Answering Your Las Vegas Raiders Questions: What's Wrong?

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders have one of the most passionate fan bases in all of the professional sports.

Each week we endeavor to answer the emails and questions that you send us. So let's get right at this week's mailbag:

Mr. Carpenter. Your question-and-answer articles are some of the best Raiders coverage anywhere. So can you please explain why Johnathan Abram was let go? It makes no sense to me. A. Perez

I can explain, but that doesn't mean you will like the answer, but I will try. Johnathan is not the type of player that the Raiders want. It was complicated to ascertain that since they hadn't been around him when they arrived. Abram has all the" God-given" talent you can't teach. Where he lacked was in other areas. They denied the fifth-year option, and Dave Ziegler tried earnestly to trade him, but there were no takers.

People say, "Nobody would give what the Raiders wanted." That is categorically false. They would have taken just about anything, but no one was offering.

One NFL executive told me, "They would have traded him for a ham sandwich, but the things that made the Raiders move on from him, everyone was aware of. With that talent he will get more chances, but no one would pay."

They knew he wouldn't play anymore, so you eat the salary and open a roster spot for someone who fits what you are looking for with the hopes they become part of the long-term solution.

Hondo, can you give me one reason for hope in the long-term vision and plan for my Raiders? Jeff S.

Sure I can. Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels explained in great detail to Mark Davis, before they took the jobs, exactly how they planned to build this franchise to last over the long term. They have not wavered, and they have not taken shortcuts.

To the credit of Mark Davis, he hasn't tried to deviate from that plan to placate loud and angry fans. They all are frustrated, but none of the three is deterred from the goal. They could have hurt the franchise long-term by making dumb moves at the trade deadline to make fans happy, but they didn't. They are thinking and leading long term. I understand the frustration; this isn't the first time the fans have been through this. I also respect the discipline of Ziegler, Davis, and McDaniels, and they believe in what they are doing and staying the course.

Hi Hondo, I think McDaniels has to be given two years; we have to get rid of a lot of dead wood and can't keep blaming the coaches. I think the talent has regressed on both sides of the ball from last season. I have serious question marks over the coaching of all three sides of the ball; however, there are only so many times you can blame the coaches, not the players. What are the top 3 moves the D.Z. could make to change this around with the playing staff? Rossi B.

They have to continue accumulating talent within the scheme they want to play on defense. It isn't just the ability to play football; there is the mental side. This defense, this year, is atrocious. That doesn't make the scheme terrible; it means that they lack what it sufficiently takes to run it. This scheme has won many NFL games, including Super Bowls. In addition, I would evaluate all of my staff. I do not think Patrick Graham is a terrible coach.

But, when Bill Belichick didn't have the players for his scheme, he was fired in Cleveland. If you have proven coaches with an established system, just firing people isn't the answer. Who do you replace them with? The Steelers have a long and SUSTAINED record of success because they believe in their coaches and scheme.

Hondo, I am a neighbor to a current Raider. Please don't use my name, but if you look at (the attachment), it will verify what I am saying as fact. I was led to believe last season; there was some frustration with Darren Waller not playing when others thought he could. Is that there this season as well? (Name Withheld)

I would say that I did hear that last season, but I didn't hear it loud enough to ascertain that the entire organization felt that way. That is why this season, when the crowd noise was clamoring for Waller to get his extension, I thought they should have let the season play out a little bit and wrote and said that his injury history was a concern and a reason to pause. I have not heard that this season, but trust me, I am listening.

Hondo, I trust you just to report the truth. Is Josh McDaniels getting fired at the end of the season? Keith M.

I am grateful for your trust in my reporting. No. Mark Davis believes in the course set by Dave Ziegler, and Josh McDaniels.

Uncle Hondo, what up? I am hearing that Mark Davis is pissed; he is going to fire em' all. What do you think? Q. Burns

He is upset, and so is everyone in the organization.

They should be. If "fire 'em' all" means Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels, the answer is no.

