The 2024 NFL season was one of the more forgettable seasons for the Raiders in recent years, but is there reason for hope in 2025?
At a first glance, the Raiders still look like a team destined to finish in the bottom half of the AFC West, but a few different dynamics going into the 2025 season should make the Raiders more competitive than they were a year ago.
Let’s take a look at three changes in 2025 that should shift the trajectory of the Raiders going forward…
Key defensive players expected to return to the lineup
Maxx Crosby might be the best defensive player in the NFL, and he played only one game at full strength in 2024.
He was on the field for most of the season, but he was never close full strength and it’s easy to forget how dominant Crosby can be when he’s healthy. The Raiders’ team captain was hobbled for almost all of the 2024 season but still recorded 7.5 sacks in 10 games before being shut down for the year.
Going into the season, Malcolm Koonce was expected to be the perfect bookend to Crosby in pass rushing situations, but Koonce went down a week before the start of the season with a torn ACL.
In nine games to close out the 2023 season, Koonce recorded 8 sacks. Even when he wasn’t getting sacks, Koonce was putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Pro Football Focus credited Koonce with 38 pressures in that span.
Just a few weeks before Koonce went down with a knee injury in September, Raiders’ defensive coordinator Patrick Graham went on Crosby’s podcast and was asked to name a player he expected to take a huge stride in 2024.
The player he mentioned right away was Koonce.
“I don’t want to put anybody on the spot, but I just love what Malcolm [Koonce] has been able to do,” Graham said on The Rush.
“In terms of what he was able to do last year and the way he’s working right now. I think he could care less what happened last year. He’s just like Maxx, you have to do every week, every year, it’s a new season,” Graham continued. “The way he’s been working, the maturity in terms of him growing into himself as an NFL player and knowing who he is and being able to communicate that and execute it. It should be fun to watch. I’m not going to predict this and that. I just know this. Show me you’re doing the work. We’ll see what the results are. Let’s rock. He’s putting in that work.”
Koonce is expected to be at full strength going into the 2025 season.
And then there’s Christian Wilkins.
Wilkins is one of the premier defensive tackles in the league, but he has barely been healthy since signing a four-year, $110 million deal in March of last year.
If Wilkins can return to full strength, which might be a big ask at this point, the Raiders’ defensive line could be dominant in 2025.
A proven head coach leading the team
Pete Carroll was the most accomplished head coaching candidate in this year’s hiring cycle and his impact is already being felt in the Raiders’ building.
“He just wants to see guys be the best versions of themselves,” Crosby said of Carroll last week. “He’s true to that. It’s not fake energy. It’s every day he’s the same guy.”
Carroll is already changing the culture in Las Vegas, and he has brought a coaching staff with him that is far superior to what the Raiders had a year ago.
“The hiring of Luke Getsy and all of that offensive stuff totally ruined this franchise’s 2024 season. [It was] a horrible decision,” Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said in December.
Not only did the Raiders replace Getsy, but they should also have one of the best offensive coordinators in the league in Chip Kelly.
There is no winning without a good coaching staff in the NFL and the Raiders finally have the coaches in place to compete – and it’s a good thing because no division in the NFL has more proven head coaches than the AFC West.
The addition of Geno Smith
Opinions vary on Geno Smith, but there’s no question that he’s been at his best with Carroll.
At minimum, Smith is an upgrade over Aidan O’Connell and if he returns to his 2022 form in Seattle, the Raiders got the steal of the offseason by adding Smith to a quarterback room that featured O’Connell and Gardner Minshew in 2024.
There’s a lot that’s been written about Smith in the last few months, but the dynamic between Carroll and Smith is something that probably hasn’t been given enough attention.
In fact, it sounds like Carroll’s intention was to trade for Smith from the day he was hired in Las Vegas.
”I was trying to get that done from the moment this thing happened. I was hoping we could do something [to get Geno Smith],” Carroll said on Brock and Salk.
“Geno was a backup for all those years… so there was a lot of times where we had to do stuff together to keep him going and he was keeping me going , but I was keeping him going. What he demonstrated to me [was] this remarkable connection in spirit to be ready knowing that the very next play he may be in the game. He never forgot that. His resolve about that I thought was so exceptional that when he got his turn I was thrilled for him…”
Additionally, Carroll said Smith’s presence in Las Vegas has already begun to change the culture.
“This opportunity [came] up and we needed a quarterback. Really, it was a classic opportunity for us to really transition to a quarterback and a coach that see eye to eye on everything. Geno has killed it here. He’s been such a factor. The leadership he brings, his work ethic, the mentality his brings, it’s been a fantastic assistance to turning this thing over.”
The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar was one of those covering Carroll in Seattle and he shared a couple of interesting insights in March about Carroll’s coaching methods and his affinity for Geno Smith.
“Pete knows Geno and probably believes in Geno more than anyone outside of Geno’s immediate family. The way Pete talks about Geno is the way I talk about my daughter. Pete really loves this dude,” Dugar said on the Just Win podcast.
“At some point last year, he was like, ‘Geno is one of my favorite stories. He’s one of my favorite players I’ve ever coached.’ Pete has been coaching since the 70s. For Geno to rank that high, that means a lot. I think if anything, it doesn’t stop him from drafting a quarterback, but it may tip the scale in Geno’s favor more than like making it a full-on open competition…”
x: @raidersbeat