balding at like 19 years old and nearly has a widow’s island (not even peak) at 21. We might have to change his pro comparison to Jason Witten at this point…
A: I touched on this a little in the answer above. White had a few more gap runs while Mattison was more of the outside zone back, but White still had more stretch run carries than I’d like to see. On top of that, Getsy also got the receivers more involved in the running game. That’s typically not as sustainable, but it can help open things up as it gives the defense something else to worry about.
The passing attack was harder to gauge because the Browns ran a lot of man coverage and it was the first game without Adams, the Raiders’ best man-beater. That’s a big reason why they didn’t have as much success through the air. Moving forward, I’d expect Getsy to run the passing game through Bowers.
A: 1) Bowers 10 or more targets, Tre Tucker five to six, and Jakobi Meyers eight-ish. That’s roughly 25 targets between those three so about five more to other guys for 30 attempts per game seems like the winning formula to me.
2) Marcus shared the numbers on this and Las Vegas used 12 personnel the majority of the time last week which was a big change from the first three games. So, I’d expect to see more two-tight end sets moving forward.
Raiders personnel usage Week 4.
11-43%
12-47%
13-10%Lots of 12 without Davante Adams.
— Marcus Johnson (@TheMarcJohnNFL) October 3, 2024
3) I think Michael Mayer getting traded is on the table since, as you mentioned, Tom Telesco isn’t the general manager who drafted him. But I’d like the Raiders to give it a full season to see if they can make it work with Bowers and Mayer on the field at the same time, especially since Adams is on his way out.
A: I get the feeling they’re going to take what they can get for Adams at this point. It wouldn’t surprise me if they eat some of his salary by converting it into a signing bonus to help sweeten the deal for a trade partner and help increase the offer. It feels like the damage has been done and the Raiders would rather take whatever assets they can get to build toward the future than keep a disgruntled player around.
Q: Where are you on Carson Beck today, Matt? I’m still on Shedeur for the RaaDuhs … but what about this Cam Ward?
A: I was high on Beck to begin the season, but I’ve definitely cooled off after his latest performances against Kentucky and Alabama, especially this last one against Bama. It seemed like he regressed to 2023 Carson Beck where he made too many bad decisions that dug Georgia into a massive hole. I respect his resolve to come back in that game, but abysmal starts like that can’t happen in the NFL.
Outside of a tough game against Nebraska, Sanders has impressed me this season. I do have questions about his leadership, but there’s no denying that he has plenty of arm talent.
To me, Ward is QB1 right now. He’s been the most impressive quarterback in the country this season, in my opinion, and shows the arm talent and athleticism to make off-platform throws. Also, his decision-making has improved from last year. My colleague at Bleacher Report Damian Parson dove into why he’s a big fan of Ward, too.
At this point in the process, Ward is QB1 over Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Georgia’s Carson Beck. Why? Ward is physically superior with specific raw tools, like arm strength and athleticism. He makes throws from different platforms and multiple arm angles that most quarterbacks cannot. Ward’s accuracy and ball placement are on par with Sanders and Beck, but with a stronger physical skill set. As such, his ceiling should be viewed as higher.
The two-time transfer plays with a level of confidence that borders “cocky,” but it factors into his teams never being out of a game. Simply put, Ward has superstar tools and abilities for the next level. His concerns are coachable, but his natural abilities are not.
Things could change when I dive deeper into each guy’s game and as we get closer to the draft, but my quarterback rankings for those three right now are; Ward, Sanders, Beck.
A: No. Antonio Pierce’s issues at Arizona State were specific to violating NCAA rules and he didn’t break any laws, so the NFL won’t discipline him. Also, when the NCAA makes a ruling and punishes someone, the NFL typically doesn’t step in and double down. That’s one of the differences between this situation and Terrelle Pryor’s from several years ago.
Pryor was never punished by the NCAA because he withdrew from Ohio State and entered the league after the tattoo scandal. Also, Pryor got caught driving on a suspended license so there was a legal issue involved as well.
In other words, this is just a bad look for AP.
A: To be honest, all the drama surrounding Pierce right now is troublesome and I’m starting to get worried about it as well. If it was an isolated incident, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to me but there is a lot of drama right now surrounding the head coach.
That’s not what a team needs from its leader, especially a coach, and liking the social media post about Adams getting traded was petty and childish, as you mentioned. I wish I could ease the concerns and I was in Pierce’s corner last week, but he’s getting hard for me to defend with everything that’s unfolded recently.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any insights into the locker room.
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 SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.