Raiders 2025 Season Preview Show

Raiders 2025 Season Preview Show

[Music] Welcome in everybody to the Raiders 2025 season preview. I’m Amber Theo Harris. Every year, hope reigns eternal at this time of year for every team. But this year does feel a little bit different. Why? Because new head coach Pete Carroll and GM John Spyc have been to the mountaintop. They have hoisted Lombardi trophies and they know what it takes to get to that moment. Both have said that they came to Vegas to win now, not three years from now. No excuses, just win today, baby. And to break down how they plan to do that, let’s welcome in my colleague, our first guest, Raiders.com columnist, Paul Gutierrez. And Paul, always good to hang out with you and talk a little Raiders. Uh I I just said this year feels different. Why specifically should there be optimism headed into this Raiders season? Thanks, Amber. Always glad to to join you, too. Yeah, and the reason being you hit on it is that Pete Carol and John Spitech have been there. They they know what it looks like. They have the pelts on the wall and everybody seemingly is on the same page from day one back in January when they arrived as a package deal so to speak. U you’ve watched throughout uh mini camp uh OTAAS uh all of training camp to today getting down to a 53man roster. They are all on the same page and the difference between this year and previous years like I said you got Pete Carol who’s won a Super Bowl who was a yard away from repeating. You got John Spyitech who paid numerous numerous numerous dues uh before getting in the seat as a firsttime GM after 20 plus years of being in the scouting department, being an assistant GM. So, they have all of that. They’ve got some frontline starters that are very explosive on on offense. Uh defensively, you’ve still got Max Crosby out there. So, it’s it’s kind of a a topheavy roster, so to speak, but there’s reason for optimism because of all those reasons we just talked about. Does it translate onto wins on the field? Well, that’s why they play the season. Well, one thing you got to have in the AFC West to win is a quarterback. And that’s that’s one thing that is very different is the stability, the feel of stability at that position with Gino Smith um and new offensive coordinator Chip Kell. What can we expect from from this offense based on what you’ve seen in the preseason and training camp? Yeah, that then that’s always the million-dollar question in the preseason, in the exhibition season really because it’s so so vanilla. Teams aren’t going to show their hands uh ultimately, but but you want them to get some run. We want them to see what the vibe is like. That’s why kind of those those uh preseason scrimmage practices against other teams probably give you a little bit more of a of a gauge as to where a team is. And the Raiders did that with the 49ers. Now, in their three exhibition games, they came away 02 and one. Uh sure, they every time you take the field, you want to win a game, but you also got some good work in there. So, what you saw from the offense, um their last three of their last four drives of the preseason, they scored two touchdowns and a field goal. So, that’s something to hang your hat on going forward. Um, again, very, very vanilla in the preseason. Now, we get to see exactly what it looks like. And with a new quarterback in Gino Smith, who has that great relationship with Pete Carol from their days in Seattle to a first team allpro tight end in Brock Bowers to the best running back in the draft in Ashton Genty. They’ve got some weapons now. We’ll see exactly what that looks like when it becomes real. Uh, one new weapon is a familiar face that was just added to the roster. Amari Cooper is back in the silver and black. What can you tell us about what is expected, what his role is expected to be, and does it have any correlation to Jacobe Meyers? Yeah, it’s interesting with Jacobe Myers, he was kind of the ultimate anti-dea diva receiver. You talk about receivers, you automatically you look up diva in a dictionary and there’s a picture of a receiver and yet Jacobe Myers has never been that guy. Um, obviously we can, you know, we’re not going to get in anybody’s pocket here, but he he wants a new contract extension. He wants to be paid accordingly. He’s coming off his first thousandy uh receiving season. Um career type year for him and he definitely is wide receiver one in this offense coming into, you know, at the end of training camp here. But he’s not the top pass catcher. That’s that’s Brock Bowers. Um so there’s they’re at an impass there. Amari Cooper coming in again. I’ll do my Amari Cooper face now. And that’s just the way he looks. But but he’s he’s you don’t know if he’s too high, too low, whatever. I I’m I’m old enough to have covered him back in Oakland and I was there that day when he was traded and and it was kind of a shock but it was it was coupe and crab crab and coupe with Michael Crabtree and Derek Carr throwing him the ball. So he is it’s to be seen if he’s still as explosive as he was back then. But again, as we’re talking about the pelts on the wall with Pete Carol, he has multi-pro bowls to him, multi,000yard uh receiving season. So, he brings in that experience