Why the 'vibes' in Vegas are better for the Raiders
Yahoo Sports NFL analyst Nate Tice and Yahoo Sports fantasy analyst Hayden Winks discuss how the Silver and Black should have reason for optimism this season. Check out the full conversation on "Football 301" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
Man, this Raiders offense, I just think the vibes of this entire franchise feel so much better.
They feel so much more professional.
I'm not even saying that because of the Tom Brady-ness, I'm just saying 'cause of what they've done.
I think Kubiak is a Kubiak has earned a lot of respect from me, where I thought he was I was whatever with him from his Vikings days, and then now I thought last year I was like, "Okay, you are a pretty dang good play caller."
Yeah.
Some of these guys can be really good head coaches as well, just being around the league and everything.
I think just it can't get worse than it was last year, and especially the It looked like that, but then the stories afterwards, it was like, oh, it was really bad in Vegas last year.
But you look at this offense, let's say Cousins is starting, but I'm sure Mendoza will take over at some point in the season.
How you feeling about it?
Do you think they can unlock some of the stars that they have at random positions, running back and tight end?
Yes.
I would say everything you just said I agree with, in that this, they're in the right direction here.
They do have a couple stars.
They will absolutely get the ball to Brock Bowers.
I have no issues with that, this year.
And I think also we have to be realistic about, you know, what's going on still on the offensive line and at the wide receiver position, and then obviously we're talking about a rookie quarterback, plus Kirk Cousins at, at his age.
So I think it's I feel good about the Raiders, what they could be in, you know, 2027 and 2028.
I'm being very realistic about what we're dealing with here.
To me, it still comes down to, like, the offensive line has just got to be way better.
That's how I am.
It's like I, I have optimism about where this is going, but they're still a year away from being a year away.
I think it's pretty kind of safe to say.
But this, I think this season's just more about, like, hey, Mendoza, getting him good reps in a situation that's not gonna build scar tissue.
The one thing that this offense does is help the O-line, along with the quarterbacks.
It puts guardrails up, makes it It lifts the floor, puts the quarterback with kind of blinders on, like, hey, we say training wheels, and then they can kind of take those blinders off as they kind of get more comfortable with the offense and, or, or just talented enough.
But that's why I feel better about the Even if they didn't add Linderbaum, I would feel better about the O-line, 'cause they're actually getting coached.
Because some of the stories last year were crazy about how they weren't even getting coached up, or they were getting coached differently by, I mean, it's, let's just call it frankly, it was Pete Carroll's son.
Like, and apparently he just didn't take a lot of pride in his craft.
And I think this, the offensive line can at least get to, like, where it's like, just like the Seahawks offensive line last year, where it's, like, tolerable
