The Las Vegas Raiders Are UGLY.

there have been a ton of quarterback battles this off season but I don't think there's a single competition less inspiring than the Las Vegas Raiders Gardner muu versus Aiden oconnell oh brother yeah it's really not great but Antonio Pierce has made his decision on the starter and it's going to be Gardner mchu mchu is by far the most experienced and probably the best of the bunch now unfortunately it's not like the offense around them is going to be too good either it's looking like it's about to be a long year in Las Vegas last season quarterback was a major issue for the Raiders they did still have Jimmy Garoppolo on the roster but he didn't play well at all he ended up playing in seven games and only had seven touchdowns to nine interceptions for most of his career Garoppolo was the not so talented quarterback who was the safe pick if Garoppolo was out there throwing interceptions there's really no benefit to having him on the team so it ended up being ad8 to0 Connell starting most of the year he was a fourth round rookie out of Purdue and ended up playing in 11 games now wasn't anything special but he was better than Jimmy G at least he had 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions AOC came back this off season definitely with the chance to be the starter but it sounds like he'll be the backup to Gardner mchu mchu was basically the CT starter last season he wasn't actually supposed to be but if you remember Anthony Richardson got hurt after four games and mchu ended up playing the rest of the year and honestly he really wasn't that bad he did only throw 15 touchdowns I mean you'd like to see him have a little bit more but he did also run R for three touchdowns and then threw nine picks again nothing insane but he was solid we saw him start some games for the Eagles but really for a minute there he looked like he was going to be the guy for the Jaguars he ended up throwing 21 touchdowns and only six interceptions back in 2019 as a rookie but he went 1 in seven starting the next year and the Jags surely weren't going to pass up the opportunity to draft Trevor Lawrence it was really cool to see him have another chance to start last season and we'll get to see him again this season now those are really the two names to know as for the other passers on the team right now there's also Carter Bradley he's an undrafted guy out of South Alabama and honestly I don't even know if he makes the roster and then finally the legend Nathan Peterman I'll never forget that September day when Nathan Peterman had a zero passer rating and got benched for rookie Josh Allen I mean man he was bad it was a pretty rough stin but somehow he's stuck around in the league after Buffalo he was with the Raiders and then the Bears who he even started a game for in 2022 then he was with the for most of the off season and after he was released he signed back with the Raiders and is probably fighting for that third spot I'd assume I've said it on the channel before but I'll say it again I just love Garder muu mchu Mania feels like it was forever ago now but I was locked into that menu's Uncle Rico bit was super funny and who could hate that mustache I remember watching him back in 2019 and thinking that this is the dude for Jacksonville of course that didn't end up working out and now Jacksonville probably does have their guy of the future and Trevor Lawrence but now muu is getting another shot to start in the NFL again this year and it really just feels like this guy won't go away he's still kicking in the NFL and getting starting opportunities last year was a bit of a fluke in Indianapolis but this year certainly isn't he earned this spot even if it was just beating out Aiden oconnell mchu is just a great personality to have on your team but as for quarterback I'd be lying if I said that he's the ideal starter mchu is fun as hell to watch and he was solid last year but I don't know if that's going to be the exact same case this year and as for Aiden oconnell I'll be honest here there really hasn't been a moment in his career so far that's wowed me granted he's only played in 11 games but still I feel like I already know what the Raiders are going to get out of aen noell I remember covering him back in the 2023 NFL Draft when he was coming into the league and there's a reason that this guy went in the fourth round he's not the most athletic guy he's going to be a pure pocket passer for the most part he has a good but not great arm like he's not going to be able to sling at 60 yard down the field every play but he does have good anticipation and is accurate so there are plenty of pros and cons to his game but at this point even though Aiden oconnell might have a little bit more experience in this system from playing with the Raiders last year I still think that mchu is the better choice I do think Aiden oano can play quarterback in this league I mean the Raiders were 500 with him in games that he started but I think mchu is just more experienced and probably at this point he's better now could he just come out there and suck it up absolutely and if that happens roll out Aiden okono let's see what happens but until that happens muu is probably the best pick for the job with mchu behind Center or even if okono