that maybe uh an offense and and as good as Brock Bowers was last year, maybe you still do need that veteran on the other side of the ball as well, especially for somebody like Thornton coming into his rookie year. And look, anybody that has been covering the league like you and I have for a long time, you know that quarterbacks don’t always stay healthy. You need a really good backup in this league. I think 66ome quarterbacks started a game last year in the NFL. And if you do the math, that’s a lot more than 32. And so with AON Okonnell going down with a fractured wrist, um it was clear that P. Carroll needed somebody. He made it very well known and now a former first round pick Kenny Kenny Picket in the mix. Um how is he a fit for Chip Kelly’s offense as a backup? Well, he’s he’s a lot more mobile than than Aiden Oonnell would be. And that’s not a shot at Aiden Oonnell. Just it is what it is. Uh with Kenny Picket, he’s a former first round pick. Uh what what Pete Carol said the day after that exhibition when when Aiden Okonnell went down with the injury was he wanted somebody with game experience and and you went you start playing connect the dots. I wrote it on Raiders.com. You’re trying to connect the dots to see different names of different guys that might be available out there. So for the Raiders to actually make a trade to bring him in that tells you that that he fits exactly what they want besides the game experience. He’s more mobile. Um he’s been out there. He he broke the Raiders hearts a couple years ago by outplaying, you know, the the franchise career passing leader in his last ever game for the Raiders, Derek Carr, in on a cold night in Pittsburgh. So, he has some game experience, but again, Raider fans, it’s interesting. Backup quarterbacks, as the season goes on, especially if if the season turns south, backup quarterbacks are always the most popular guy on a team because the quarterbacks take too much credit when things go right, too much of the blame when things go wrong. You don’t want your backup quarterback ever playing. So, if Kenny Picket gets on the field, that means something went wrong. Um, but for him to come in, he he fills that gap of somebody that has that experience. Now, he’s got to learn this offense. How much of this offense and the success in general of this offense is going to solely rely on two people? I mean, to me, it’s it’s Brock Bowers number one and Ashton Genty number two. Actually, you could put Ashton Genty number one because if he doesn’t run the ball effectively, it’s going to be difficult to get Brock Bowers. Do you get the sense that so much rides on both of them having a good season? I wouldn’t even say this, Amber. I would say it probably rides more on the offensive line. A correct. A creating those holes for Ashen Genty to get through. B, uh maybe even one A or even one, uh giving Gino Smith enough time to find Brock Bowers down the field, Amari Cooper, uh whoever it is that he’s throwing the ball to. So, so yeah, it it this this offense, what we saw, especially in the preseason, again, I know I’m kind of talking against myself here with how vanilla they were, but this offense is going to be predicated upon a strong running game, which is something that Pete Carol wants, knows, and and and desires because we’ve seen that in Seattle over the years. I saw it at USC. I’m sure you saw it there, too. The play action, the play action pass game is what’s really going to set this team apart in terms of having success going forward. So, yeah, you’re absolutely right. For me, it it it begins and ends and with with the big uglies down in the trenches with the offensive line. They’ve got to create those holes and they’ve got to give Gino Smith time to find those guys. It always matters just like the most physical offensive line. They go on to win the Super Bowl in the Eagles last year. It’s always that way. Um let’s talk a little defense. The Raiders front seven to me um looks solid in the preseason. Felt good about the new veteran linebacking core. um seems like the defensive line uh has the ability to to get to the second level, but cornerback might be a question mark. Uh take me through the secondary and you see how this shaping up. It’s interesting because we we’ve known Pete Carol over the years, you know, the architect of the Legion of Boom in Seattle and and he’s always kind of been seen as a defensive back guru. It’s going to be a very fluid situation uh heading into to week one. We’ve got two weeks now before that actually happens. Um, I’m still not sure they’ve found a second starting cornerback uh opposite uh our guys that are out there. So, we’re going to figure out exactly what that looks like um through these next two weeks. But the secondary in and of itself, it’s interesting because you got guys that can play safety in Chin and and Jamal Adams, but they got also play linebacker, which is actually where Jamal Adams is lined up at, and just guys that are just playmakers that can fly around out there. Again, it it goes back to this simple maximum of of everything. Pass rush helps pass coverage. Pass coverage helps the pass rush. So, if Max Crosby and the guys can get to the quarterback first, that’s going to help the the