Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast on Antonio Pierce, Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew, NFL Kickoffs

Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast on Antonio Pierce, Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew, NFL Kickoffs

hi everybody great to have you here this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated your Las Vegas Raiders beat writer and the host of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast joined Now by my good friend and one of our great Raider writers just produces great content every single day two stories A Day writing about the silver and black the great Carter Landis Carter is also a very good and respected television personality it’s great to have him here so Carter thanks for joining us my friend thank you for having me again all right I want to get into three what I think are important issues as we sit here today 10 days from training camp um the first one is some rankings recently came out ranking all the coaches and I’m a big um I’m a big guy that you you are what your record says you are you are who you say you are and so when I look at AP behind Andy Reid of course he should be behind Andy Reid and and to his credit AP would say that to you but I don’t have a problem being behind Jim Harbaugh going just by what Jim haro’s done in the NFL Jim Harbaugh deserves to be ahead of him I have no problem with that again no issues but man there were guys that he beat and out coached and guys who have never done anything in the NFL and AP has done something in the NFL as a coach was just disrespectful to me I’m just curious I love your your thought process you like me are not a Raider fan but you are an NFL fan and to me it it respect is what happens on the field I love ap’s line I’ll I’ll never forget the first time I heard him say it I literally grabbed my Sharpie and I’m taking notes because I thought it was so good that he said my resume is on the field to me I don’t have a problem and everybody’s allowed to an opinion but to me I just thought that’s disrespectful when there are guys that you know have never done anything in the NFL and he’s at least won some games game planned made some difficult decisions also lost some games he should have won but he’s learning I just would love your thoughts on that uh do you remember exactly where he was ranked no but it was very low okay it was it was very low and and and there were people ahead of him that have never done anything in the NFL um at one I think in this ranking I read we wrote if somebody wrote about it this week I don’t remember if it’s Aiden uh Champion or if it was Zeke but you know someone writes about it and talks about it and then like ever flu from Chicago’s in there I mean come on now yep ever flu speed him I’m not saying that ever flu didn’t beat him but you know he wasn’t even the head coach then I’m just saying there to me there was just that kind of stuff I’d love your thoughts yeah you know I think when you rank coaches it can uh get a little difficult especially when you’re ranking rookies I think when you uh take into account you know guys who haven’t coached a game yet I think you need to by default keep those guys at the bottom just because they haven’t shown anything yet um I think the hang up with with Antonio Pierce is just the fact that it’s only been you know a half of a season with him as a head coach so maybe they’re uh still looking to see a little bit more out of him and then if they win a couple more games and and he shows uh that he’s more of a tactician and he shows that he’s going to go head-to-head and beat these guys then then then that ranking will will increase um but absolutely I think that there was enough that he put on on the field last year as you say his resume being on the field that shows that there’s clearly something here I mean there was a noticeable change in a lot of things last year when he took over there was a noticeable change in the energy the team played with there was a notable change in the aggression the defense and both the offense played with and I know it was a nine game sample size but it’s it’s as you say if he’s getting ranked behind a couple of guys who haven’t proven anything that’s where I think that uh that disrespect comes in and I mean you look at Antonio Pierce uh you know at a base level uh just a couple of games sample size but this is the type of coach that teams are looking for now they’re looking for that leader of men you know you can have your guys who are great with x’s and o’s you can have your guys who who will scheme up you know beautiful Grand designs but you want that guy who’s going to who you’re G to run through a wall for and Antonio Pierce is 100% that guy for this team and I think he showed that very comfortably very easy fits exactly what the Raiders want to do and you know I think that whether it’s bulletin board material or not for the team they’re going to go out there and they’re going to be the toughest team that you know they can be and and I think they’ll they might say you know let the rankings fall where they may we’re just gonna go out here on the field and and make plays and try to win games agree with you again I realize that it’s all gonna parse out but to me it’s just interesting