does eventually get some play time the real Wonder is just how good the Raiders could actually be they're mostly viewed as a pretty bad team but when you look back that roster did go 8- n The Real mess was really just another shot for Josh McDaniels that didn't go well for him he flopped again just like he did in Denver and got fired after the Raiders started three and five but then Antonio Pierce took over and he had the guys playing hard they finished 5 and four and if you remember they beat the ever living out of the Chargers in prime time they won 63 to 21 and were up 63 to7 late and even LED 42 to Z at the half I mean it was just nuts and not to mention they were coming off of a 3 to zero loss 4 days before the Raiders were playing hard for Pierce and he was only the in room only two years ago he resigned from Arizona State during a recruiting violation investigation and now he's already an NFL head coach just a crazy career Arc and frankly it probably would have been a huge mistake if the Raiders didn't make him the head coach so now he gets to do it for real he's a defensive-minded guy after he was an NFL linebacker and his defensive coordinator is going to be Patrick Graham he's going into year three in Vegas so Pierce kept him around and Graham has a lot of much needed experience he was the Giants and dolphins DC previously and spent a ton of time coaching under bill bich on the Patriots then you got to look over at the offensive side of the ball which is going to be called by Luke gsy no longer the most hated man in Chicago gsy now finds himself as the Raiders new offensive coordinator he got plenty of hate for his play design and usage of Justin Fields with the bears but before that he was a longtime Packers guy and got to coach Aaron roders I will say it will be interesting to see how everything goes for him now obviously the Raiders couldn't have let Antonio Pierce walk after last season and there's a lot of context to that if you remember before McDaniels even got to Vegas the Raiders had fired grudin and had an inter room head coach enr Basia the team ended up playing pretty decent after guden was gone and everyone including the people in the locker room thought that Basia should have gotten the head coach job but instead they went with Josh McDaniels and we all know how that went so this time around they weren't going to make the same mistake they were getting a lot of pressure from the outside and also inside the locker room to hire this guy so they just had to with all that being said I do think that Antonio Pierce was a panic hire I think they were getting a lot of pressure and folded I really don't think they got a serious chance to look elsewhere and they were really just pressured based off of their past mistakes so Antonio Pierce could end up being a good coach but I'm just not exactly sure how this experiment's going to Fair like I know the Raiders turned it around to an extent after Josh McDaniels left but I'm more inclined to believe that the reason they did that was more so because they were playing with a you attitude and the problem was no longer in the building and Josh McDaniels than it being Pierce's coaching genius now maybe I'm just being pessimistic maybe Pierce will end up being a good good head coach I mean we've seen a lot of players turned into coaches lately but it feels like the verdict isn't exactly out on if it's actually worked yet I mean Dan Campbell is probably the poster child right now and honestly I hope that Pierce is a good head coach I mean I would love if literally anybody could unseat the Chiefs as the top dogs in the NFL right now and unfortunately for the Raiders this is definitely not the year for them to do that the Raiders aren't the best but they certainly could string together some wins here or there and maybe find themselves in a decent spot by the end of the season but I don't think it's that likely so here's some really good news for the Raiders the defense is good when you think about the Raiders defense you probably go right to Max Crosby as you probably should he's just fantastic and he's been a force on that defensive line for a while now then you'd hopefully like to see a little bit more out of Tyrie Wilson he's the length Edge guy from Texas Tech that the Raiders took seventh overall last year but the Raiders did sign a huge addition in the off season bringing in Christian Wilkins who's going to be huge at defensive tackle that defensive line really should end looking pretty solid the corners are likely going to have to really man the secondary but that'll probably be fun to watch Jack Jones was good playing last year for Pierce who was his old high school and college head coach if you remember the Patriots released him after a ton of drama this is a guy that brought loaded guns into an airport but that wasn't enough to release him what really was a straw that broke the camel's back is that he broke curfew because of course across from him it's going to be jakorian Bennett and he had a really good rookie season and hopefully we'll get to see him continue to develop if this team has any amount of success this season it's probably going to come on the shoulders of the defense the defensive line in my opinion is like a top 10 unit in the league especially if they