The Las Vegas Raiders had to insert Kenny Pickett at quarterback in Week 14 after Geno Smith left the game due to injury. He looked decent in limited drives, but many wanted to see him get a chance to start.
Smith hasn’t been able to practice all week due to a shoulder injury, and the Raiders have made a decision. Head coach Pete Carroll announced on Friday that Smith will not be playing against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15.
“Geno won’t make it back. He tried,” Carroll said. “Couldn’t get it done in this amount of time. Have a really good chance to be back next week, so Kenny’s going to take the lead.”
He also revealed that Pickett will be the starter. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, considering Pickett has been taking first-team reps at practice all week. The Raiders are 2-11 and out of the playoff race, so there’s no reason to put out a hobbled Smith.
Smith is having a rough season, and there have been calls to bench him for weeks. The Raiders haven’t benched the veteran, but now they’ll be able to see what Pickett can do.
If he plays well, it’s going to be tough for Smith to get back on the field. Pickett is going against his former team, so he should have plenty of motivation to put up some numbers. It’ll be interesting to see what the Raiders do if Pickett outplays Smith.
Carroll Has Been Impressed With Pickett
Pickett is a former first-round pick who has started in 25 career games, so the Raiders could be far worse off at quarterback. With Smith playing as poorly as he has been, this could actually be an upgrade for the team.
Carroll is still loyal to Smith, but he likes what he’s seen from Pickett in practice this week.
“He’s done everything we could ask of him,” Carroll said. “He had an excellent week. He’s in command of what we’re doing, communications are good and all that. Got a little East Coast in him, so that won’t hurt. We’ll support him in every way that we can to have a good game.
Can Raiders Upset Eagles?
The Raiders and Pickett are catching the Eagles at a great time. They’re on a three-game losing streak, and tensions appear to be rising. They are vulnerable right now, even against arguably the worst team in the NFL.
At the same time, it does the Raiders no good to win. They’ll drop far in the 2026 NFL Draft order with a win in Week 15. Pickett hasn’t had many chances to play the last two seasons, so there’s a chance he’s improved over what we saw when he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
If that’s the case, the Raiders might come away with a win. While many want the team to get the No. 1 pick to draft a quarterback, perhaps there’s a chance Pickett could have a similar career arc to Smith, Daniel Jones or Sam Darnold. The Raiders have so many other needs, so it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have some flexibility to use their first-round pick on another position.
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