the way people perceive so let’s get to perception and I gu stay on perception that’s kind of the theme of today’s podcast is perception um rankings come out out of Florida and it’s ranking the top 32 quarterbacks in the NFL starting quarterbacks and not only did ad oconnell not make it Gardner made it ahead of them what got me was Aiden finishes the last nine the last five games nine touchdowns one on an reception and he uh the team has said he’s our guy he’s our number one guy if Gardner’s gonna beat him Gardner’s gonna have to I mean if Gardner’s gonna start he’s gonna have to beat him with all the faith of the team now I have no issue with if you want to have um Patrick Mahomes ahead of them okay I have zero issue with that I think he is ahead of them if you want to have Justin Herbert ahead of him okay I am as not a big of a Herbert guy as everybody else is I I I I I I think he’s a wonderful young man I am not sold that he’s a wonderful quarterback I mean you go back and watch that game where you know Aiden oconnell had his first start with Josh McDaniels and yet Aiden had a bunch of interceptions but he also almost outplayed Justin too that the Chargers didn’t win that game because of Justin and I just there were some guys on there he just he beat last year he outplayed last year and then did not even make the list and yet Gardner did to me was just stunning to me again perception do you see that as disrespect okay I’ll give you another one okay he was the second best rookie quarterback I have no issue with CJ stra being the head of him but you look at J Richardson the Indianapolis Colts quarterback all right hardly played in call College a lot of people thought the Colts made a monster mistake because he just doesn’t have enough experience gets injured quick all right couldn’t stay healthy didn’t you know did he throw show flashes in practice well according to our Sports Illustrated you know Colts reporters yes but there wasn’t a ton of flashes there again nine touchdowns one interception last five games there’s some flashes there I you look at Richardson and other rookies ahead of him not named CJ Stout to me was just foolishness perception love your thought on that no absolutely I actually really agree with you I I I don’t see any reason I was a big Richardson fan coming out but I don’t see any reason to believe that uh based off of last season that there’s any reason to rank Anthony Richardson ahead of of Aiden OK conell Richardson only played like four or something games like that because got hurt that’s you know a big problem big concern with him uh be just the fact that he’s not able to protect his body and he’s a guy who needs reps to improve um but no I I really think that there were a lot of flashes with aen OK conell last year and I I think what he did last year is honestly League wide not talked about enough I mean to come in thrown right into it as a fourth round rookie you know Antonio Pierce says hey you’re our guy we’re rocking with you he’s only played the one game against uh the Chargers beforehand couple snaps against the Bears but largely other than that nothing else like just he didn’t play very much and so he he’s really just in this in the fire and for him to come out you know yeah there was a couple struggle moments but that’s natural I thought though there were some flashes as the season progressed he started to get it we started to see that quarterback that he was out of Purdue the guy was able to get the ball out quickly throw some good passes he took some shots down field there was a lot to like about what he did and I mean you you see that in the in the players that uh that rally around him and say uh you know this is our guy I mean even uh you know I’m watching the the Netflix documentary receiver and Devonte Adams even says I signed off on on the quarterback change so you know this this is their guy for sure um I understand you know I I can see having Garder mchu on there I can see you know he’s a little bit more of a proven commodity but at the same time and at the same time that’s a little bit of a a discrepancy because if they have Richardson on there he’s not ahead of him to not even have okon listed that’s a bit of a discrepancy I was thoroughly impressed with Aiden oconnell you could have a guy look you know like a deer in headlights out there as a rookie quarterback but I thought for the most part that he did not I mean I know he had a lot of experience at Purdue so he’s played lot of quarterback but you know the NFL is a different Beast you know you could forget everything you’ve learned in college once once the NFL speed starts coming at you but you know what he he made those adjustments he he started to play well and you can absolutely see why uh this team has so much faith in him and I think that he’s not being considered enough when it comes to you know the starting job I think outside outside eyes outside voices are are essentially giving it to Gardener mchu and not fully considering what adid no did last year especially as a Young quarterback I think that there’s still a lot to grow on and I definitely think uh he should have been ranked a little bit higher or even ranked at all on these quarterback lists I think he just has to be considered a little bit more based on what he was able to do