can just stay healthy this season Max Crosby is just so much fun to watch this guy's a legit maniac and he just turns it on when he steps onto the field I really like the addition of bringing in Wilkins like I loved him in Miami he's a funny ass guy and it helps that he's a pretty damn good football player the defense in my opinion is likely a top half of the league unit and because of that I do think that they're going to be able to win some games this year but the defense can really only do so much if the offense can't move the ball or they're turning it over all the time and they're just not scoring touchdowns they're not going to win games no matter how good the defense plays so yes the defense should be good but will the offense uh probably not but of course they do still have a dog in Devonte Adams and frankly it really doesn't matter who's behind Center for him I mean I could be behind center for the Raiders and he'd still somehow go for th000 yards he's still definitely a top player in the league and he's been good for the Raiders even after leaving the mighty Aaron roders Adams is a stud and I really like the number two that they have there too jacobe Meyers bro I loved jacobe Meyers I loved him in New England I thought that they were going to resign him and no they ended up giving the exact same contract that they could have given Myers to ju guu Smith Schuster yes the guy that the Patriots just cut I'm still not over it I'll never be over it but I love jacobe and I think he's a great number two the wide receiver Corp is definitely topheavy with Adams and jacobe but after them it's returner Trey Tucker who had 300 yards as a rookie tight end should be really fun to watch this season they have two studs there they took Michael Mayer in the second round two years ago and then they just took stud Brock Bowers 13th who certainly has his own high expectations at running back Josh Jacobs is now a packer so it's going to be zamir white and Alexander Madison who I got to say are probably going to have quite the time playing behind that offensive line left tackle Colton Miller is surely the best on the line but an interesting guy to watch is Jackson Powers Johnson he was an early second round pick out of Oregon who's going to be playing guard but we'll just have to wait and see if he's actually starting or not this offense simply put just isn't that great I mean wide receiver great with Devonte Adams and jacobe Meyers but everything else outside maybe tight end just isn't that great the offensive line isn't that great and that's going to be a big thing for both of the new running backs that he just added and who ever they throw behind Center at quarterback while I do think the offense will struggle there are still some things to look forward to this season Gardner muu is a fun watch and it's going to be exciting to see how that tight end Duo ends up working out Brock Bowers has a ton of expectations coming into this season that guy was just a dog at Georgia so I'm really excited to see how all of his skills and talents translate over to the pros this is a team that can definitely win some games this year the defense is good and the offense well not exactly the best certainly isn't the worst in the the good news for the Raiders is really outside of the Chiefs the AFC West is pretty unknown right now B Knicks might be the guy in Denver I mean we don't even really know there and then you look over at the Chargers and they have a new head coach so who knows how that's going to work in year one those are two teams that are entering a new era and the Raiders are in a similar spot so if the Raiders can put it together they might actually end up in a decent spot in the division now I don't see that happening but it's certainly a possibility I really can't express enough my distrust in Luke getsy I don't like him I think that he's overrated this guy just sucked in Chicago and I know he's in a different spot now so maybe things will be different but I just I don't believe in this guy he's really only gotten to where he is now because he got to coach Aaron roders and first off I hate that argument I hate the argument of this guy should be a good coach because he coached Aaron roders that's just a stupid ass thing to say like no you succeeded with one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL on your team that's literally like saying that Josh McDaniel should have been a great head coach because he got to coach Tom Brady did that work out no so why do we think it's going to be any different with Aaron Rogers coaches Luke getsy hasn't worked out really Nathaniel Hackett certainly didn't work out in Denver like these guys that are getting all this credit because they worked with Aaron Rogers maybe it was just Aaron roders that was doing the heavy lifting just a stupid argument sorry for my rant I just had to get that off my chest but I do think because of that the offense is going to struggle maybe he could have a bounce back here for his career with Gardner menu or Aiden oconnell but he was just just rough in Chicago and I think we're just going to see a lot of the same thing here but at the end of the day anything can happen it's the NFL but if I'm being really honest I don't see this team doing anything too crazy this year