Las Vegas Raiders had their season goose-egg game in a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday. Though some fans cannot stomach another disappointing performance from this club, interim head coach Antonio Pierce and his staff can answer several questions in the remaining four games.
Furthermore, Pierce’s ability to find those answers could bode well for him as a potential head-coaching candidate for the full-time job.
Of course, Pierce must win games to defy the odds and secure the position, but he’ll make some decisions that can significantly impact the results of the team’s remaining matchups.
At 5-8, the Raiders can realistically forget about the playoffs. But if Pierce can find a way to get the most out of several young players and the club finishes the season on a strong note, he would have a chance to hang on to his current role.
We’ll ask five of the biggest questions that the Raiders can answer over the next four weeks and project how the team may dissect each decision.
Related: 5 Las Vegas Raiders QB options in 2024 NFL Draft
Should the Las Vegas Raiders bench Aidan O’Connell for Jimmy Garoppolo?
Despite Aidan O’Connell’s struggles against the Minnesota Vikings, Pierce told reporters that he didn’t consider a quarterback change with Jimmy Garoppolo as the backup.
At a 0-0 stalemate heading into the fourth quarter, the Vikings benched their starting quarterback, Joshua Dobbs, for Nick Mullens, and the move worked out in their favor. Mullens went 9-of-13 for 83 yards and led his team into field-goal range.
The Raiders had five fourth-quarter possessions. They went three-and-out in three of those sequences and turned the ball over on the other two, which included a lateral play out of desperation.
Pierce cannot go back and second guess himself with his decision to stick with O’Connell, but he said the team “will evaluate going forward” when asked about the quarterback situation.
At this point, with the playoffs realistically out of reach, the Raiders should start O’Connell for the remainder of the season.
In games that have no tangible postseason implications for the Raiders, Pierce has no reason to start Garoppolo because the injury-prone signal-caller isn’t part of this team’s future. Meanwhile, O’Connell would get meaningful playing experience as the team’s potential long-term backup quarterback.
Related: Las Vegas Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell’s standing among NFL starting quarterbacks
Why not give Scott Turner play-calling duties?
The Raiders’ offense has hit rock bottom. For the first time in franchise history, they scored zero points coming out of a bye week.
Las Vegas’ scoring woes cannot get any worse, but Pierce, who’s still in the running for the head-coaching job, can make a play-calling change to spark the offense.
On staff, the Raiders have an experienced play-caller in Scott Turner, who served as the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator between the 2020 and 2022 campaigns. In that period, Washington ranked 20th or worse in yards and scoring, but that’s a little better than the Raiders’ 28th-ranked scoring offense, which is racking up the fourth-fewest yards per game.
Pierce can also put together a collaborative play-calling approach with wide receivers coach and former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett involved in running the offense. Bennett is by far the most experienced offensive coach on staff with 31 years under his belt.
Since the Raiders beat the New York Giants 30-6 in Week 9, they haven’t scored more than 17 points in a game. They’re likely still running former head coach Josh McDaniels’ broken system, but Pierce can try to shake things up with an offensive coordinator who has more experience at the position than Bo Hardegree.
Is it time to shut down Maxx Crosby and Josh Jacobs?
Maxx Crosby has been playing through a knee injury, and Josh Jacobs suffered a lower leg injury in the team’s 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. In place of Jacobs, Zamir White logged two carries for eight yards late in the contest.
Las Vegas has listed Jacobs with a quad injury on its practice report, which means we might see more of White against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday.
From Pierce’s perspective, he should want Crosby and Jacobs on the field because it gives the Raiders a better chance to win games and victories would bolster his head-coaching candidacy in the offseason.
However, the coaching staff should be careful with Crosby, who’s a roster cornerstone player. At 5-8, the Raiders must be mindful of allowing Crosby to risk further injury, which may keep him out for an extended period.
At the very least, the Raiders should dial back Crosby’s workload. He’s playing 97 percent of the defensive snaps.
Of course, Crosby will push to play at full capacity; he’s yet to miss a game in five seasons. However, the team must think about the short-term future in another probable non-winning season without a playoff berth.
Jacobs’ future with the team looks cloudy. Remember, he’s set to hit the free-agent market in the 2024 offseason. Jacobs plays a position that’s much lower than Crosby’s in roster-building priorities. The team may keep its star running back on the field in what could be the final weeks of his career as a Raider.
Related: Las Vegas Raiders standing in Sportsnaut’s NFL defense rankings
Is Tyree Wilson best suited for a hybrid tackle-end role?
Last Sunday, Tyree Wilson took several snaps in the B-gap, which is something the team had done in spots against the Miami Dolphins in Week 11. Against the Vikings, he logged 10 snaps outside the tackle as an edge-rusher and 10 snaps as a defensive tackle, per Pro Football Focus.
Some would argue that Wilson had his best pro game last week. If the coaching staff agrees, we could see Wilson continue to line up on the interior as a defensive tackle and generate pressure between the opposing team’s guards.
The Raiders should do everything possible to help Wilson develop into a playmaker up front. They drafted him with the No. 7 overall pick this year. He could become a roster building block for the long-term future.
Keep in mind that Wilson’s presence at defensive tackle would likely tamper down the urgency for the coaching staff to insert rookie defensive linemen Byron Young (third-rounder) and Nesta Jade Silvera (seventh-rounder) into the interior rotation unless Adam Butler, John Jenkins and Jerry Tillery see a reduction in snaps.
Young and Silvera have been healthy inactives for most of the season. Young hasn’t played a down since Week 7, and we haven’t seen Silvera on the field since Week 9.
Can Jack Jones play his way into a starting position beyond 2023?
Last Sunday, cornerback Jack Jones played a season-high 83 percent of the defensive snaps. He had a mixed-bag performance against the Vikings, allowing seven completions out of nine targets for 50 yards, which equated to an 89.8 passer rating allowed, per Pro Football Focus.
Jones committed an illegal contact penalty, which gifted the Vikings with a third-down conversion, and he also missed three tackles, per PFF.
As a rookie, Jones flashed starting potential with the New England Patriots, logging six pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble in 13 starts. This year, he fell out of favor with the Patriots, and they released him, which allowed the Raiders to make the claim off waivers.
Two weeks ago, Las Vegas released cornerback Marcus Peters, and now Jones has an opportunity to work his way into the team’s future plans as a long-term starter.
We must take into account that cornerback Amik Robertson is set to hit free agency in 2024, and he’s coming off arguably his best year, allowing a 52.7 passer rating in coverage in 13 games (eight starts). If the Raiders allow him to hit the open market, they could have some competition for his services.
If Robertson goes elsewhere, Las Vegas may have to fill both of its boundary cornerback spots next offseason. Assuming Nate Hobbs remains in the slot, Jones could compete with rookie fourth-rounder Jakorian Bennett for one of the perimeter positions. He’s under contract with the Raiders through the 2025 season.
Maurice Moton covers the Las Vegas Raiders for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @MoeMoton.