Chip Kelly Shares Honest Assessment on How Raiders OL Impacts Offense

LAS VEGAS, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders' offense has struggled the entire season. For the unit to struggle after the resources Las Vegas' front office poured into the unit over the offseason, makes this season a failure for the Silver and Black. However, there is still time to turn things around.

For a short period of time in nearly every game, the Raiders' offense shows glimmers of hope and potential. Then, the reality of the offensive line they trot onto the field on a weekly basis quickly dashes those glimmers, and the Raiders fall too far behind for their offense to recover from.

Las Vegas Raiders OC Chip Kelly | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Rinse, wash, repeat.

Raiders' Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly must find a way to make the most out of what he has. It was no secret the Raiders had a bottom tier roster when he accepted more money than any other offensive coordinator in the league.

Watch Kelly Discuss Below

For a partial transcription of his comments, read below.

Q: How much right now is the offensive line impacting play calling?

Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly: "I don't ever look at it that way. I look at it as who's available and then what's the best way to put those guys in situations where they can make plays. But to ask guys to do something that they can't do isn't smart either. That's just where are you? If you say, 'Hey, we should be a really big zone read team.' Well, if your quarterback can't run, then you shouldn't be a zone read team. Is it a good play?

“That's a great play. But I think it's always your offense is catered to who your personnel is, and then who their personnel is in this league switches on a weekly basis. You could be strong at one point in time up the middle, and then all of a sudden, with a couple injuries, you're not.

Nov 17, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) runs with the ball against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“So, it's just how you adapt and adjust. And it's the same thing for everybody. There's nobody in the league right now that doesn't have guys out, and you've just got to kind of have to deal with it. So, it's always based upon who's available, really, that week, both as you try to implement a plan and what do they have? You can say, 'Hey, we think we're going to run the heck out of the ball this week.' Well, that's the best thing they do, but they're last in the league in pass defense.

“So, maybe you have to flip your philosophy a little bit that way in terms of because they're banged up. They have three or four kids in the secondary out, but their D-line is outstanding. So, how do we take advantage of it that way? So, I think it's on a weekly basis in this league, especially, it can morph and change all the time."

Q: How would you assess how the offensive line played last game?

Coach Kelly: "They battled. I think when you go against Quinnen Williams and Kenny [Clark] and Osa [Odighizuwa], those are three of the better defensive tackles all on the same team, so they attract a lot of attention in there, and then that leaves your tackles by themselves a little bit.

So, they battled as well as they could have, and they competed. But obviously there's a reason they traded a first and a second for Quinnen, you could tell that immediately when you saw him on the field. And then obviously you traded Micah Parsons for Kenny Clark.

“And Kenny's a really good player. And then obviously Osa's a really good player, and I know him very well because I coached him in college. So, that's just part of the deal in this league. Some teams are stronger up the middle, some teams are stronger on the edges. It really just depends on who you're facing. But they're battling and playing as hard as they can. And that's the one thing that you ask from all your players, is, what type of effort are you playing with? And they're playing with great effort right now."

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