It took the Raiders 13 weeks, but on Sunday the coaching staff finally started Caleb Rogers at right guard and let him play an entire game.
It was a move the fan base and several insiders had been clamoring to see for weeks, and the results even better than expected.
Rogers was the Raiders’ second-highest graded offensive lineman in the game (Pro Football Focus) and he gave zero quarterback pressures on 39 pass plays.
From the outside, it seems like the Raiders should have injected Rogers into the lineup sooner but listening to the Las Vegas Review Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore this week, it sounds like there may have been some method to the madness behind burying Rogers on the bench for so long.
“I will say this, Caleb told me when I spoke to him about this, he said he was a mess when it came to his hand and footwork coming out of, in training camp, coming out of training camp. And he said that he and the staff worked really hard on that. So, you could also make the argument that he may not have been ready and worked his way into being ready,” Bonsignore said on the Vegas Nation First and 10 podcast.
“I know that you can do that on the fly, but it sounded like there was some real development time that was needed, and maybe that set him up to be what we’re seeing now.”
It’s possible the coaching staff achieved perfect timing by holding Rogers back, but it’s hard to give the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt based on the way they have handled the offensive line this season.
The way the situation played out with Jackson Powers-Johnson for the first three months of the season, along with the never-ending shuffle the team is having at center, it’s not easy to believe the coaching staff has been ahead of the curve at any position along the offensive line.
But there is another theory swirling around the depth chart decisions the Raiders have been making this year.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter suggested this week that some of the team’s roster decisions this year have come by mandate from above Pete Carroll.
“I thought Caleb Rogers in his second start was good,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “There are questions there and I want to say this. The person responsible for Caleb Rogers not playing earlier this year should take accountability for that.”
It’s possible that Carpenter was talking about Carroll or even GM John Spytek, but based on comments from Carpenter on previous podcasts, it seems like he’s referencing someone above Spytek.
If that’s the case, the comment would have been directed at either minority owner Tom Brady or owner Mark Davis.
Among those two… which would be most likely to meddle in the team’s depth chart since the start of training camp?
x: @raidersbeat
At one Time (a now long time ago) Vinny B. was a respected Sports Writer… BUT he is a AZZZ kissing Hack who is Always trying to protect his Paycheck… after being tossed out of Los Angeles he got a Gig in Vegas. He has grown to Love this town and does not want to be tossed again. Maybe someday he will grow a Pair again some day but until that day comes again he is no more than a Vibrator with a dead Battery. Ai will be happy to take his place and will have more honest opinions of things… Merry Christmas
Bill Williamson is the only legitimate Raider media scribe that tells you like it is. Some podcasters do but with mainstream media, Bill Williamson is the man. Vinnie, Hondo and the rest couldn’t wipe his a##.
Bill has been downsized a lot so he has nothing left to lose.
Sports writers are a dying profession
Vinny is a hack but he does have inside information & he insinuates what we are gonna do. For example, AP & Pete coming in
Nah, don’t buy it. The whole idea of hiring Carroll was built around his credibility as a leader and culture setter. The idea that he’s just acting as a yes man for Brady doesn’t make any sense. It certainly would have stopped making sense 6 weeks ago when it was obvious this team was going nowhere and Carroll would be coaching for his job. It also doesn’t like up with the way he treated “competition” at other positions. Everything he’s done is to prioritize winning right now. It’s probably going to lead to a 2 or 3 win season.
It all starts with the moronic decision to give Brady final say on football matters. The guy doesn’t know squat about building a team and this year’s Raider team is a prime example. Pretty much nothing he’s done has been positive. The HC selection, draft, and FA additions have been a massive failure. Brady needs to step aside and allow an experienced team President run the team, especially with this critical draft coming.