"We should be pissed off, we all are. Losing sucks." -Josh McDaniels
— Hondo Carpenter (@HondoCarpenter) November 7, 2022

Hondo, I like you. I don't understand your devotion to Josh McDaniels. Help me see it; I am depressed this year was wasted, but give me hope, brother. Help me, Hondo-wan-Kenobi; you are my only hope. LOL. T.M. in Oakland

I love the Star Wars shout-out; I had to put it in the Q/A.

Listen, Mark Davis decided to move on last year. He has chose to do that a few times. That is on him. He craves stability. He has opened the checkbook, and he is loyal. Those are all admirable traits that fans should support. Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels have done what I was told by one person close to the situation, "An awesome job of transparency with Mark, keeping him in the loop, and everyone is on the same page as far as the direction of the franchise." On a side note, putting that quote from someone close to the situation in context, they added, "Had Dennis Allen communicated with Mark Davis like Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels do, he would probably still be the coach."

Good morning Hondo. Great job, as usual. What happened to Tre’Von Moehrig and Hunter Renfrow this season? Has to be coaching and scheme. The drop-off has been a real head-scratcher. By the way, it looks like the locker room may have been lost this weekend. Tony

Great question. Moehrig, I plan on talking to Patrick Graham about next week, so stay tuned.

Hunter had a significant injury, and you don't bounce back from those immediately. Plus, he isn't the only guy out there like he was at times in the past.

I am huge on both players, so I commend your question.

What's the issue with the team? Why do they look so indecisive, behind, and out of sync? And why does the press just fumble around the pressers and not ask or challenge McDaniels by asking challenging questions? John S.

John, I respect this question. You asked me what some would perceive as a tough question (I do not), and you did it respectfully. So I won't dodge it; you deserve an honest answer.

First, I do think I ask tough questions. Let me show you the transcript of one I asked of DC Patrick Graham this week:

Q: 15 times teams have had goal-to-go against your defense and scored touchdowns all 15 times. Every game 20 or more points. How do you fix it when it doesn't seem to be improving?

Coach Graham: "Well, I think it starts with, one, we talked about in the red area we don't want them to run the ball in. So, we got to make sure we're preventing that. We got to prevent running the ball in. That's one thing and in terms of just as we move forward, that's what a big part of today is going to be. Again, there's a lot of stuff we got to fix in terms of just getting better at this point in the season. That would be whether the record was 6-2 or 2-6, there's things to work on. And what we're going to do is just work hard to really try to figure out what to do best. Again, just got to keep going through that process right now and just trying to figure out do we got to do something differently down there because it hasn't worked so far. But we'll work through that, and it starts today."

Now, you may not like his answer, but I asked it. I always ask tough questions, but let me use another email I got this week to illustrate my point, please.

Hondo, you fat F@*&, why don't you ask these (women's private part) (feminine hygiene product) bags to do us all a favor and resign. I wish you, the staff, and all the players not named Maxx Crosby could be in an accident. I hate you all. Joel.

I do not blame one fan for being upset, and I also don't think insulting and yelling at people is either productive or professional. Some equate tough questions with being rude, which is not the case.

Secondly, I think that Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler are quality human beings and good at their jobs. I respect both as top-shelf fathers, husbands, and men. Would you believe that based on the 2022 season they are good at their jobs? No, but as mentioned before, you can go back with any legendary coach or player and find a season that wasn't great. Josh and Dave have offered no excuses. Josh takes the blame, as he should, and keeps building.

Do they deserve tough questions? Of course, they do and know that they do and expect them.

My colleagues asked Josh McDaniels about Davante Adam's post-game comments last week. I am sure that was comfortable for McDaniels.

You, as a fan, should expect and demand the media you follow to ask tough, pertinent questions. The Raiders' personnel should also expect and demand the media to be professional.

Lastly, I leave you with this. As media members, we have access that fans only dream of. I understand that. We also see things we are not allowed to talk about, and doing such would give opponents information that would hurt the Raiders. Sometimes we know something that we can't discuss, and to do so would hurt the organization.

If you have a question about your Silver and Black, make sure you email us at SpartanNationMail@yahoo.com and put in the subject line, Raiders Q/A

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