So...the Raiders ran their 1st-team offense and defense out there to face the Cardinals 3rd-string offense and 2nd/3rd-string defense...and, well...
The only conclusion I can reach is -- the Raiders are definitely the winners of the award for ‘worst team that I’ve seen in the entire 2025 preseason...among those TRYING’. They have run their 1st-team out all 3 games and they stink every single time, in all facets.
My elevator speech on the Raiders 2025: Terrible O-line. Terrible personnel choices to start/push. One of the worst rosters in the league. Potentially the worst trade in the preseason (trading Jakorian Bennett)...or ‘acquiring Geno Smith’, who looks terrible and arrogant/emboldened here with LV. They can’t get Ashton Jeanty going, which is one-half of their entire offensive plan (Jeanty runs)...the other half is ‘throw everything to Donte Thornton’. Neither plan is working well this preseason.
The Cardinals backup defense handled or toyed with the Raiders here. My confidence in the Cardinals DST leapt to another level watching their B team fly around here. That Cardinals DST is deep with a great schedule.
Player Notes...
-- Raiders RB report...
Another ‘Ashton Jeanty (2-5-0) goes nowhere with a few touches’ event here this week...three of them in a row this preseason. For the entire preseason, he had 12 carries for 37 yards and 1 TD. He did have a 13-yard run in Week 2, aside from that he had 11 carries for 24 rushing yards total.
My four thoughts after watching brief Jeanty work in the preseason:
1) He has talent. He’s not a Kaleb Johnson or Jaydon Blue ‘bust alert’. He looks solid/good.
2) He is human. You think/hope he’d look like a superhero as the consensus #1 DRD pick, but he doesn’t. He just looks ‘fine’/good/promising.
3) No matter how good he really is...he’s gonna have all kinds of issues running behind this bad LV O-Line and offense in general.
4) I really question whether he should be the slam dunk #1 DRD prospect. Only one player, to me, looks like a superhero in the preseason...and that is TreVeyon Henderson...and Cam Ward, I should add.
Kyle Williams had flashes of possible route-running superhero skills, but TreVeyon actually delivered results and had tape that blows you away. Williams got errant targets from backup QBs then got his head rocked and had to leave the preseason early.
The two of the three rookies I just mentioned/highlighted are both Patriots, wow.
Jeanty started, took two carries that went nowhere. Next in the game was Zamir White (9-42-0)...who honestly looks like a better version of Jeanty, and Pete Carroll is saying some nice things about Zamir in our Chalk Talk world. Zamir actually made the team and is sitting #2 on the depth chart. The entire defense doesn’t go into ‘stop the RB mode’ when Zamir comes in, like they do when Jeanty is in.
Raheem Mostert (9-32-0) was in third and played for a while. Why? I do not know. Why is the 33+ year old RB playing a lot of preseason time?
Dylan Laube (4-7-0, 2-7-0/2) was in 4th, and may be better than all the Raiders RBs, considering pass game work, etc.
I am starting to doubt that Jeanty is going to see heavy carries/overused/high volume this season...at least not early on.
-- The Cardinals DST looked good here...the B-team defense did what it should against a bad (1st-team) LV offense.
Reminder: Here’s the Cardinals first 6 QBs to face...Rattler, Bryce, Purdy, Darnold, Ward, Dimes(?). Not bad.
-- Raiders WR report...
As I said earlier, and it’s been true every single LV preseason game...and it’s all they talk about in training camp...the entire LV 1st-team passing game is ‘throw the ball to Donte Thornton (2-26-1/3)’.
Check out these preseason receiver stats for the 1st-team...
Jakobi Meyers 1 catch, 3 targets
Brock Bowers 1 catch, 1 target
Tre Tucker 2 catches, 2 targets
Donte Thornton 3 catches, 8 targets
There’s a case to say: Well, they are just trying to get Thornton more work. Umm, everything in this offense could use ‘more work’...that’s why they kept getting shoved out there to work, the coaches are looking for things to click. They didn’t.
What all this Thornton targeting brings to my mind...
1) It shows Geno Smith is a problem. It’s not just the games; it’s also happening in the camp reports too. This is where Geno Smith wants to go...and it’s a bad idea. Geno should be showing us some pitch & catch with Jakobi Meyers (and Jack Bech). LV needs to be more stable, managed, efficient, quick hitter-ing pass game with their O-Line issues...instead Geno is playing hero ball with Thornton.
2) Donte Thornton cannot run a route to save his life. There’s no reason Geno should be working him at all, except it’s Geno just trying to ‘go deep’...which is a problem when a QB goes deep and is not a meticulous assassin first and saves his ‘go deep’ for the right moments/right WRs.
3) Geno could be/is going to be trouble for Jakobi and Bowers for FF 2025. I’m taking them down in projections even further.
4) Amari Cooper was brought in to work ahead of Tucker or Thornton...or rotate with them. Amari is shot, Thornton is limited, and Tucker is OK but seems to be not in the discussions of things like Thornton is. The whole scene looks bad.
-- The Geno Smith (6-8 for 55 yards, 0 TD/0 INT) crash may be underway. He had that one really nice breakout season in Seattle, then has been OK since. But he is acting very arrogant on and off the field with his play.
If Geno goes down, Pete Carroll is likely to stick by him to the end, and all things FF related suffer all/most of the season.
-- IDP Notes...
Arizona’s green dot starting ILB is Mack Wilson (DNP), and they are raving about him...so, he’s gonna be something to consider for IDP.
Arizona rookie Cody Simon (5 tackles) was trying to make a push to be the green dot starting ILB, but he’ll back up Wilson to start the season. Simon looked good here.
Raiders EDGE Malcolm Koonce (2 tackles, 0.5 sacks) is back from his 2024 missed season injury, and I’ll just say...he does not seem interested in football or is just ‘dumb’. He was aimlessly drifting around the field most snaps I watched him.
