Raiders HC Antonio Pierce Hints Again at Offensive Scheme Adjustment

There have been hints that the Raiders might be considering a shift away from their newly implemented zone-blocking scheme, and Antonio Pierce only added fuel to that storyline on Wednesday.

“We need to get to what works. We’ve got all these plays,” Pierce told members of the media on Wednesday.

“I can start throwing darts, too, but what works for the Raiders? What works for Zamir [White]? What works for our offensive line? What are we doing well?” Pierce continued. “Scheme, players, all that stuff. Let’s get to what works well and I think if we just pull back a little bit. Less is more, like I normally say and we can get that done.”

Jesse Merrick on X (formerly Twitter): “Sounds like the #Raiders may try to simplify things in the run game to help their OL get going AP:”We need to get to what works. We could have all these plays – I could just start throwing darts too, but what works for the Raiders? What works for Zamir? What works for our… pic.twitter.com/7QNBoNADlC / X”

Sounds like the #Raiders may try to simplify things in the run game to help their OL get going AP:”We need to get to what works. We could have all these plays – I could just start throwing darts too, but what works for the Raiders? What works for Zamir?

For White, an adjustment to the running scheme should come as a welcomed change.

White has not produced the way he did at the close of the 2023 season, and there have been situations in each of the first two games where his vision and running style don’t seem to mesh with Luke Getsy’s zone concepts.

White is more of a straight-forward power runner and hasn’t necessarily shown the patience or vision in the first two games to thrive in the zone blocking scheme.

Marcus Johnson on X (formerly Twitter): “Another example of White not reading zone right. The RPO screen fake holds on the DE and creates a huge cutback lane for White. He misses the read and it’s only 3 yards instead. pic.twitter.com/fLeskokpyr / X”

Another example of White not reading zone right. The RPO screen fake holds on the DE and creates a huge cutback lane for White. He misses the read and it’s only 3 yards instead. pic.twitter.com/fLeskokpyr

Pierce also said that he would like to get White 20+ carries per game, so look for the Raiders’ third year running back to get plenty of workload against the Panthers on Sunday.

Just a guess… look for 23 carries, 137 rushing yards and two touchdowns from ‘Zeus’ as the Raiders welcome Tepper’s Trainwreck to the bright lights of Las Vegas this weekend.

x: @raidersbeat