Latest news with #LasVegasRaiders
USA Today
17 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 Rookie Stat Prediction: Ashton Jeanty
2025 Rookie Stat Prediction: Ashton Jeanty The Las Vegas Raiders made a tempo setting move when they took Memphis running back Ashton Jeanty at the top end of round one in the 2025 NFL Draft. A Heisman finalist and one of the best players in the country, Jeanty is a slam dunk for a team wanting to forge a new identity under head coach Pete Carroll. With Las Vegas boasting a new quarterback in Geno Smith who can put up the deep ball as well as anyone in the league, Jeanty should have plenty of opportunity with teams unable to load the box against him. Given Jeanty should be the easily number one back on the team, and that he should be the tempo setting engine that makes the offense move, he should see plenty of action throughout the season and be one of the leagues most productive backs. Given his skillset and the amount of opportunity he will get, expect Jeanty to be the heavy favorite for 'Offensive Rookie of the Year' as he should be one of the top producers at his position. Prediction: 1,300 rush yards, 550 receiving yards, 14 touchdowns
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Raiders OTAs: Geno Smith, Chip Kelly building rapport; Malcolm Koonce returns
HENDERSON, Nev. — Geno Smith and the Las Vegas Raiders have each had three different offensive coordinators in the last three seasons. It's something both are used to — Smith from bouncing around to different teams and the Raiders from undergoing a series of regime changes — but it has made it difficult to find consistency on offense. Advertisement The Raiders are hopeful they've found their pairing for the foreseeable future in Smith and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. They had a pre-existing relationship — Kelly attempted to recruit Smith to play at Oregon and coached his cousin Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State last season — but they've built a stronger rapport over the last few months. 'In many ways, it's a dream come true,' Smith said Thursday. 'I've revered coach Kelly, and I've always thought he's been an excellent coach throughout his career and a guy who I really wanted to play for, even back then when I was in high school. It didn't work out that way, but God works in mysterious ways, and here we are today in Las Vegas. Being with Chip, you get to know him as a man and know what he's about. He's an outstanding human being, but also has a great mind for football and understands how to motivate guys.' Outside of practices and meetings, Smith and Kelly have also spent plenty of time on the phone fine-tuning different aspects of the offense. 'Geno loves ball,' Kelly said Thursday. 'I really lean on him because of his wealth of experience. He's been through different coordinators in this league, and some really good ones. … I can pick his brain that way and then put together, 'What's the best thing for us going forward?'' 🔴 🎥 Live: Chip Kelly, Geno Smith, AJ Cole and Jakobi Meyers address the media from the Intermountain Health Performance Center. — Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) May 29, 2025 After failing to trade for Matthew Stafford earlier this offseason, the Raiders held meetings to chart their path forward at quarterback. Kelly was included alongside quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, coach Pete Carroll, general manager John Spytek and minority owner Tom Brady. Smith's arm talent, accuracy, mobility, leadership and intelligence all helped make him the consensus answer among the group. Advertisement The Raiders traded for Smith and signed him to a two-year extension. It's still early in the process, but things have gone smoothly as Smith and Kelly have acclimated to one another. 'Geno's literally like a second coach,' Kelly said. 'When you're in that room with him and Greg Olson, there's a lot of ideas going around. And then it's just a matter of corralling it. Because sometimes you can have too many ideas. Like, let's try to do a million things, and then you don't get good at one thing. But his football acumen is really off the charts, and it's impressive to be around him.' As for what the Raiders offense will look like, they want to remain amorphous to allow themselves to adjust to their opponent on any given week. There will be times when they go no-huddle and push the tempo, but they also want to be capable of slowing things down and churning the clock. The vision is for that same flexibility to apply to their personnel groupings. Kelly is best known for his success operating out of three-, four- and even five-wideout sets, but the Raiders also plan to use multi-tight end sets frequently. Kelly was a bit rigid in his past NFL stints, but the aim is to be different this time around. 'I think you always adapt to your personnel,' Kelly said. 