What Is at Stake for the Raiders This Season?

The Las Vegas Raiders have spent the offseason addressing many long-standing issues, including their recent shortcomings at the head coach and quarterback positions.

Gilberto Manzano of Sports Illustrated believes building chemistry when Geno Smith under center is at stake this season.

"After playing QB musical chairs for a few years, the Raiders went all in to acquire Geno Smith. He made the most of the opportunity Carroll gave him with the Seattle Seahawks in 2022 when many believed Smith would fail as Russell Wilson’s replacement," Manzano said.

"Smith, who bounced around after flaming out with the New York Jets nearly a decade ago, turned into a solid starter in Seattle, displaying a strong command of the offense and emerging as one of the most accurate signal-callers in the league."

Manzano noted that while Smith has undoubtedly upgraded the Raiders' quarterback position, he still has room for improvement after joining the Raiders earlier this offseason.

"However, Smith had his limitations in three years as the [Seattle] Seahawks’ starter, with zero division titles and reaching the postseason only once, a blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of the 2022 playoffs," Manzano said.

"Smith will probably never reach elite status and might be more of an average quarterback, but the Raiders would gladly take the results he has had the past three seasons. He guided the Seahawks to two 9–8 finishes and led them to a 10–7 record last year. The Raiders have reached nine wins only once in the past eight seasons."

Following Organized Team Activities, Smith noted that he is doing his best to improve this offseason. Since he and every player on the Raiders offense is learning a new scheme under Raiders Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly, Smith knows how critical this offseason will be to he and his teammates.

"Yeah, it's get better every day. Get better every single day. I don't look too far into the future. I just focus on what's in front of me, and right now, we had a great practice today. I thought we did a lot of great things," Smith said.

"And I think we're moving in the right direction, but it's about consistent effort, and it's a daily thing. I think if you can consistently make the right decisions, eventually you end up in the right spot. So for me, it's just focusing on the day to day. And I don't really get too far ahead of that."

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