The Raiders aren’t headed to the playoffs this year but based on the first 11 weeks of the season, they aren’t going to double down on their young players, either.
Largely ignoring the rookies has been one of the biggest criticisms of Pete Carroll in his first year in Las Vegas, and CBS analyst Ross Tucker said the veteran head coach explained his thought process to the broadcast crew prior to Sunday’s game.
“For a second, Caleb Rogers, the third-round pick out of Texas Tech started to walk out onto the field. That is what Raiders’ fans have been clamoring for,” Tucker said on the CBS live broadcast when Jordan Meredith went down with an injury in the fourth quarter.
“But they haven’t played the third-round offensive lineman. They don’t throw the ball very often to [Jack] Bech or [Dont’e] Thornton, and so when you talk with Raiders fans, that’s kind of their frustration. It’s like ‘OK, get it. We’re not going to have a good season. We’re not a good team, but let’s at least develop these young guys.'”
According to Tucker, Carroll’s response to that line of thinking is essentially that he isn’t going to put players on the field that haven’t earned the job.
“When we asked Pete Carroll about that,” Tucker continued, “and he said you either have a philosophy or you don’t, and his philosophy is you compete to do whatever you can to win and he said if you’re asking me if I’m going to develop guys just to develop them, I ain’t for that.”
What has never made sense about Carroll’s “comePETE” mantra is that certain players have been allowed to play at a low level this year without any obvious consequences.
Geno Smith didn’t leave the field against the Broncos when he could only use one leg. Jackson Powers-Johnson had to battle for a starting job at two positions against linemen that we know now (and most believed at the time) are far less capable.
From a coaching standpoint, the offensive line has been as bad as any unit in the league, but as Lincoln Kennedy pointed out this week, Brennon Carroll doesn’t face the same consequences as the team’s offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator.
Carroll hinted after Sunday’s game that the young players could be on the field soon, but until that happens, it’s going to be hard to explain why struggling veterans, many of whom have no future with the organization, are taking playing time away from some of the more intriguing picks the Raiders made in the 2025 draft.
x: @raidersbeat
Well… if the Old Man is correct and the players who Are playing are that much better and thus have earned their reps over the 3rd Rounders then we have a completely inept GM and scouting system. Personally I think that they aere probably fine and it is the Coach and Baby Boy Brennan who don’t know how to teach and Develop ANYBODY!!!
I agree with Pete UNLESS your players you deem having earned their place on the field suck ***.
To me that’s enough reason for cause to fire him.
Then why would the Raiders want Pete in a position of power. If he can’t develop an OL from the 3rd round to play over Putnum,Meredith, or Cappa then the Carroll’s need to leave. There should be an offensive philosophy overhaul starting Sunday. Power run with play action along with Geno under center. 25 touches avg for AJ, 10 targets avg for Bowers, Bech and Thorton as the starting WRs. Rogers needs to be starting, Grant needs reps, Glaze should move to G as well. Try Parham at C. The young DL guys need to be up on game day. Start pressuring the opposing QBs. How about 5 man fronts so the DBs don’t have to cover so long. Spytek needs to be getting plus guys onto the PS. How can the team get better if Pete won’t try?
Unless there’s a complete 180 turnaround and they start winning I think Pete is one&done. He’s basically telling the GM that his draft class isn’t NFL caliber. I think Pete is no longer a viable coach. Now we know what Seattle figured out.
Does Brennon Carroll even know how to coach. Offense line is a complete disaster. They can’t block, open holes for running backs. Qb getting sacked way too much. Something needs to change.