quarterbacks as they’re still learning this thing going forward. Um Stokes, that’s the name I was trying to think of earlier. Eric Stokes as a start. I don’t know if he’s going who’s going to be starting opposite him. But if if the pass rush becomes um more fearsome than than than what it has been in the past, that’s going to help the quarterbacks anyway, but I fully expect that to be a fluid situation, especially at quarterback. Safeties, I think, are going to be a lot of fun to watch. All right, let’s talk about the future. Here we are. We’re getting close to week one. This is so exciting. Let’s talk about the first three opponents. You got the Patriots on the road, the Chargers at home, and then the Commanders uh all the way on the road in DC as they head uh east. So, walk us through what you think we can expect from those first three games. Uh the Raiders need to get off to a quick start. They need to get off to a quick start and they they’re going to going to uh re-energize uh some old relationships in New England as well. A lot of former players went there. Um but also, oh yeah, their offensive coordinator uh Josh McDaniels, a former head coach with the Raiders. So, there should be some familiarity there. And that’s where defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who who came with Josh McDaniels to the Raiders a couple of years ago, that’s going to be they’re going to be playing 4D chess. It’s not going to just be regular chess. There’s going to be some 4D chess going on on both sides of the table there in New England. And you know what? It seems strange, but these are some old AFL rivals and and fan bases here. And and even if Tom Brady was sitting here, I’d still probably tell him, “Hey, it was a fumble.” And you go from there. So, week two home. Then all of a sudden you got the the what’s your problem man game between uh you know Pete Carol and Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers coming in town again. Another ancient AFL rival, but they’ve been in the same division forever too. And it’s a good opportunity for for the Raider fans to see it Monday night. The entire country is going to be watching. That’s going to be awesome. And then on a short week traveling again cross country to uh see Jaden Daniels and a Commander team that really took the the NFL by storm last year. and Raider fans, I think, and coaching uh the coaching staff and and Chin especially having been a part of that team last year. That team kind of came out of nowhere and shocked the world to get to to a conference title game. They’re probably looking at themselves saying, “Hey, what the Commanders did last year, why not us?” Why not? Uh they had quite a swing though as far as wins. I think it was eight wins more than previous year. Hey, the Raiders Raiders will take that, but they’re going to start with week one. How about give me a bold prediction. Bold prediction for the season. Bold prediction. I’m going to say they’re going to have a winning record. Nine and eight. Go from there. Um, I know I don’t know if that how bold that is, but where this team has been in the past, uh, as long as everybody stays healthy, they they’re going to be competitive. Uh, they should be much improved. I don’t know how that factors in in a uh, you know, just how brutal the AFC West is. But my bold prediction is winning record in the playoff hunt until the last month of the season, and we’ll see exactly where they go from there. Hey, that would be so exciting for Las Vegas. So, I know Raider Nation loves the sound of that playoff hunt come into December, early January. Thanks a lot, Paul Gutierrez. Check him out, raers.com. Always love reading all your stuff on there. Thanks, Paul. Thank you. Coming up, former Raiders linebacker Kirk Morrison tells us what the strength of the Raiders defense might be. The Raiders season preview show is brought to you by Confirmed 360. Enter the Raiders pregame masquerade powered by confirmed 360, a high energy VIP tailgate with a twist. Visit raidersexperiences.com to learn more. Allegant, the official airline of the Raiders. Lowfares, non-stop flights, only at allegant.com. Cox, proud partner of the Las Vegas Raiders. And by Karma, the official luxury electric vehicle of the Las Vegas Raiders. former Raiders linebacker and the newest member of the Raiders broadcast team, Kirk Morrison joins us to break it all down. Kirk, it’s so good to see you. I know you want to talk a little bit about defense as we get ready for the season. Uh I I sure do and I’m excited about this defense. So, a lot to get to as we get ready to start this thing off. Let’s go. What? That’s less than two weeks. That’s right. All right. So, three preseason games, lots of training camp. you’ve been there for all of it. What is the number one thing you’re excited about when it comes to the defense? I think that there’s some depth that people don’t realize. There’s depth in position groups that I didn’t realize that the team had. You start to look at the defensive tackle room and before it was, wow, there’s no Christian Wilkins. But you look at the guys who are going to have an opportunity to play next to Adam Butler, whether it’s Thomas Booker or Tonka Hemingway, JJ Pagis, like those are