A handful of months ago, fans across the NFL knew the Las Vegas Raiders as a team that had poor coaching, poor quarterback play, and a poor ground-game. And rightfully so. But things have changed fast under Pete Carroll.
Antonio Pierce, who took over as Sin City’s head coach following a Week 8 loss to the Detroit Lions during the 2023 season, walked away from his position with a combined 9-17 record. That gave him a winning percentage of .346%.
For reference, Josh McDaniels, Pierce’s predecessor, had a winning percentage of .360–a better mark than Pierce. Yikes.
With Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell under center, the Raiders’ quarterback play was particularly miserable this past season. Neither of the two had double-digit touchdown passes, although Minshew did manage to toss 10 interceptions. The highest completion percentage either posted was 63.4%, a percentage well below the league average of 65.3% this past season.
Quarterbacks in Sin City combined for a quarterback rating of 82.4 in 2024; the sixth-lowest mark in the NFL.
Then, there was the running game. What’s worse than a league-low 1,357 yards–a league-low by over 200–and a league-low 3.6 yards per carry? Well, nothing, really. Which is exactly why you won’t find anybody arguing against the Raiders having the worst running game league-wide one season ago.
But things can change. And for the Las Vegas Raiders, things certainly have changed. Quickly, too.
The three biggest weaknesses of the Silver and Black just five months ago have suddenly turned into undeniable strengths. In the place of these weaknesses stand a Super Bowl winning coach who also happens to have the 17th-most wins in league history by a head coach, a quarterback who has the sixth-most wins over the last three seasons, and a running back who’s fresh off of leading the FBS in virtually every positive stat there is.
Most by a considerable margin, too.
Weaknesses quickly become strengths for the Las Vegas Raiders under Pete Carroll
It all starts with the coaching. There’s not much to say about Pete Carroll that hasn’t already been said. At the college level, he’s won a National Championship. At the pro level, he’s hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. In short, a winner is exactly what Carroll is.
More than that, Carroll is a master at creating long-lasting positive cultures such as the ones built with both USC and the Seattle Seahawks. That’s due to Pete’s prominence as a ‘player’s coach’.
In fact, there may not be a more prominent ‘player’s coach’ in the history of the National Football League than Pete Carroll. He’s the gold standard in that regard, leaving a life-long print on the hearts of football greats such as Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Marshawn Lynch, and many more.
Don’t forget Geno Smith, too, who turned down an extension from the Seattle Seahawks in February without giving any counter in hopes to reunite with Carroll in Las Vegas. In doing so, Smith would become another negative that quickly turned into a positive for Sin City’s football team.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was hopeful Smith would stick around long-term in Seattle. The team’s general manager, John Schneider, shared those same thoughts. For great reason, too.
It’s not just the sixth-most wins since 2022–it’s how Smith contributed to those wins. The 34-year-old’s deep-ball prowess was particularly impressive, and has been since first earning the starting job in Seattle.
In 2022, Smith’s completion percentage on throws 20-plus yards downfield ranked second-highest in the NFL (47.6%). His big time throw percentage–throws with excellent ball placement and timing–ranked first in the entire NFL during both the ’22 and ’23 seasons on deep balls. In 2024, Smith’s 46.3% completion percentage on such throws ranked third-highest league-wide.
You can read more about Smith here; my full, in-depth story on Geno Smith, and what he brings to the table for the Raiders.
And, of course, Ashton Jeanty
At this point, I have nothing new to say about Ashton Jeanty.
Jeanty led the FBS in rushing yardage, yards after contact, first downs, runs of 10-plus yardage, runs of 20-plus yardage, touchdown runs, forced missed tackles, and more.
With 1,970 yards after contact, Jeanty totaled more yards post-contact alone than any runner in the FBS had in total, pre- and post-contact combined. Jeanty was that dominant.
There were many problems in the run-game for the Raiders this past season, but perhaps the biggest problem was the lack of ability for running backs to create for themselves. For reference, Alexander Mattison led the team in forced missed tackles in 2024 with 14. This tied for the 48th-most in the entire NFL.
Yeah; that’s bad.
And as for Ashton Jeanty? Well, he just so happens to statistically be the most elusive runner college football has ever seen. And it actually isn’t particularly close, either.
No running back in the history of college football has forced more missed tackles throughout their collegiate career than Jeanty, who amassed 284 through three seasons. This past year, Jeanty managed to slip out of 152 would-be tackles–that’s 48 more than any FBS runner managed to record in a season this past decade.
Only three times did an FBS running back total more than 15 forced missed tackles in a single game during the ’24 season. That was Ashton Jeanty on three separate occasions. Including against a phenomenal Penn State defense, where he slipped more tackles than any FBS runner did in any week against any school, regardless of the competition.
Even against Oregon, the second-of-two schools Jeanty played in 2024 that ranked top-16 via least points allowed per contest, the Boise State superstar slipped eight tackles–double any other runner did against Oregon in 2024.
You can read more about Jeanty when facing ‘greater’ competition, here.
What was once the biggest of weaknesses for the Raiders a mere five months ago have quickly turned into undeniable strengths. Pretty impressive, right? Perhaps a big season is in store for Las Vegas.
