On Tuesday, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis pulled the plug on the Patriot Way, firing head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.
On Wednesday, Davis commented on his decision to make wholesale changes.
“Unfortunately, I had great hopes for Josh and Dave,” Davis told ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “It just seemed we were going in the wrong direction. So, with the trade deadline, I just felt it was time to make a change, time to make a move.”
Under McDaniels, who was also the offensive play-caller, the Raiders haven’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season. They also have the fewest rushing yards per game.
Ultimately, Davis reached a breaking point that fans have felt for quite some time with McDaniels’ play-calling, in-game decisions and a lack of answers for his underperforming offense.
Anyone who watched the Raiders this year noticed that the offense took a step back while the defense has shown a bit of improvement.
Davis did what had to be done, but what’s next?
The Raiders have several roster and coaching questions to figure out in the second half of the season. Let’s focus on the top five objectives posed in question form.
Where does Aidan O’Connell fit in future plans?
As soon as Davis showed McDaniels the door, interim head coach Antonio Pierce tabbed rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell as the starter for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants. Jimmy Garoppolo will head to the bench.
Though McDaniels seemed frustrated with Garoppolo and open to starting the rookie after a 26-14 loss to the Detroit Lions, he chose to start Brian Hoyer over O’Connell against the Chicago Bears in Week 7, a decision that backfired on him. Hoyer threw for 129 yards and two interceptions, which included a pick-six, and completed just 53.1 percent of his passes.
McDaniels squandered an opportunity to allow O’Connell a chance to learn (on the field in a favorable matchup) from a turnover-ridden NFL debut and solidify the QB2 spot. With the exception of Week 4, when O’Connell started against the Los Angeles Chargers, and Week 7 backup duties, he went inactive on game days as the emergency No. 3 quarterback.
Now, Pierce says O’Connell gives the Raiders the best chance to win games, which is a stark difference from McDaniels’ approach.
We’ll find out what the Raiders have in O’Connell. Is he a potential starter, a high-end backup or a turnover-prone quarterback who will struggle to make the roster in a few years?
Regardless of its quarterback plans for 2024, Las Vegas has to evaluate O’Connell with Garoppolo playing his worst football as the league leader in interceptions (nine).
How good can the rest of Las Vegas Raiders 2023 draft class be?
Aside from O’Connell, the Raiders should steadily work their 2023 draft class into weekly game plans. The Raiders didn’t make any acquisitions at the trade deadline, so they could work some of their rookies into bigger roles over veterans on expiring contracts in the second half of the season.
According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the Raiders wanted to acquire a veteran pass-rusher before the trade deadline. Because they didn’t and the team released Chandler Jones, rookie first-rounder Tyree Wilson should have enough opportunities to flash his upside while splitting snaps with Malcolm Koonce on the edge.
In Week 6, against the New England Patriots, rookie tight end Michael Mayer flashed his potential with five catches for 75 yards. In the same game, rookie Tre Tucker showed his ability to stretch the defense with a 48-yard reception, a pass from Hoyer.
Defensive tackles Byron Young and Nesta Jade Silvera may be able to plug holes in the team’s 30th-ranked run defense. Cornerback Jakorian Bennett just returned from shoulder and knee injuries last Monday, but he’s had a disappointing start to the season, allowing a 126.5 passer rating in coverage.
Safety Chris Smith II and linebacker Amari Burney haven’t seen the field much. The former hasn’t played a defensive snap, and the latter has logged 39 defensive snaps.
Like O’Connell, the Raiders won’t have any idea what they have in their rookie class if the coaching staff doesn’t allow the youngsters to play meaningful snaps.
Is Antonio Pierce a viable head-coaching candidate?
In terms of head-coaching transitions, this season feels a bit like the 2021 campaign when former lead skipper Jon Gruden resigned amid an email scandal. In that year, Rich Bisaacia took over in the interim role.
Like Bisaccia, Pierce doesn’t have any head-coaching experience, but the former has a lot more pro experience as an NFL special teams coach for about two decades.
Yet Pierce’s personality seems like the antithesis of McDaniels’ personality, which will likely result in a much different coaching style. To draw a parallel, Bisaccia deviated from Gruden’s arduous practices at the end of the 2021 season, marking a significant difference in their coaching philosophies.
Pierce definitely won over some fans at his first press conference as the Raiders’ interim head coach.
Now, Pierce has an opportunity to show that he can lead a locker room and put his team in a position to win games. If Pierce checks both boxes, Davis should consider him for the full-time head-coaching job.
Is Bo Hardegree an ascending offensive play-caller?
The Raiders didn’t just fire McDaniels and Ziegler, they also relieved offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi of his duties as well, which is another marker in Davis’ divorce from Patriot influences.
The team promoted quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree, who’s served as an assistant under former NFL head coach Adam Gase for six out of his 10 NFL seasons.
With only two years as a quarterbacks coach, Hardegree has a huge opportunity in front of him, calling plays for an offense that features All-Pros Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs with a solid No. 2 wide receiver in Jakobi Meyers.
If Hardegree can incorporate Mayer and Tucker into the passing attack, we may actually see the true potential of this offense.
Oh, we can’t forget one veteran wide receiver who should see more targets going forward.
Can Hunter Renfrow work his way back into the offense?
Despite the trade buzz around Hunter Renfrow, Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore noted that teams didn’t want to take on the wideout’s contract.
As a result, the coaching staff should try to get the slot machine involved in the passing attack again. He’s already paid for the 2023 campaign on a fully guaranteed contract.
McDaniels, who may be the world’s best football magician, made Adams and Renfrow disappear in his offense over time. We already know that Adams has solidified himself as one of the best receivers in the game, so he’s likely to bounce back with some big numbers in the coming weeks. But what about Renfrow?
Will Hardegree make a concerted effort to get Renfrow a decent number of targets?
In eight games this season, Renfrow has hauled in 10 of 16 targets for 92 yards. Once a reliable third-down receiver who can move the chains, he doesn’t have a defined role in the current offense.
Keep in mind that Renfrow doesn’t have any guarantees built into his $13.7 million cap number for the 2024 season, which makes it likely that the team will release him if he’s unable to make significant contributions in the second half of the season.
Will third-and-Renfrow make a comeback, or is he in his final months as a Raider?
Maurice Moton covers the Raiders for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @MoeMoton.