some of the young rookie guys. And then you start to look at the Jonah Lulu. Like there’s a lot of depth at that particular position. I love the way that Charles Snowden has just kind of come along. He’s added depth to the pass rushing element of the defense. And man, the secondary, I didn’t expect this secondary to have so many different guys who can play right away at the corner, nickel corner, a little bit of safety. You got guys can do multiple things. And don’t get me started about this linebacking core, this revamped linebacking. That’s where I was going. A lot to love about. That’s where I was going there next. Yeah. Tell me tell me about them because obviously the veteran presence was is is what stands out. These are guys that have been there, done that. They know what they’re doing when they come to work. So, what do you see from this group? Well, I love the championship experience that they all have. I mean, Amber, when you think about it, bringing in Elandon Roberts, who’s won two Super Bowls. You think about Devin White, who’s won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You think about uh Germaine Pratt, who played and started in the Super Bowl for the Cincinnati Bengals. These are guys who have all have like championship type of experience. Then you bring in Jamal Adams who’s look, I don’t think he’s gotten enough credit from a guy who was a traditional safety in the early parts and lately of his career, has transitioned to linebacker and has shown to be a very versatile linebacker. I’m excited for this group because I don’t know if I wish you could all you could play them all. I wish you could play all four of these guys, but right now you can only put three or two at a time on the field, but they bring a level of expertise, physicality, and I think the championship pedicury that this defense has has been has been needing. I know you love them all. Unfortunately, in that nickel, only two are on the field about 66% of the time in the league. So, slow down. But hopefully we get three of them out there sometimes. Let’s talk about the safeties, though, because I I think this is a strength going to be something fun to watch with Jeremy Chen. We all watched him go to the NFC Championship game with the Commanders. He’s a banger. And then it has just felt like Isaiah Palmau has been a rising star the last year in the NFL and we could really be on the precipice of something big for him. Yeah, I think I’ll start with Polau. You mentioned it. He is a calming force in that back end for this secondary group. Everyone that you talk to around the team, they all say the same thing. Like Pola is a general back there. He doesn’t have to speak loud. He just commands that huddle. He commands the back of that secondary. He’s not going to let anything get behind him. He makes sure that everything stays in front of him. And we saw that in the first preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks where he got the interception uh early in that football game. So, you excited about what Polar Mau brings, but it’s also helped unlock what I think is the most versatile player on this Raiders defense and Jeremy Chin. Jeremy Chin was going to play at four levels of this defense. He’s going to play deep safety. He’s going to play strong safety. He’s going to play in the box as a linebacker. He’s going to play on the line of scrimmage as a blitzer. He can do it all. And the reason why he’s able to do it all, is because of Isaiah Palmau, who can definitely cover him in areas where he can go play a deep safety and allow Jeremy Chin to be the playmaker. You mentioned it, Amber. Jeremy Champ started in the NFC Championship game last year for the Washington Commanders, and he also brings sort of that big-time long playoff run pedigree to a defense that’s starving to play in some big-time meaningful playoff games. You already talked about the defensive line, but I and the depth, but I want to go back to the pass rush. Clearly, Max Crosby cannot be the only one rushing the passer. He’s going to get you going to put two blockers on him. So, is Malcolm Coun uh the biggest danger on the opposite side? But should we not count count out a guy like Tyrie Wilson in the mix also? That could really be a threat and make life a little bit easier for Max. It It’s all about the palm. Okay. And no, I’m not talking about the juice at Costco. I’m talking about POM, pressure opposite Max. That’s what I’m going with this year. And the pressure the pressure opposite Max has to come from Malcolm Coun. I think the injury last season and in this off seasonason, he’s had to really regain his trust, regain being comfortable and getting off the football and showing the type of pass rusher that we envisioned him for last season until he got hurt. So, I think we saw some good things in the final preseason game that showed that Malcolm Cooks is on the verge of getting back to where we once saw him just a couple seasons ago. And that’s going to be crucial. We know the double teams are going to come Max’s way, but now we’ll see a guy like Malcolm Coots who can now get some more one-on- ons. And the guy I think we’re not talking about enough obvious passing situations. Amber, you love your nickel defense. Well, when