The Raiders expect WR Tre Tucker to "take a big leap as their starting slot," per The Athletic's Tashan Reed. A third-round pick in 2023, Tucker managed just 19 catches, 331 yards, and 2 TDs as a rookie. At 5'9 and 185 pounds, Tucker brings exciting speed (4.40 forty time; 1.48 ten-yard split). This offseason, the Raiders added Brock Bowers to an offense that already includes Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers. Bowers is expected to see a good chunk of his snaps out of the slot.
The Raiders are signing QB Gardner Minshew to a 2-year, $25 million deal with $15 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. That contract doesn't guarantee that Minshew will be the team's 2024 starter, but it at least makes him the favorite. With QB Jimmy Garoppolo set to be released, QB Aidan O'Connell currently stands as Minshew's competition. We'll see if the Raiders add anything else significant this offseason. They currently hold the 13th overall pick of April's draft. Minshew is good enough to keep an NFL offense on track but will not be an exciting fantasy option in Vegas. He averaged 229 passing yards and 1.1 TDs in 13 full games for the Colts last season. The Minshew addition does bring some stability to the fantasy outlooks of Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and Michael Mayer.
After their deal with Kliff Kingsbury fell through, the Raiders hired Luke Getsy as their new OC under HC Antonio Pierce. Getsy spent the last two years as OC in Chicago, where the Bears ranked in the bottom half of the league in both total yards and points. Those were run-heavy offenses, in large part because they were quarterbacked by Justin Fields. Getsy was the Packers' QB coach and passing-game coordinator before his stint with the Bears, so we'd expect a more balanced attack in Vegas. Unless, of course, the Getsy hire is a precursor to the Raiders swinging a trade for Fields.
Kliff Kingsbury has pulled his name out of consideration for the Raiders' OC job, according to his agent. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that contract talks between the two sides broke down late in the process. We'll see who the Raiders eventually land on as OC under HC Antonio Pierce. Kingsbury, meanwhile, is a "leading candidate" for the Commanders' OC job, per Schefter.
The Raiders are set to hire Kliff Kingsbury as their new OC under HC Antonio Pierce, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Kingsbury had an underwhelming tenure as Cardinals HC from 2019 to 2022, going 28-37-1 over those four seasons. He landed two of those teams inside the top 8 in total yards, but none cracked the top 10 in points. Kingsbury at least deployed fast-paced attacks, with three of his four offenses finishing top 3 in pace. We'll see exactly how Kingsbury meshes with the defensive-minded Pierce. The Raiders offense has some big questions to answer this offseason, with RB Josh Jacobs set to hit free agency and QB Jimmy Garoppolo a strong release candidate.
The Raiders removed the interim label from Antonio Pierce, naming the 45-year-old their new HC. Pierce took over as interim HC of a 3-5 Raiders team this past season and proceeded to go 5-4 the rest of the way. Vegas' points per game rose from 15.8 pre-Pierce to 22.9 after Pierce took over. While Pierce talked a lot about his love of running the rock, the Raiders' neutral run rate actually sunk from 43.1% to 41.4% in Pierce's nine games. He did ride a workhorse RB in all of those games, though -- first Josh Jacobs and then Zamir White. Jacobs is due to hit free agency in March, while White is signed for two more seasons. We'll see what the Raiders do in the backfield, and how Pierce fills out the rest of his coaching staff.
The Raiders clearly led Indianapolis in time of possession (by 6.5 minutes) and ran 74 plays to the Colts' 53 in Sunday's loss. That led to particularly big numbers in the passing game. QB Aidan O'Connell attempted a season-high 47 passes -- just six higher than his second-biggest total, but 13 ahead of No. 3. His 30 completions and 299 yards also easily set season highs. The big volume -- and Las Vegas playing catchup late -- produced a whopping 21 targets for WR Davante Adams. He caught 13 for 126 yards and 2 TDs. WR Jakobi Meyers followed with a 6-56 line on 10 targets. Adams drew a target on 44.7% of O'Connell's attempts, claimed 43.3% of his completions, and tallied 42.1% of the receiving yards. Meyers' 10 targets, meanwhile, accounted for a just OK 21.3% target share. Expect all those numbers to fall -- probably by quite a bit -- in the regular-season finale against the Broncos.