in the situation that he was in last year Brian Hoyer told me this last year and I thought it was brilliant matter of fact he told me this uh after the season but he said what really impressed him with Aiden is every rookie has stuff he has to learn every rookie has things he’s got to grow at and get better at he said but if you watched him the moment there were times maybe he didn’t know what to do or there were PS that he was learning but the moment was never too big for him it wasn’t a deer in the headlights and he said he belonged there he goes yep we all have a learning curve Tom had a learning curve talking about Brady everybody’s got a learning curve but if you watch there was never a deer in the headlight moment I thought that was really impressive by Brian and I think it’s a reality I i’ love your thoughts on what Brian told me yeah absolutely I think you know you’ve heard what uh Brian has said before uh about Aiden o Connell and Brian Hoyer is a guy who’s who’s been around some talented quarterbacks in his time so you know he knows he knows what good quarterback play looks like and and you know I always appreciate you know to see uh veteran quarterbacks who are so willing to you know teach and and and help those young guys learn and I mean you know Brian Brian’s a a seasoned Pro and for him to you know say absolutely I thought that’s that’s that’s very good analysis um and he does you know no conell does have things to learn and then you know who doesn’t have things to learn absolutely but I think you saw the growth week after week with him and you saw a much more confident uh oconnell and yeah sure he has things he needs to work on and he’s said as much he wants to be you know a more vocal leader so yeah there’s certainly still room to grow but I think Brian’s absolutely right and the thing about it is yes I’m friends with Brian but Brian I don’t think’s a qb1 in the league I’ve never said he was but that he W he was brought in to be a teacher he was brought in to be a mentor so I mean he had his hands OB in Andrew Luck Baker Mayfield I mean now you can go on and on and on to all the teams that brought him in as a as a mentor to help young quarterbacks it speaks for itself all right I want to get to a we’re talking about perception today everybody with Carter Landis in fact Carter tell everybody real quick where can they find you on Twitter I am at Carter Landis 3 on x Twitter whatever you’d like to call it these days uh so go ahead and follow me if you’d like all right so now I wanna I I want to stick with perception we’re talking about Aiden oconnell we we talked about what Brian Hoyer said which I thought was very very strong opinion from Brian and now but when you look at perception let’s talk about Gardner muu I think Gardner is under respected I think this was a terrific signing I’ve had several people say to me several people say to me um hey Hondo but he signed such a big contract doesn’t it tell you he’s going to be qb1 first of all when you look at it in perspective it was not a big contract it was a two-year deal that the Raiders can easily get out of after one easily but the second thing about the deal that I thought was fascinating is you have to have two quarterbacks and so to pay a guy like Gardner to make sure you’re gonna get him who’s proven who’s a great locker room guy you know that he’s going to understand you’re going to get everything to compete but you’re going to have to just you’re going to have to beat Aiden if it’s a a tie it’s like the tie in baseball goes to the runner if it’s a tie in this quarterback battle it’s going to Aiden there are specific things about him that made you want to say okay yeah the Raiders were this is the Raiders point of view we’ll overpay him uh maybe but we don’t think it is because it’s only a two-year deal and he’s going to do what we want I I think Gardner menu is being underrated you and I have never said nor has anyone connected with our Sports Illustrated coverage ever said oh we know Aiden oconnell is a super you know Hall of Fame player no we don’t we just know off the resume that there’s been enough to give him the chance we don’t know how this is going to battle out and I’m a little bit surprised at how Gardner gets underrated as well would you agree with that yeah absolutely I think the Raiders are in kind of a a perfect situation here I mean you know you either have have Aiden oconnell start and and you’ve got Gardner MRE right off the bench if if they need to go to him and I think we saw last season in the NFL how important backup quarterback play has turned out to be you saw a bunch of guys get injured around the league and and their season started to suffer because they don’t have you know that that that backup quarterback who’s able to keep them afloat and I mean that is exactly what Gardner mchu did last season with the Indianapolis Colts I mean they were just a I believe a you know he threw maybe one errant pass away from them being in the playoffs this is a guy who throughout his career whether it be in Jacksonville whether it be in Philadelphia Indianapolis has helped teams has he been you know throwing the ball all over the field and throwing 500 yards and five touchdowns and winning games no but he’s done just enough to keep teams afloat and keep them