Raiders Insider Thinks Geno Smith Will Remain QB1 Next Year

Geno Smith had his best game as quarterback of the Raiders on Sunday, and if not for a batted ball on the final play, Smith would have been one of the heroes of week 9 with his four-touchdown performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But as fate would have it, the conversation this week was mostly around Smith’s failed two-point conversion that galvanized the Raiders’ 2-6 record and sealed Jakobi Meyers’ fate at the trade deadline.

The Raiders are now entering a roster rebuild (or “reload” mode as some might prefer to term it) and it seems like a safe assumption the organization will be addressing the quarterback position in the offseason, as well.

But even if the Raiders draft or sign a quarterback, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore thinks Smith will remain the QB1 in Las Vegas for at least another year.

“I think Geno Smith’s still going to be the quarterback next year,” Bonsignore said on the Vegas Nation podcast. “You’ve got to get him comfortable, you got to get him in a right headspace, because this is probably going to be a two-year deal, even if they draft a quarterback next offseason.”

It’s no secret that Smith has a close relationship with head coach Pete Carroll and that has been evident in Carroll’s handling of the quarterback room over the first half of the season.

Despite Smith leading the league in interceptions (11) and struggling through one of his most disappointing seasons since being drafted, Carroll has not entertained conversations about benching Smith. Some of that may be because the Raiders have no viable backup quarterback, but Carroll has clearly placed some of the blame for Geno’s mistakes on factors outside of his control.

One of those Carroll has publicly ‘critiqued’ is offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.

“The running game has looked well… we need to get more of it. That’s part of it. That’s just mixing football. That’s how you do it. We don’t want to ever rely on the quarterback to do the whole show and sit in shotgun and throw the football. Never coach that way,” Carroll told members of the media last month.

“And then, we’ve got to make sure we’re calling all the best stuff in the situations,” Carroll continued.  “[Smith is] not calling the plays. We’ve got to call them, and we’ve got to make sure to get him in the right spots and give him the best chance to stay out of harm’s way.”

In two months, if it’s determined that the offense needs to cut ties with somebody, don’t be surprised if Carroll fights to keep his quarterback – possibly even at the expense of his coordinator.

x: @raidersbeat

FIRST AND 10 PODCAST: How the Raiders progress after the Jakobi Meyers trade

Vegas Nation’s Adam Hill and Vinny Bonsignore discuss what the Raiders get out of the Jakobi Meyers trade with the Jaguars and what the offense may look like in the coming weeks.