When you think of the Las Vegas Raiders' offenses of the past, what do you think of? Never mind, don't answer that, because the word, or words, that you think of may not be too kind. Safe to say the offenses of the last few years are very forgettable.
Pete Carroll, the former Seattle Seahawks head coach, and Chip Kelly, who just won a National Championship with the Ohio State Buckeyes and was the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, are determined to make this offense something you can remember.
So, they went out and got their quarterback, Geno Smith, and a running back, Ashton Jeanty, to fix the two worst parts of the offense last year. As for the third-worst part, the offensive line, they addressed it a bit, too. The Raiders added weapons around Smith, Jakobi Meyers, and Brock Bowers, and put some nice pieces on the defense, too, just to show they didn't forget about that side of the ball.
But there is one thing that the Raiders really made sure to put an emphasis on this offseason, whether it came to the free agency period or the 2025 NFL Draft.
"Speed and the guys we've added, and kind of the mentality around it too," Jackson Powers-Johnson said at OTAs earlier this week. "I mean, we've talked about [Ashton] Jeanty. Dont’e Thornton is another huge one. Everyone's talking about him. I recruited him to Oregon, so I'll take a little bit of that (credit), but he's a baller.
"I mean, you look at [Jack] Bech, Kobs [Jakobi Meyers], Geno [Smith]. I mean speed and then go back to Jeanty with running the ball, I think we have a lot of speed running around, but I think we also have a lot of power. And it's just a lot of new, exciting things and a lot of weapons on offense.”
They added Dont'e Thornton Jr. from Tennessee, who ran a 4.34 40-yard dash and stands at 6'5", which is not normal at all. They added Bech, who may not look like he's that fast, but when you factor in his height, size, and stature, he's pretty quick. Of course, there is Tre Tucker, too, who is a speedster in his own right. Oh, and of course, you can make the case that Brock Bowers is the fastest tight end in the league.
And Geno Smith, the former Seattle Seahawks QB, is much faster than you think, and Chip Kelly said that this week, too, that he can use his feet if he needs to, but he is good at staying in the pocket and making the throw if it means taking a hit. So, yeah, speed would be a word they would use.
And, it's interesting because this team has never really been known for that in recent memory, but it feels like the best offenses in the league every single year are some of the fastest.
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