The Raiders wrapped up an encouraging draft on Saturday, and the offseason is going to be interesting because the coaching staff in some ways will be starting from scratch with two draft classes.
The Raiders’ 2025 draft class didn’t get a lot of action a year ago, so it’s hard to know exactly what they have in players like Jack Bech, Darien Porter, Caleb Rogers and Charles Grant.
Raider Nation Radio host ‘JT the Brick’ talked about last year’s class on Tuesday, and he essentially pointed to the coaching staff as the reason the rookie class didn’t see the field more in 2025.
“Last year’s draft, you can’t say it was good. The best compliment you could give last year is that it was an incomplete draft, because the coaching staff that got let go wouldn’t play any of the draft picks,” JT said on his flagship radio show.
“They wouldn’t play them. The young players didn’t get a chance to play, so they’re coming back in year two, like two offensive linemen, along with Jack Bech [and] Dont’e Thornton Jr. They didn’t get a chance to play, really. So they’re going to come in with this draft class, and hopefully they get more opportunity to play.”
The reason the Raiders didn’t play the rookies has never been explained, but it’s fair to wonder if a report last week from The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen might offer a clue to the reason.
“I’ve heard that last year [GM John Spytek] kind of shut people out, kind of went rogue and did his own thing,” The Athletic’s Nguyen said on the Just Win podcast of Spytek’s handling of the draft in 2025.
“I think this year, having a whole year to work on the draft with his people preparing and everything, whereas last year he was kind of hired and had to go into the draft right away, not knowing everybody around him. He hired Brian Stark, the assistant GM, who was part of the presser after the draft last year. So he knows who he’s working with. This is his coach that he hired. It’s going to be a bit different with how he works with everyone and how he collaborates with everyone.”
It’s no secret that Spytek and former head coach Pete Carroll weren’t on the same page with a lot of their decisions last year, and it’s fair to wonder if Carroll might have retaliated by benching players that Spytek went “rogue” and drafted.
Spytek didn’t respond directly to the report that he did his own thing in the draft after the Ashton Jeanty pick, but he did acknowledge last week that he wanted to “trust and empower” more people in the building this year.
“I wrote a lot of things down that I learned in my first year and things that I screwed up in my first year,” Spytek ahead of last week’s draft. “And we’re not going to change too much, but we’ve got some new faces in the draft room with us this year…”
“Not knowing everybody in the building, having my own vision that I was trying to teach to people about the way that we wanted to do it, how we wanted to build, the kind of person we were looking for, I think I tried to do too much,” Spytek continued. “I think it’s always important to really have great people around you and trust and empower them to do their jobs, to support you as well as they can. And it’s really not about me, it’s about the team and the Raiders and the best decisions. And I’m just very grateful to have a great group of people around me.”
Reports have said Carroll was the driving force behind the Ashton Jeanty pick.
In December, league insider Tony Pauline talked about Spytek’s role in the organization in his first year with the Raiders and said Carroll wasn’t the GM’s first choice to be the head coach.
“According to sources, Spytek did not have much say in the hiring of Carroll,” Pauline reported in December.
“Holding the sixth pick of the 2025 draft, the Raiders selected record-setting running back Ashton Jeanty of Boise State, a Carroll pick,” Pauline continued. “I’m told there was pushback on the selection, as many in and around the organization believed a lineman was the way to go. Defensive tackle Mason Graham was a name making the rounds, as he was seen as a replacement for Wilkins, who the team knew they would be without in 2025. The Raiders had no opportunity to draft Graham, as the Browns selected him with the fifth choice.”
x: @raidersbeat
CARROLL & McDUMMY LAUGHING TO THE BANK
Pete Carroll is laughing all the way to the bank and so is McDummy who is still being paid. Only “M.D.” would have made this hire and needs to get out of the way of anything to do with the Football Operations half of the franchise. If M.D. stays out of the kitchen we will be all right, he has never been involved enough to interject himself in such serious decisions.
Carroll was not serious about his winning here, as evident in hiring his son to run the O- line. Tom Cable was his O- line Coach in Seattle and was a man responsible for much of Pete’s success there. (Not playing your rookies in the midst of obvious tanking and a lost season is a spiteful move.) The Raiders need to learn from hiring Coach’s that have a history of questionable character as Carroll and McDummy did. Our H.C.’s should be vetted just as the players are very carefully. We did not do that with those H.C.’s.
No one can say Tom Brady does not know football, he will right this ship and the work of Spytek is starting to prove it. To the credit of M.D. it was smart to admit he does not know what he is doing and to bring in Brady, who now not only owns part of the team, he now owns how the Raiders fare from here forward.
Great Draft but this is the time of year that teams can not see the forest from the trees. We still need veteran depth at:
* Offensive Tackle
* Defensive Tackle
* Wide Receiver
The draft and UDFA process addressed these positions with long shot players that have low probability of making an impact.
WEST SIDE
RN
SINCE 1974
Brady hired Pete & he said no to Darnold. Spytek may work out but he was hired cuz Brady knew him
Brady was definitely involved in hiring that loser! Never cared for Carroll even when he was at USC. That hire should’ve never happened, but MD hasn’t a clue. Thank God he’s stepping back. Definitely would’ve been great to see the rookies play more, especially Donte Thornton, I think he’s gonna be good once he gets more playing time