The Raiders’ offense hung tight against the Chiefs in Week 12. The QB Aiden O’Connell-led unit paced Kansas City in total offensive yards (358 and 360, respectively) and did considerable damage through the air. WR Jakobi Meyers recorded a 6-79-1 receiving line with teammate Davante Adams not too far behind (5 catches, 73 yards). Since firing former HC Josh McDaniels ahead of Week 9, Adams has taken off with an average of 11 targets, 80.6 yards, and 16 PPR points per game in that span. Both guys have stellar chances to keep their success rolling as the Raiders’ remaining schedule ranks 11th-easiest for WRs per our adjusted fantasy points allowed. Fantasy managers will have to wait until after Las Vegas’ Week 13 bye to get Meyers and Adams into lineups. Still, their next two opponents (Vikings, Chargers) are top-10 fantasy matchups for wideouts.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore tweets that the Raiders are "leaning toward" starting QB Aidan O'Connell vs. the Giants this weekend. QB Jimmy Garoppolo was a disaster in Monday night's loss to the Lions, throwing for just 126 yards, 0 TDs, and one INT on 21 attempts. O'Connell wasn't great in his Week 4 start vs. the Chargers, averaging 6.1 yards per pass attempt with 0 TDs and one INT. But the 3-5 Raiders under interim HC Antonio Pierce are looking beyond 2023 at this point. We'll look for further updates on the Raiders' QB plans. We certainly wouldn't consider O'Connell an upgrade for Raiders pass catchers.
Update: NFL Network reports the Raiders are expected to start O'Connell "this week and going forward." We'll see how this trial goes.
Raiders RB Josh Jacobs recorded 15 carries for 61 rushing yards and a TD in Week 8’s loss vs. the Lions. He also secured 2 of 4 targets for a team-leading 27 receiving yards in the contest. Unfortunately, Jacobs is the only Raider who eclipsed 20 receiving yards and one of only three players to catch more than one pass on Monday night. In fact, QB Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t complete a pass to a WR until the second half of the game. Both WR Jakobi Meyers and Davante Adams were held to one reception apiece, unable to bring anything to the table for fantasy managers. Next week’s matchup vs. the Giants should yield better results, though the current state of the Raiders' offense is deeply concerning.
Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo (back) is not listed on the final Week 8 injury report and will start Monday night's game vs. the Lions. Garoppolo's return is good news for Vegas' skill-position players, but he's a low-end QB2 in fantasy lineups.
Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo (back) was upgraded to full participation in Friday's practice. He's on track to return for Monday night's game vs. the Lions -- good news for Vegas' skill-position players.
As expected, Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo (back) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Bears. He didn't practice all week and has no timetable for return. The Athletic's Dianna Russini reports that QB Brian Hoyer will get the start in Garoppolo's place. Hoyer went 6 of 10 for 102 yards in relief last week but should still be considered a downgrade for Las Vegas' pass-catchers. The 38-year-old threw just 108 regular-season passes across the previous five seasons.
Raiders TE Michael Mayer saw his breakout game come in Week 6 vs. the Patriots. The rookie hauled in 5 of 6 targets and led the team with 75 receiving yards on Sunday. WR Jakobi Meyers also had a solid game with 5 receptions for 61 yards and a TD. We'd be remiss not to highlight the impact of the 6 targets Mayer saw in the contest. Before this weekend, WRs Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers were the only Raiders' pass-catchers who had seen 5 or more targets in a game this season. Mayer isn't a must-start option on Week 7 vs. the Bears, but he's worth a speculative waiver wire add, if nothing else.
Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers hauled 7 of 10 targets for a team-high 75 yards with a TD on Monday night vs. the Packers. Fantasy managers hoping for a big “revenge game” from WR Davante Adams went to sleep disappointed. The former All-Pro had been targeted 33 times over the last two games but only saw 1 target in the first half of Week 5. He ended the game with 4 catches for 45 yards. Definitely a bit of a bummer. Next week, Adams will have a chance to bounce back against the Patriots.
Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers tallied just 2 grabs for 33 yards in Week 4. He had a 50-yard downfield catch negated by an offensive pass interference penality, but the real issue here was shaky play from rookie QB Aidan O’Connell. On the bright side: Jimmy Garoppolo (concussion) should return for Week 5 vs. Green Bay. Meyers notched 29.1 and 15.5 PPR points in two full games with Garoppolo.
The Raiders will start rookie QB Aidan O'Connell over QB Brian Hoyer vs. the Chargers today, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. O'Connell got the "majority" of the practice reps by the end of the week, per Schefter. O'Connell finished his four-year career at Purdue with a 66.7% completion rate, 7.4 yards per attempt, and 65 TDs vs. 30 INTs. He went in the fourth round of this spring's draft but was a preseason standout, completing 69.4% of his passes for 482 yards, three TDs, and 0 INTs. He ranked second among 68 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus passing grade. O'Connell is obviously a major question mark heading into his first regular-season start. But he at least brings more upside than the 37-year-old Hoyer.
The Raiders have downgraded QB Jimmy Garoppolo (concussion) to out for Sunday's game against the Chargers. That means Brian Hoyer will start. It's obviously a downgrade for WRs Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers. Adams, though, delivered a 7-153-2 receiving line in Jarrett Stidham's first start last year after Derek Carr got benched. And he added a decent 5-73 the following week. So don't treat either player as though he's suddenly unusable, especially against a Chargers D that's already been bad and will now miss stars Joey Bosa and Derwin James. Check our Week 4 WR rankings to see where both settle.
Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo (concussion) returned to a limited practice on Thursday. So he's made some progress through the protocol but still has multiple stages to clear in order to play vs. the Chargers. We'll get another update on his progress tomorrow.
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