Lowly Raiders need to place an emphasis on developing young players down the stretch of another lost season

Before the NFL’s trade deadline on November 4, a reporter asked Pete Carroll if the Raiders would be willing to minimize the interests of this season in hopes of building for the future if such a deal presented itself.

It was a harmless, common question that should be expected for the coach of any underperforming team, but Carroll didn’t seem to take it that way. He responded as if he was offended by the whole premise.

“I’m not thinking that way,” he said. “It never comes to my mind at all. We’re trying to get better ongoing, right now.”

It was a misguided answer—a textbook quote about juggling the present and future would have sufficed—with the Raiders sitting at 2-6 going into a game at the Broncos at the time. After losing to Denver 10-7 on November 6 to fall further back in the standings, the philosophy sounds even more ridiculous. 

The Raiders aren’t going anywhere this season.

Carroll’s first squad has been worse than the hard-to-watch teams of the past two years that got the previous two coaches, Antonio Pierce and Josh McDaniels, fired.

It’s another lost season for the Silver and Black, and more defeats aren’t the thing that could make it worse over the second half of the year.

The worst-case scenario for the Raiders is if Carroll continues to stubbornly stick to his mission to compete for wins at all costs at the detriment of developing young players.

The win-now versus build-for-the-future debate was always going to be the central push-pull theme of the Raiders’ season. It was inescapable once the franchise made the 74-year-old Carroll the oldest coach in NFL history, someone who inherently doesn’t have the patience for a rebuild.

But it’s gone worse than expected.

Carroll spent all offseason promising he’s open to playing rookies but has so far contradicted
that philosophy.

A new coach-general manager duo like Carroll and John Spytek typically like to feature their first NFL Draft class heavily to set a new culture, but the Raiders’ 2025 group can barely get on the field.

Las Vegas had a highly-touted class of 11 drafted rookies, but arguably only one of them has eclipsed expectations—third-round cornerback Darien Porter. The Iowa State product has been a special teams ace and shown big promise in limited snaps on defense. But he’s only made three starts, including in each of the last two games before getting benched against the Broncos, with Carroll and company appearing reluctant to endure any rookie growing pains.

No. 6 overall draft pick Ashton Jeanty has been solid, but there’s a higher bar after becoming the NFL’s highest running back selected in seven years. Given positional value, the Raiders needed Jeanty to immediately emerge as one of the best running backs in the NFL to justify his draft slot.

Even his biggest supporters would have a difficult time making that case as he’s 36th in the NFL at 3.6 yards per carry—albeit behind a horrendous run-blocking offensive line—and a work in progress in other areas.

Jeanty has weekly lowlights in pass protection to the point where the Raiders have occasionally taken him off the field in crucial situations. Against the Broncos, a pass bounced off his hands and turned into an interception.

But at least he’s playing and producing, for the most part. That’s more than can be said for second-round wide receiver Jack Bech, who got only nine snaps against the Broncos despite the team trading disgruntled veteran starter Jakobi Meyers a few days before.

A midseason Tennessee Titans castoff and longtime Carroll acolyte, 33-year-old Tyler Lockett, primarily took over Meyers’ workload.

Lockett might be slightly better at the moment but players like Bech and third-round receiver Dont’e Thornton are needier for work to bank the experience that can help them grow.

In fairness, Thornton has gotten plenty of opportunities and just hasn’t made the most of them. He dropped a perfectly thrown deep ball from quarterback Geno Smith before halftime against the Broncos that could have changed the whole game.

“I’m frustrated about it, but I know for sure I’m going to get better from that,” Thornton said. “Having that happen is even more reason for why I need to be better and not get complacent with everything.”

Similar to the receiver situation, the Raiders didn’t turn to rookies when they suddenly had a vacancy on the offensive line against the Broncos.

Both starting guards, Jackson Powers-Johnson and Dylan Parham, left with injuries. The team turned to longtime Spytek favorite Alex Cappa and former undrafted practice squad player Will Compton to fill in.

Compton is only in his second year so his inclusion fits with the youth theme, but Raiders’ fans should be more eager to see third-round pick guard Caleb Rogers (who was inactive and hasn’t gotten a snap all year) or fourth-round tackle Charles Grant (who can also play guard and has one snap all year).

Maybe Las Vegas just completely struck out on this draft class—much different than one-and-done general manager Tom Telesco managed a year ago when he built the franchise’s best collection of rookies in years—but standard operating procedure in the NFL would be to make sure by putting them on the field. 

The Raiders are in desperate need of a long-term vision, but Carroll doesn’t express much interest in that. He might have an aversion to the idea and, if that doesn’t change, it’s going to hold the team back more than losses piling up.