Las Vegas Raiders 2026 Preview

WRITTEN BY: HILOW

Coaching/Philosophy/Scheme Changes ::

• Offense: Klint Kubiak replaces the “doomed from the beginning” Pete Carroll as head coach, bringing along his former quarterbacks coach from Seattle, Andrew Janocko, to serve as the offensive coordinator. Janocko replaces former OC Chip Kelly while it will be Kubiak that calls offensive plays.
• Defense: The organization promoted from within at defensive coordinator, moving former defensive line coach and run game coordinator Rob Leonard to the position.

Personnel Changes ::

• The Raiders had one of the busier offseasons and were involved in one of the weirder storylines in recent memory with the Maxx Crosby saga. The Raiders agree in principle to send Crosby to the Ravens before signing OLB Kwity Paye, LB Quay Walker, and LB Nakobe Dean. The Ravens then backed out of the trade, citing concerns over Crosby’s surgically repaired knee, leaving the Raiders “stuck” with the free agent moves they made under the assumption that Crosby was no longer a member of their team.
• Also signed WR Jalen Nailor, OG Spencer Burford, C Tyler Linderbaum, FB Connor Heyward, QB Kirk Cousins, and K Matt Gay while trading for CB Taron Johnson.
• Drafted QB Fernando Mendonza with the No. 1 overall pick. Took CB Treydan Stukes in the second, OLB Keyron Crawford and OG Trey Zuhn in the third, and RB Mike Washington and CB Jermod McCoy in the fourth.
• Saw K Daniel Carlson, OG Dylan Parham, S Lonnie Johnson Jr, QB Kenny Pickett, and OL Alex Cappa depart via free agency.
• Have yet to re-sign DE Malcolm Koonce, LB Elandon Roberts, RB Raheem Mostert, and WR Tyler Lockett.

Schedule ::

• Divisional Games (6)::
  • Chargers x 2, Chiefs x 2, Broncos x 2
• AFC East (4)::
  • Dolphins, Bills, @Patriots, @Jets
• NFC West (4)::
  • Rams, Seahawks, @49ers, @Cardinals
• @Saints, @Browns, Titans

Bull Case ::

Going from Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly to Klint Kubiak and Andrew Janocko is about as big a change you can muster for the Raiders, particularly for the structure of their offense. Kelly’s rigid and antiquated design attempted to fit square pegs in round holes, relying too heavily on pace and tempo without being able to sustain drives. His zone read never got going with Geno Smith, Kenny Pickett, and Aidan O’Connell under center and the offense became stale and unimaginative. Enter Kubiak, whose West Coast system with significant Shanahan influence is designed to get his playmakers in space while simplifying reads for his quarterback. Expect heavy pre-snap motion and play action rates to pair with an outside zone-heavy run scheme. The beauty of the system is that all of those layers work in conjunction to exploit opposing defenses. Outside zone run schemes typically draw linebackers and safeties closer to the line of scrimmage to help off the edge and pre-snap motion typically aids the quarterback in diagnosing opposing coverages (man, zone, safety alignments, quarters, etc), with play action most dangerous when the quarterback understands the coverage and alignment with the benefit of a creeping second level. This isn’t the “spread them out horizontally and hit them in the mouth with outside zone” scheme like Kelly’s, this is the “keep the defense guessing and off balance and then hit the lapses in coverage and/or communication.” Night and day, and I expect this offense to be far more successful and explosive because of it.

This roster also experienced some major overhaul this offseason, paying particular attention to the interior defense and offensive line, and they already had two superstars in the making in Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty. I don’t know who will begin the season under center after the team also signed Kirk Cousins this offseason, but the ingredients for a fun and successful offense are all present here.