'Part of the OTA process for us is getting to understand what the strengths of these players are. And then how do you play to their strengths?' Here are other observations from the Raiders' OTA practice Thursday. • Kelly also addressed the latest Raiders scandal: running back Ashton Jeanty changing his stance. The rookie typically stood up straight before the ball was snapped in college, but he has switched to a traditional stance with the Raiders. Jeanty said in an interview that Kelly suggested the change, but the coordinator said that isn't exactly accurate. Advertisement 'Deland McCullough — our running back coach — is in charge of stances, steps, alignments, assignments and techniques, so he talked to him about that,' Kelly said. ' … I haven't told anybody on this team to be in any stances because I don't coach the positions. But it's a bent-knee game. … In any sport you're playing, you've got to bend your knees. And if you've got to run a flat route on Fred Warner, you better be in a position to run because that dude can fly. … It literally is about three inches, so I really don't think it's that big of a difference. But (Jeanty's) awesome. And he's such a coachable guy that you can do a lot of things with him. He can play in the slot, he can play in the backfield, he can do a lot of different things. He's special.' • Defensive end Malcolm Koonce returned to practice Thursday. It's an important step in his recovery process from the torn ACL that caused him to miss all of last season. He was primarily limited to individual drills during practice, but that still represents notable progress. • Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins didn't practice Thursday as he continues to rehab from the Jones fracture he suffered last October. With only two weeks left in OTAs, it's unlikely he'll make an appearance before training camp. • Safety Jeremy Chinn and defensive tackle Adam Butler Jr. didn't practice Thursday due to undisclosed reasons. Carroll didn't speak to reporters Thursday, so we weren't able to ask about their absences. • Veteran safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. filled in for Chinn in his absence. The rest of the starting secondary remained unchanged — Isaiah Pola-Mao at free safety with Darien Porter and Eric Stokes at cornerback. Cornerback Jakorian Bennett is still working his way back into form after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last year. He has largely been working with the second-team defense, but he could still compete for a starting role. • The Raiders don't have a great answer at nickelback. In response, they've used five-man fronts more often during practice thus far. Defensive tackles Zach Carter, Jonah Laulu and Leki Fotu got most of the first-team snaps. When the Raiders do bring a slot defender on the field, it's typically a safety. For example, there were times when Johnson lined up at nickelback and Thomas Harper replaced him at safety on Thursday. Advertisement • Veteran linebackers Elandon Roberts and Devin White have been fixtures thus far. It's hard to judge run defense without pads, but they've both been solid in pass coverage. • Rookie Caleb Rogers rotated in behind Alex Cappa to get some first-team snaps at right guard. Dylan Parham and Jordan Meredith continue to go back and forth at left guard. Given that all OTA practices are padless, this competition really won't intensify until training camp. 'It's the most difficult because there are no pads,' Kelly said. 'It's (more about), 'How are they picking up schemes? How are they working together? Are they making the right calls? Are they identifying the defense in the proper manner so we're on the right people?' … They're doing a good job from that standpoint, but you still can't get a full evaluation of 'em.' • The Raiders are moving their receivers around a lot. Tre Tucker and Dont'e Thornton have mostly been locked in on the outside, but Jakobi Meyers and Jack Bech have lined up frequently at both outside and slot receiver. Tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer are also capable of lining up at slot and outside receiver, so Kelly should be able to get creative with his alignments this season. • Meyers is entering the final season of his contract and is coming off the best season of his career with 87 catches for 1,027 yards and four touchdowns. It'd make sense for the Raiders to extend him, but he could test free agency next offseason. 'I want to be here for sure, but that's all I can really say on it right now,' Meyers said Thursday when asked about a potential extension. 'That's business between us and the top floor, so I'ma just hold that one down for now.'
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Las Vegas Raiders 2025 win total futures, over/under and odds
Las Vegas Raiders 2025 win total futures, over/under and odds The 2025 season win total set for the Las Vegas Raiders, 6.5, puts them lower than any other AFC West team. Raiders: Win total odds & over/under NFL odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Wednesday at 3:53 a.m. ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub. Win total over/under: 6.5 6.5 Over 6.5 wins payout: -145 -145 Under 6.5 wins payout: +120 Raiders 2025 schedule Get Raiders tickets at StubHub! Raiders 2024 splits The Raiders' 4-13 record last season was not good enough to make the playoffs. Las Vegas put together a 2-1 record in games it was favored on the moneyline last season (winning 66.7% of those games). Last season, the Raiders were the underdog 14 times and won two of those games. Vegas won just two games at home last season and two away from home. In one-possession games, the Raiders were 3-4. But they won just once in games decided by three points or fewer (1-1). Raiders 2024 player stats Geno Smith had 21 TD passes and 15 interceptions in 17 games for the Seahawks last year, completing 70.4% of his throws for 4,320 yards (254.1 per game). In addition, Smith ran for 272 yards and two TDs. Brock Bowers had 112 receptions for 1,194 yards (70.2 per game) and five touchdowns in 17 games. Jakobi Meyers had 87 receptions for 1,027 yards (68.5 per game) and four touchdowns in 15 games a season ago. Aidan O'Connell passed for 1,612 yards (179.1 per game), completing 63.4% of his passes, with eight touchdowns and four interceptions in nine games. On the ground, O'Connell scored one touchdown and accumulated 30 yards. Get Raiders tickets at StubHub!
