Free agency is slowing to a crawl, but the Raiders are still looking to plug in a few starters between now and the draft.
Some of the biggest needs on the roster are at linebacker, quarterback (depending on your view of Geno Smith), running back, wide receiver, and some would say the offensive line needs attention, as well.
One of those who isn’t sold on the offensive line as it stands right now is flagship radio host Q Myers.
“There’s one concern that I still have, and it’s not like it can’t be addressed. It’s not like it won’t be rectified or corrected… It’s just as I’m watching everything develop in this new league year so far under this new staff, and a lot of this comes from all the different mock drafts, and we talked about mock drafts [from] Mel Kiper Jr., Daniel Jeremiah and others,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast.
“But I’m still concerned with the offensive line,” Myers continued. “So many [draft analysts] are saying Ashton Jeanty, the running back, to the Raiders at six. That’s fantastic if your offensive line is up to snuff. That’s my big concern.”
Something to keep in mind with the offensive line moving forward is that they had arguably the most under-qualified coaches in the building last year.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter believes the decision-makers in Las Vegas have a little higher opinion of the offensive line personnel than some on the outside seem to have.
The “Luke Getsy Effect” was a real dynamic in the Raiders’ locker room last year and a few players seem to be getting the benefit of the doubt in 2025 for that reason.
The offensive line was a disaster under Getsy and the quarterbacks regressed just as much.
“Coming in [to the 2025 season], the Raiders fully anticipated it was Aiden O’Connell’s job, but they promised Gardner, if you beat him out, you can have it. And what happened was both quarterbacks looked terrible under Luke Getsy,” Carpenter said in December.
“The hiring of Luke Getsy and all of that offensive stuff totally ruined this franchise’s 2024 season. [It was] a horrible decision. And now you see Aiden come back after he’s gone five weeks, and bam, he’s in and looking better than old Aiden. Go back and watch what he did last year on Christmas Day compared to what he did on Black Friday. He doesn’t even look like the same quarterback.”
x: @raidersbeat
Spytek let Mekhi Becton go to a divisional rival, the Chargers, for a nothing contract.
Why couldn’t we sign him?
Instead we get signings like special teams players and backups who suck.
Please….Hondo was all for the Getsy hiring when it happened. Is AOC Hondo’s kid , they go to the same church?! The RaaaDuhs have been doomed by inconsistent , mediocre and bad qb play for decades now. That team last year was going to be bad because they had two back-up qbs to start with . Same as the year before . Hopefully Geno can continue his still stellar play indoors in Vegas . To give them a chance with a healthy D and good running game this year. Draft Jeanty and Skattebo I say . Play Skattebo at fullback.. a road grading and pass catching fullback.
I’m all for not over paying for players, but we got to get some players ,so we have to spend some money!!!! 🏴☠️
I’d rather O’Connell be the starter and we kept the 3rd round pick, instead of having traded it for Smith.
Look up Geno’s stat’s indoors the last few years PhillyR … some of the best numbers in the league. Why they made the move I think, they want to try to win this year. AOC hasn’t really shown he can consistently win them games yet , not lose them sure. But you need more than that at QB in this league. Geno is an upgrade over AOC. Maybe you keep the third and sign Rodgers or Darnold instead, but they needed to upgrade at QB obviously.
I can’t talk to people who think like you, Karl.
You want to tell.me about Smith’s numbers indoors as if that means something.
Our O line sucks. He’ll be 35. He threw 15 int’s last year and only 21 td’s.
You want to tell me about him indoors.
Raiders aren’t winning anything this year.
This year is to lay a foundation for the future to win later on.
We are going to have a 35 year old running for his life with this O line in front of him.
Going to be another brutal season coming up for Coach Biden and GM Rainman.
Once again, like last year, they are ignoring the need to get better talent along the OL. At least the last GM recognized the need and drafted two OLmen early in the draft. They need more talent at Guard and depth at Tackle. Hopefully they see this and draft at least a top Guard. Otherwise, Genty will get stonewalled like he did against Penn State in the playoffs. Plus Smith won’t last the season. They should wait and draft a RB in the 3rd or 4th rd. The RB position is deep this draft.
But who could of guessed Getsy sucked? Oh right, a retarded, blind box of rocks could figure out Getsy sucked. What about his abysmal failure at Chicago indicated we should’ve hired him? gmafb
Well said Karl, Philly boy has issues.
I think the Raiders are gonna be just fine this year different coach difference opposite coordinator better quarterback regardless of being his age he’s mobile I’m hyped. I wish the season would start now go Raiders.
This is called blind faith.
Wow. The fans who don’t like anything the team does act as if they have never purchased anything in their lives that they weren’t 100% satisfied with. And then they chase every questionable decision around until another opportunity to complain comes along. Hondo was on board with Getsy because like the Raiders he realized that Getsy was the best available when the Raiders hired him. Hondo wanted Kingsbury if you recall. I am pretty sure everyone did. Kingsbury wanted Daniels and unlike the Raiders, he was able to go get him. AOC looked good in 23 and Minshew was one play away from the playoffs in 23. The line blocked really well for White in the back half of 23 against some good teams. White ran like a beast in 23. So when one player regresses, guess what? It’s the player to blame. When a whole group regresses? It’s coaching. If Pete Carrol can’t turn this around in 25 I’ll eat crow. Frankly the people who complained about the last guys age put guy in office who’s going to be even older. So stop being ageist. Old age catches everyone. But not everyone gets caught at the same time. So let it play out.
I think the draft will be exciting. I’m sure Spy and PC know what needs to happen on the oline. I bet they grab an oline G early. Spytek has said they are going to use Phillies model to build the oline the same way. Which means 300 pnds across the line.
I hope that you’re right. I’m sure coaching may help improve the line some, but can’t make up for the lack of talent. Jeanty isn’t the second coming of Bo Jackson, he needs a good line to create running lanes in order to his talent to show. He was stonewalled against Penn State because his OL was overwhelmed.
I mean the OL looked like it was in a 3rd world country traffic jam. Guys going all different ways, it was pathetic. They will be better, and were better when Getsy left. We’ll get a couple more OL in the draft, we need some for sure, and we will be more crisp and organized up front.