After a treacherous 4-13 season in 2024, Las Vegas is looking to make their way back up the AFC West this season. With a constantly changing quarterback room and no consistency throughout the team, the Raiders locked in this offseason.
The new look Raiders will feature Geno Smith as the QB1 this upcoming season. Since Derek Carr departed for New Orleans, the Raiders starting quarterback position has been a revolving door.
From Gardner Minshew to Aidan O'Connell to even Desmond Ridder, the Raiders are hoping Geno Smith will be able to efficiently play 17 games in 2025. Smith will join one of the league's premier tight ends in only his second year, Brock Bowers.
Bowers impressed everyone in 2024 after breaking the rookie receptions record, the Raiders' single-season reception record, and shattering the most receiving yards for a rookie tight end ever as well. For NFL fantasy owners, Bowers will certainly be a top pick and most likely the first tight end off all of the big boards.
Arguably the biggest move the Raiders made this offseason was drafting running back Ashton Jeanty with the 6th overall pick. While in college at Boise State, Jeanty was making history left and right and was destined to be a hot commodity in the NFL.
For the Raiders, getting a guy like Ashton Jeanty in this year's draft is an absolute dream for them. In 2024, Las Vegas ranked dead last in total rushing offense averaging under 80 yards per game.
To put that into perspective, in 14 games played at Boise State for Jeanty in 2024, he averaged over 185 rushing yards per game. So, I would strongly say that drafting Jeanty was the right decision to make despite the criticism of drafting a running back within the top 10 of the NFL Draft.
Looking back on 2024, one thing not to pout about for the Raiders was their defense. Sure it can get better, but the Raiders ranked towards the middle of the NFL in total defense. Lead by Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas could see another productive year on defense in 2025.
One drastic change to the defense was cutting Christian Wilkins. A surprise to everyone, Wilkins was cut after signing a massive 4 year contract with Las Vegas just last offseason. Fans in Las Vegas envisioned Crosby and Wilkins to be the next big thing, but unfortunately they were wrong.
Las Vegas will have a steep hill to climb this season after the other three teams in their division made the playoffs last season. While the Raiders have a slim shot at the postseason in 2025, mostly any other outcome is better than a 4-13 season.
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