3 Urgent Problems Klint Kubiak Has to Solve for the Raiders Right Now

HENDERSON, Nev.—The hard part is over. The Las Vegas Raiders have hired their man, Klint Kubiak, to be the field general to lead them back to glory.

But that doesn’t mean the rest is easy; in fact, it could prove to be equally as difficult.

Here are three major issues that Klint Kubiak has to address immediately to make sure that his tenure in Las Vegas gets off the ground soundly.

Assembling His Staff

Everything rises and falls on leadership, in every area of life. It is no different with an NFL franchise.

Klint Kubiak has had in mind the people that he wants, but now he has to see if the Silver and Black can lead them. Most certainly, some of them work for other teams, and if the moves are lateral, they can stymie Kubiak’s plans.

But make no mistake, he knows who he wants.

Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Las Vegas Raiders On SI asked him about it yesterday.

“Definitely have a list of candidates that we're going through right now. And we're going to be working hand in hand on coaches, on the roster, everything. That’s part of us being successful, is us working together.”

When you are an offensive savant, as Klint Kubiak is, you have to move even quicker on the defensive side of the ball and identify who will lead on that side. Something he didn’t shy away from.

Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

“…we're identifying candidates and going to be contacting guys and bringing them in, but I think whoever that that coach is, it'll be really important that we establish a style of play, a physical style of play, and that's offense and defense. So, I'm just way more worried about how our guys play than opposed to the X's and O's of it all. That's part of our job as coaches is to scheme guys and help them be put in the best positions, but I want to make sure that we have a DC that is coaching effort first and technique, and the guy that's going to rip into somebody if they're not finishing at practice, because that's what helps you win in February. It's not the X's and O's, they've got 17 games of tape on you. It's about how hard your guys play."

Once his staff is in place, they can move from conceptually shaping an identity to fully realizing it, in all its nuances.

Roster Evaluation

The next big key is within the scope of what they want to do; Kubiak has to look at the current roster and identify who fits and who doesn’t. Some will be very easy, while others will be immensely difficult. A player may be a very good player and have trade value, but not for the scheme, or even schemes that Kubiak covets.

He discussed roster development and offered keen insights.

"Whether it's a rebuild, whether you're on a returning roster with Super Bowl aspirations, to me, the work doesn't change, preparation doesn't change. Every team next year is going to start off undefeated at 0-0, so to me it doesn't change much. Obviously, it's what you identify your team needs in the offseason, player acquisition wise, and then once April 15 starts, we're all on the same plane."

Las Vegas Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Kubiak loves to run the football, and last year’s number one selection, Ashton Jeanty, is a terrific running back. He is an example of one player Kubiak won’t waste any time evaluating. He loves him.

"Very excited about his skill set and what he brings. I've got a lot of tape to catch up on, dude, but I saw you play a lot of snaps at Boise. Very excited about his talent. But the thing I would tell him and all his teammates is that it's not just about one guy. We've got to get the line on the same page, we've got to get our quarterback to get the right run checks. We've got to get our receivers to go block for him so that we can get the play action going. But as soon as our players can realize that it's a team thing, it's not an individual thing, we're going to be successful. I know we have those type of guys in our building right now."

Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Another key player in the Kubiak scheme is superstar TE Brock Bowers, and it was easily visible the excitement the Raiders' new leader has to coach this young talent.

"Brock [Bowers] has already put it on tape from Georgia to his first couple years here in the league. He can be one of the best receivers in the NFL, not just receiving tight ends. So, looking forward to working with him and continue to build on his skill set. Really impressive player."

Las Vegas Raiders Brock Bowers | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Free Agency & the NFL Draft

The Raiders are flush with cash, I expect their cap space to end up well over $100 million dollars, and they hold the number one overall pick, and of course high picks in each subsequent round.

Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Once Kubiak gets his staff together and finishes his roster evaluations, he has to get to work on the NFL Draft (outside of QB Fernando Mendoza at number one) and, of course, free agency. Something that isn’t intimidating him at all, in fact, it was a big part of his picking the Raiders.

"Well, I think just the resources that the Raiders have, this building, obviously having cap space, having the first pick. Those all go into the decision, and as far as who the first pick is going to be, we've got a lot of tape to watch before we determine who that's going to be, but I'm excited to get into that process. "

"But yeah, kind of going back to the last two questions, there's just a lot to love about this organization. You look around this building and the resources that we have, our meal room, the weight room, the fields outside, the coaches offices, it's as good as it gets in the NFL. Been in a lot of buildings for good reasons and bad reasons, been hired and fired, and the resources are here. We've just got to go put it all together."

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