With a 2-7 record, in last place in the AFC West with the playoffs effectively out of the picture for the fourth year in a row, and eighth in the last nine, the Las Vegas Raiders season is not turning out the way they planned it when they took on legendary future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady as a minority owner, and hired another likely Hall of Famer, Pete Carroll, as head coach.
Obviously, there are a multitude of reasons why any season turns out to be a failure. But in the Raiders’ case fingers are pointing at the quarterback, 35-year-old Geno Smith, who followed Carroll to the Raiders from the Seattle Seahawks thanks to an offseason trade.
“On paper, the move gave Las Vegas the best quarterback in years. However, nine games into the regular season, it is evident the move did not work out,” wrote SI.com analyst Ezekiel Trezevant following the Raiders drab 10-7 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 10. “Smith has played a significant role in the team’s struggles, although he was brought in to help eliminate many of those same struggles. The Raiders have once again fallen victim to an high-paid veteran quarterback on the back end of his career.”
Smith Called ‘Costly Mistake
Case Keefer of the Las Vegas Sun called the acquisition of Smith “a costly mistake.”
“After the Raiders restructured his contract to allow for a bigger bonus with a smaller cap hit, Smith ranks as the NFLâs sixth highest-paid player with a $40 million salary this season,” Keefer wrote before the dispiriting Denver defeat. “Smith has responded by being the No. 32 ranked quarterback in the league by expected points added (EPA) per play among those who have taken 100 snaps.”
After nine games, Smith has thrown 12 interceptions, already the fourth-highest total of his 12-year career, and the Raiders still have eight games to play. His passer rating of 81.4 is down from 93.2 last year, his final season in Seattle, and 100.9 just two years before that.
Prediction Sees Raiders Get Oregon Star
There doesn’t seem to be anything the Raiders can do about Smith this season, short of benching him in favor of back Kenny Pickett, a Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft pick in 2022 who never lived up to his promise.
But next season, according to new mock draft published Thursday by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Raiders are predicted to take the Oregon quarterback who no less an authoritative source than Kansas City Chiefs three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes has called “my favorite quarterback to watch in college.”
That would be the Ducks’ third-year sophomore signal-caller Dante Moore, who in his first full season as a starter has so far led Oregon to an 8-1 record and No. 7 ranking in the AP poll.
Moore Called ‘Breakout Player’
Completing 158 of his 224 pass attempts, the 6-foot-3, 206-pound Moore is ranked No. 2 among quarterbacks eligible for the 2026 draft by the scouting site NFL Draft Buzz, with an overall player rating off 88.9 on a scale of 100.
“Moore has been another breakout player at the quarterback position this year,” wrote the Plain Dealer‘s Tim Bielik. “He has mobility, tremendous poise and can make things look effortless. Moore may be inexperienced, but his tools make him an intriguing option for a Raiders team that hasnât gotten good play out of Geno Smith this season.”
Bielik sees the Raiders picking sixth, and taking Moore as the third of three straight quarterbacks taken. According to Bielik’s predictions, the Cleveland Browns will take Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza with the fourth pick in Round One, followed by Alabama’s Ty Simpson who goes to the New York Jets.
As of this week, the Raiders do in fact occupy the No. 6 draft slot.
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