The Las Vegas Raiders are entering a new era under first-year head coach Antonio Pierce. Las Vegas rallied around its then-interim head coach down the stretch in 2023. Pierce impressed Raiders ownership enough to sign him to a long-term contract.
The roster has a ways to go, but there are already plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of the Raiders.
Las Vegas has added a ton of talent in the offseason who should be foundational pieces moving forward. The Raiders signed Christian Wilkins to a massive contract in free agency that gives Maxx Crosby someone to work with on the defensive line. They also went out and drafted Brock Bowers with the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The future looks bright in Las Vegas. However, this team may still struggle in 2024 and will need to find a franchise QB before they can seriously compete in the AFC.
With the regular season under one week away, it is time for some bold predictions.
Below we will discuss four bold predictions related to the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of the 2024 NFL season.
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QB Aidan O'Connell will start multiple games for the Raiders in 2024
Antonio Pierce recently named Gardner Minshew as the Raiders starting QB heading into 2024. However, that does not mean that he has complete job security.
Second-year QB Aidan O'Connell played well during his rookie campaign, particularly towards the end of the season after Antonio Pierce took over. This gives the Raiders one of the best backup QB situations in the NFL right now.
In 2023, O'Connell threw for 2,218 with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 11 games played. O'Connell developed a good rapport with both Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers that helped Las Vegas rack up some late-season victories under Antonio Pierce.
It may come in handy later in the 2024 season.
My prediction is that Aidan O'Connell will start more than one game for the Raiders this fall.
There are a number of ways this could happen. Nobody wants to root for an injury, but that is one possibility that could thrust O'Connell into the starting role.
Another possibility is a rocky start to the 2024 season. If the Raiders are not living up to fan expectations, plenty of scrutiny will fall on the team's QB. If Minshew is part of the reason why the Raiders fall behind, Pierce could eventually turn to O'Connell to give the team a spark.
Finally, it's entirely possible that O'Connell consistently shows that he's a better QB than Minshew in practice. This would effectively see him push for the starting job in a QB battle that would be happening well after training camp.
Brock Bowers comes close to breaking Raiders single-season rookie receiving record
The Raiders missed out on all of the good QB prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, Brock Bowers is one hell of a consolation prize.
Bowers is a dynamic tight end out of Georgia who boasts elite athleticism. He flashed as a rare prospect ever since his true freshman season at Georgia. Bowers is truly one of the most anticipated tight end prospects in recent memory, even surpassing the Kyle Pitts hype from a few years ago.
But just how good could Bowers be in his rookie season?
There is no limit to how good Bowers could perform in his rookie season, he looks like that good of a player.
Historically, tight end is viewed as a position that requires time in the NFL to excel at. However, Detroit Lions rookie Sam LaPorta proved in 2023 that it is possible to come in and hit the ground running. LaPorta put up 889 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 86 receptions in 2023.
Bowers and LaPorta are not the same guy, but it shows what is now possible for elite rookie tight ends.
My bold prediction: Brock Bowers will break the Raider rookie receiving record by a tight end, which sits at 556 yards. He will also come close to breaking Amari Cooper's 1,070 yard single-season rookie record from 2015.
It will be interesting to see how NFL defenses defend Bowers during his rookie season. If Bowers can get lined up on a linebacker, he can use his 4.53 40-yard dash speed to exploit that matchup. On the other hand, Bowers is large enough to bully cornerbacks at the catch point.
Here's one way to look at this prediction. If Bowers plays in all 17 games, he will only need 63 yards per game to surpass Amari Cooper's rookie record.
The Raiders will NOT trade Davante Adams at the NFL trade deadline
The season has not started yet, but that hasn't stopped the rumors of a Davante Adams trade.
Many NFL fans and analysts have pointed to Adams' reaction to the Raiders' 2023 season, as seen on Netflix's Receiver show, as evidence that he is unhappy in Las Vegas. This is paired with the team's low chances of success in 2024 to suggest that he should be moved at the trade deadline.
My bold prediction is simple: Adams is not going to be traded at the NFL trade deadline. I'll go a step further and say that he is not traded at all during the 2024 season.
Like with the QB bold prediction, there are a number of ways this could come to pass.
First, the Raiders could be good. They wouldn't necessarily have to turn into an AFC contender to make Adams happy that he is still with Las Vegas.
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Second, Adams could remain frustrated with the situation in Las Vegas, but resist the urge to demand a trade during the season.
Finally, even if Adams demanded a trade around the NFL trade deadline, there is no guarantee that a deal gets done.
For context, Adams has a $25.35 million cap hit in 2024. That figure will be lower as the NFL trade deadline approaches (as the figure is split between 17 regular season games) but it is still a hard pill to swallow for a new team. The Raiders would need to find a contender who wants to acquire Adams, has the draft capital to do it, and the cap space to actually afford Adams.
It's possible, but I don't see this happening.
The Raiders will finish with a worse record than 2023, but they will look like a much better team
This may be the harshest bold prediction on the list.
The Raiders finished the 2023 season with a winning record at 9-8. Considering the turmoil the Raiders dealt with in 2023, it seems harsh to predict regression. However, it feels like that's bound to happen.
Earlier this summer, I predicted that the Raiders will only win eight games in the 2024 season. This is less a product of the Raiders being a bad team and more an assessment of their strength of schedule.
Las Vegas has a tough schedule heading into the 2024 season. They must face Kansas City twice and have one-off games against Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Miami, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville. They also face the Los Angeles Rams. These all look like tough games at this point before the season has started.
Just having a tough matchup doesn't mean you'll lose. After all, I predicted they'll pick up a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, it could set the Raiders up to finish below .500 in Antonio Pierce's first season as head coach.
Gardner Minshew will have to play some flawless football in 2024 to give the Raiders a better record than last year. I just can't see that happening.