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Report: Raiders make AJ Cole highest-paid punter in NFL
The Las Vegas Raiders signed AJ Cole to a four-year, $15.8 million extension to make him the highest-paid punter in the NFL, Fox Sports reported Monday. The agreement adds four seasons onto the final year Cole had on his existing deal and it includes $11 million guaranteed, according to the report. Cole confirmed the news in a quote tweet that read, 'raider nation for life !!!!!' Cole was named to three straight Pro Bowls from 2021-23 and earned first-team All-Pro recognition in 2021 and 2023. He had the longest punt of the 2023 season at 83 yards. In six seasons for the Oakland/Las Vegas franchise, Cole has appeared in 100 games and averaged 48.6 yards per punt on 374 attempts. Only 30 of those punts went for touchbacks. He's averaged at least 50 yards per punt in three of the last four seasons. Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Raiders just gave punter a huge payday, but not one of Tom Brady's old receivers
The Las Vegas Raiders just handed out a new deal that makes A.J. the highest-paid punter in the NFL. Meanwhile, there are two key players on Vegas' roster hoping to get new deals. One of their left tackle, Kolton Miller. The other is wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who caught passes from Brady with the New England Patriots. Advertisement According to ESPN, Cole and the Raiders agreed to a four-year, $15.8 million extension that includes $11 million of guaranteed money. Cole's deal was set to expire after the 2025 season. Let's be clear: Cole is worth the money. The 29-year-old has made three straight Pro Bowls and was named a First-Team All-Pro twice during that same span. Cole led the NFL with 50 yards per punt in 2021 and has been among the league leaders in the category in every season since. However, the payday for Cole is glaring given that the Raiders have two notable contracts set to expire after 2025 in Miller and Meyers. Advertisement Miller, who is also 29, has been a steady presence at left tackle in Vegas. He hasn't made a Pro Bowl, but has long since established himself as one of the NFL's better options at one of football's most important positions. Then there's Meyers, who's coming of back-to-back productive seasons. The 29-year-old was the No. 2 receiver behind Davante Adams in 2023. Then in 2024, he went over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career, leading all wide receivers in Vegas with 87 receptions for 1,027 yards. He finished second on the team in both categories once again, behind tight end Brock Bowers, who caught 112 passes for 1,194 yards. Last season, Meyers caught passes from three different quarterbacks, including Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell and Desmond Ridder. As a rookie in 2019, Meyers was catching passes from Brady himself, finishing with 26 receptions for 359 yards. Advertisement By 2022, Meyers had established himself as the No. 1 wide receiver in New England. However, the Patriots opted to not retain him in free agency, opening the door for him to sign in Vegas. Instead, New England brought in JuJu Smith-Schuster, who became one of the biggest free-agent busts in team history. After Bowers and Meyers, the Raiders have a huge drop-off when it comes to pass-catchers. Tre Tucker was third on the Raiders with 539 yards. After that, no other player went over 300 yards. Here's an even more worrisome stat: Davante Adams finished third among Raiders wide receivers with 209 receiving yards. He only played three games in Vegas before being traded to the Jets. So it begs the question: With Brady now part of Raiders ownership and having a large hand in the direction the course of the franchise, why hasn't the team invested in Meyers – or Miller for that matter? Advertisement So far, it's created some minor tension. Miller reportedly skipped out on the Raiders' voluntary offseason workouts to show his displeasure with his current deal. It could be an issue of pure cost. As this past free agency showed, the price of a good left tackle or wide receiver is sky-high these days. In comparison, it's much easier to get a deal done with a punter. However, if the Raiders really wanted to sign either player to a new deal, the money is there. According to Over The Cap, Vegas is currently fourth in the NFL with over $28 million in cap space. Heading into 2025, the Raiders clearly have a more stable quarterback situation after the acquisition of Geno Smith. But if they want to keep things in place further down the road, Brady and team brass better figure out what they're going to do about Miller and Meyers. More Patriots Content Read the original article on MassLive.