in playoff races and I think that’s exactly the type of a backup quarterback that you need that’s the type of guy who is going to help you if you need it and I mean with the Raiders situation what they have around them uh offensively that’s just a guy who has to come in there and throw the ball to Devonte throw the ball to jacobe throw the ball to to Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer hand it off to zamir white you know this is the perfect sort of situation and and yeah I think Gardner muu is also being a little underrated because I mean all he’s done I feel like when he gets that opportunity is make big plays and help teams win and not not lose more games than they need to he keeps them right where they need to be I feel like when he is in there as a backup slash uh you know get in there as a starter like last year was one of like the you know I think throughout his career one of the the the best performances in terms of when he was able to take over and keep that Colts team not only afloat but in the hunt for a playoff spot in the hunt for the division right and my point is is that that’s why you pay him what he makes because you’re hiring other guys as backups who you hope can do that you know that Gardner can do that and if he doesn’t win the job which I think he should get an absolute full and Fair competition but if he doesn’t win it you know you’re not hoping he can keep you in a division race because you know he already can I I think that Gardner is just not getting that respect either all right last thing that I want to talk to you about because in all my years and as you know I’ve done this a long time and all of my years I have never experienced on a such a large basis what I want to talk to you about Jim Trestle my friend the Ohio State coach um was famous famous because his best players got to play special teams he so believed in special teams and and preached it and the way you really preach it is with practice time and he preached it and he practiced it so at Ohio state it was a big deal if you were a starter and you got to play special teams because it was such an important part of the game NFL comes in and says listen I don’t remember the number but I think it was less than 7% but could be wrong but somewhere in that vicinity of last year’s kickoffs were even returned and they’re like hey we want the kickoff back it’s exciting but we want to be protective of our players we don’t want them getting hurt so the NFL comes in changes the rules moves the the team receiving the ball they’re their line over on the other on the kicking team side of the field there’s now a a box that you you don’t get penalized if you put the ball in the Box because that Forces teams to return it I’m telling you players are excited about this coaches are excited about this I think this is going to be fascinating and I think it’s another way where the NL and I’m not a Roger Goodell fan but where the NFL brilliantly keeps adding Intrigue to their game I think this is going to be a lot of fun how excited are you about it it should be fun I mean kickoffs are one of the most electric parts of the game and you know for them to you know be be returned like that I I feel like there’s uh a lot of intrigue and a lot of fun with that I believe you know it’s the uh you know they saw that rule first in the in the XFL and and the league is sort of adopting that uh that should be pretty interesting I especially think the Raiders have a couple of those guys who are going to make some plays happen uh in that special teams game Dylan L who we talk about guy who’s got some got some got some shiftiness to him uh Mir Abdul has been a special team’s Ace uh for his career they could even put Trey Tucker back there possibly I mean you’ve got you’ve got the speedsters Jaylen gon you’ve got the guys who are able to return uh these kicks so I’m excited to see what it looks like you know I I I think you know preseason is going to come up in a couple weeks I think we’ll get a chance to see what that looks like but yeah it’s interesting that players are excited to play special special teams as a big fan of of good special teams myself as somebody who believes that special teams is is really important in the the overall Dynamic of football it’s cool to see the players are excited to to play that again and and it’s cool that you know the league wants kickoffs back because you know it’s I mean yeah last year it feels like we didn’t really see a lot of kickoffs we just saw teams kind of kick the ball out of the back of the end zone and they’re like all right we’re we’re going to take our chances with the team playing in their own field position so yeah this should be interesting you know I I don’t know what it’ll look like yet but I think it should certainly be uh intriguing and we’ll see uh how the players and and fans react to it I’m on my way to Costa Mesa a week from the day can’t hardly wait to go all right he’s the great Carter Landis we’ll see him again next week thanks for joining us Carter everybody else have a good day remember get that great Raiders coverage we’re presenting it to you every single day

Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast on Antonio Pierce, Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew, and the New NFL Kickoffs