Las Vegas<\/a> should be better off because of their long-standing history together. The Raiders have plenty of new players and coaches, connections like the one between Kubiak and Janocko should only benefit the Raiders and help shorten the inevitable learning curve everyone will experience.<\/p>\n![\"Raider\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knmg7104h14d5jxaax.jpg\" "\\"Raider\\"")
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Mar 2, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko during the 2024 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Kubiak’s History with Cousins<\/p>\n
Kubiak, Cousins, and Janocko are extremely familiar with each other. For all three to end up in Las Vegas is likely more valuable than many may believe at the moment. After multiple recent Raiders coaching staffs have tried to fit square pegs into round holes, Janocko’s hiring makes sense.<\/p>\n
The two already possess greater connectedness than the Raiders’ past three head-coaching and offensive-coordinator combinations. Kubiak, Janocko, and Cousins should make life a little easier for the upcoming NFL Draft’s presumed No. 1 overall pick, Fernando Mendoza.<\/p>\n
![\"Raider\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knmg8cn902hhr5ar5k.jpg\" "\\"Raider\\"")
<\/p>\n
Feb 10, 2026; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak speaks at introductory press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
How Cousins Ties It All Together <\/p>\n
Cousins spent three seasons on a Minnesota Vikings offense that had Kubiak and Janocko on it. Both Janocko and Kubiak worked directly with the Vikings quarterbacks during that time. The group was primarily led by Cousins during arguably the peak of his career in the league. <\/p>\n
Three seasons is plenty of time for a player and two coaches to get to know each other extremely well. This undoubtedly factored into the Raiders’ decision to sign Cousins, and rightfully so. With as many new parts as the Raiders have this offseason, every bit of familiarity helps. <\/p>\n
![\"Raider\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knmga4rp86myeg4wfg.jpg\" "\\"Raider\\"")
<\/p>\n
Feb 6, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; Kirk Cousins on the Opening Drive show at the SiriusXM NFL radio set at the Super Bowl LX media center at the Moscone Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Biggest Beneficiary Should Be Mendoza <\/p>\n
The Raiders signed Cousins to a deal that does not really cost them all that much in the grand scheme of things. They will get at least a few starts out of Cousins, if not more. Theoretically, that will buy Mendoza time to develop during the early part of the regular season. <\/p>\n
Having additional time at the start of the regular season to develop, in addition to Cousins likely, or potentially, helping mentor Mendoza in one way or another, should help Mendoza’s long-term development. This alone makes signing Cousins worth it for the Raiders. <\/p>\n
![\"Raiders\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knmgc57v8pscz3ee56.jpg\" "\\"Raiders\\"")
<\/p>\n
Fernando Mendoza participates in Indiana University’s Pro Day at Mellencamp Pavilion on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. | Rich Janzaruk\/Herald-Times \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Kubiak and Janocko will be able to develop their quarterback room and game plan efficiently with Mendoza, with little to no concerns about his ability to grasp the overall goal. Mendoza has already shown the ability to process things quickly, but there is a jump from college to the pros. <\/p>\n
Between his play on the field, his preperation in the classroom and on the practice field, Cousins should work as an intermediary, of sorts, between the coachings staff, Mendoza, and others on the offense who may be new to Kubiak’s ideals, scheme and playcalling. <\/p>\n
![\"Raider\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knmh7q53hm19xtbkxx.jpg\" "\\"Raider\\"")
<\/p>\n
Feb 28, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (QB11) looks on during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At this point in the offseason, Las Vegas Raiders appear to know what they are doing, down to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-859686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-las-vegas","10":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","11":"tag-lasvegas","12":"tag-lasvegasraiders","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116365474211484662","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Raiders\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knmg1wwhscdqfa7h8r.jpg\" "\\"Raiders\\"")
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