the Raiders play nickel defense, Tyrie Wilson comes in as a rusher. He’s going to rush on the inside as on the as a three technique interior rusher. his length, his size, like I said, his arms. He showed that he can get it done on the inside, I thought, through the preseason. And so, I think that’s where the pass rush comes. Opposite Max pressure, opposite max. So, that’s why I drink my palm juice. I’m calling it. We’re printing the t-shirts already right now, Kirk. Um, I’ve been talking a lot throughout the show about the corner position because I like to keep it real with Raider Nation. They keep it real with me. I’m a little worried about the corner corner position. Um because as you said, there’s a lot of guys that can play it, but who is the starter opposite Eric Stokes? I mean, Porter looked like a rookie at times in my opinion in in the preseason. Um you know, how do you see this unit stra shaken out? Could we see the local guy Caillou Blue Kelly get get a real opportunity if he’s healthy? I think the preseason was not only competition for all of these guys, but I think it will be an ongoing competition though, Amber. It doesn’t stop because the regular season starts. I think Chip, I mean, I’m saying Pete Carol, Patrick Graham, these coaches want to put the best players out there. So, you’re constantly competing for your job. I believe Eric Stokes has probably solidified one cornerback spot, but when you think about the other cornerback spot, I just I think Caillou Blue Kelly is going to put himself in that situation as well. But remember, when the Raiders do go into this nickel defense, okay, Jeremy Chin plays a inside slot cornerback position. So now a safety goes to the backside with Isaiah Polar Mau. So you think about it, Jeremy Chin is essentially an extra corner. So when the Raiders are in their base coverage, is it Caillou Blue Kelly, Damen Richardson, right? Can he come along? And then you mentioned Darien Porter. he’s just a rookie, but maybe it takes two or three games and Daren Porter really catches his confidence and he becomes a starter. So, I just love the competition aspect of it and at the end of the day, the best corner is going to play opposite Eric Stokes. You know that with Pete Carroll in charge, that is for sure. He cares about those corners in that secondary. Um Patrick Graham, he’s going to be on the field calling the plays. Why does this matter versus the booth? I think it matters because Joe Woods now who is a part of this defensive staff who’s called plays as a defensive coordinator in this league. He’s going to be up in the booth. So you’ve got a defensive coordinator’s eyes and Joe Woods in the booth. But Patrick Graham on the field. He’s going to get a a a true feel of what the guys are seeing, what they’re saying, the conversations. I love having my defensive coordinator on the field to be able to touch him, to be able to talk with him, just to be able to have those real time in-game conversations, but more importantly, if there’s anything, Amber, anything that needs to be cleared up, he can call up the defense and can coach it right there on the sideline and everyone will have his attention. So, I think that’s going to be huge for this Raiders defense. Traditionally for in my career as a linebacker, I loved having my Dcoordinator on the sideline just to have a conversation and talk with him just, hey, what are you seeing? What this is what I’m seeing. This is what I feel. It’s a different being down on the field versus up in the booth. But I think the Raiders have a lot of good minds that will now be in the booth and having the coordinator down on the field to really feel what’s going on on the on the uh on the, you know, on the field. That’s a great point. I never thought about that. You’ve got somebody up top that has got that experience. they’ve got your back and then Patrick Graham can do what he needs to do to be and and and feel and and be next to the players. I want you to finish this sentence. The Raiders could be a top defense if blank. Raiders can be a top defense if they continually stop the run and create takeaways. This is a team that only got 13 takeaways last year. Amber, it’s all about the ball when it comes to the Raiders defense. They will be successful if they take the ball away from the opposing offense. That’s forcing fumbles. That’s interceptions. That’s to me just getting off the field on third down. That essentially is a takeaway for me. And that goes back to your question about the pass rush, Amber. So, if they got a great good pass rush, stopping the run and creating turnovers, those are the three keys or aspects I think that can get this Raiders defense into that top 10. Thanks so much for joining us for the 2025 season preview show. Stick to all Raiders platforms for up-to-date Raiders content throughout the season. Don’t forget to watch Talk of the Nation with Baron Davis, the silver and black show, as well as Raiders Roundt, and Raiders Game Day. I’m Amber Theo Harris. I’ll see you next time. [Music]

Amber Theoharis is joined by Paul Gutierrez and Kirk Morrison to preview the 2025 Raiders.

0:00 Intro
0:50 Paul Gutierrez
13:00 Kirk Morrison
23:14 Outro

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