When you upgrade at quarterback from Garnder Minshew to Geno Smith, and upgrade at running back from Alexander Mattison to Ashton Jeanty — there is good reason to be optimistic about the offense improving drastically from the season prior.
Unfortunately, one NFL analyst isn’t quite convinced about the Las Vegas Raiders‘ offense improving much from their poor 2024 performance with a brutal offensive ranking entering the 2025 NFL season.
PFSN Ranks Raiders 29th Offensively Entering 2025 NFL Season
The offseason additions of a new head coach, new offensive coordinator, new quarterback, and new running back weren’t enough for Kyle Soppe of Pro Football & Sports Network to elevate the Raiders into the top 25 offenses in the league entering the upcoming season.
Soppe wrote, “The Las Vegas Raiders have gotten a little bit of subtle steam this offseason, but we really have no evidence that they are trending in the right direction. In fact, the opposite is true, and while theyâve added talent on offense, I need to see growth before assuming them.”
Soppe’s pessimistic placing of the Raiders’ offense differed from Blecher Reports’ Brent Sobleski, who ranked Las Vegas 22nd on the offensive side of the ball entering the 2025 NFL season soon after the 2025 NFL Draft.
Sobleski wrote, “Smith is a massive upgrade at quarterback, though everyone can quibble over his actual standing among the league’s hierarchy. This year’s fifth overall draft pick, running back Ashton Jeanty, gives the team an identity. Rookie wide receiver Jack Bech should be an instant contributor. Brock Bowers is arguably the best tight end in the game already.”
The Raiders needed to do something drastic at the quarterback position after suffering through a season of Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell, and Desmond Ridder under center in 2024. The addition of Smith should at a bare minimum stabilize the quarterback position for this season.
Smith blossomed during his time as the starting quarterback in Seattle with 12,259 yards and 69 touchdowns over the last three years, which culminated with him throwing for a career-high 4,320 yards in 2024.
This certainly could help both Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers produce at an even higher rate with improved quarterback play in 2025. It will be interesting to see how rookies Jack Bech and Dont’e Thorton fit into the passing game equation in Smith’s first season in Las Vegas.
How Much Will Ashton Jeanty Transform This Offense in 2025?
The addition of Ashton Jeanty shouldn’t be overlooked entering the upcoming NFL season.
Sure, a dynamic rookie running back alone isn’t always enough to completely lift an offense out of purgatory, but Jeanty’s exceptional production and prospect profile means it is within the range of outcomes that he becomes a top 5 running back in the league upon arrival.
New head coach Pete Carroll saw firsthand what a powerful back who excels through contact can do for an offense when Marshawn Lynch was running wild for the Seattle Seahawks over a decade ago.
Additionally, Jeanty has no real competition for touches entering the season, which makes him a strong Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY) candidate in 2025.
If Jeanty bursts onto the scene this year, then this ranking of 29th isn’t likely to age well.
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