Raiders' New Coaching Staff: Building a Championship Team

 summary

Raider Wil discusses the Raiders' coaching staff upgrades, player trade rumors, draft strategies, and the importance of patience with young players like Fernando Mendoza. He emphasizes the team's positive direction and the significance of strategic decisions in building a winning roster.

Raiders coaching staff upgrades
Trade rumors surrounding Max Crosby
Draft strategy and player evaluation
Patience with rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza
Team building and strategic decisions
Chapters

00:00 Exciting Times for Raider Nation
02:00 Coaching Staff Overhaul
10:23 Max Crosby Trade Rumors
25:39 Draft and Combine Insights
31:51 The Draft: A Turning Point for the Raiders
35:03 The Importance of Patience in Team Development
41:56 Evaluating Fernando Mendoza: Game Changer or Game Manager?
49:15 The Role of Support and Expectations for Rookies
55:34 Looking Ahead: Future Prospects and Team Strategy

Transcript

Raider Wil (00:02.2)
What is good? What is good, baby? It's your boy Raider Will with the Silver and Black Radio Podcast. Y'all know what it is, baby. Hey, Clint Kubiak out here loading up the roster, getting his coaches ready, getting Raider Nation excited. Yo, lots of big things happening this week since last Thursday. Stay tuned. Let's go, baby.

Raider Wil (01:02.09)
What is good? What is good, baby? It's your boy Raider Will with the Silver and Black Radio podcast. And y'all already know what it is, man. Clint Kubiak loading up, loading up the roster for coaches, man. An exciting time for Raider Nation. Hey, today, man, you got just me. So if you're in the chat, man, let me know that you're in the chat. Let me know that you're with me. Hey, let's make this an exciting time. Yo, let's go Raiders.

But hey, as y'all know maybe, yo, this week we're talking about the roster. I got my boy Chewie in the building. Salute, salute, salute, baby. I appreciate you, big dog. Yo, let's talk about the coaches. Everybody was talking about Kubiak, right? Said, hey, who was he gonna bring on? Who's gonna be his coaches? we got our boy Sisko in the building. What is good? What is good, baby? What is cracking? We got our boy Big Luck in the building.

What is cracking? Yo, hey guys, as you guys know, yo, everybody was asking, we got Alex9591, salute, salute, salute, salute, hey man, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it, the chat is active, the chat is in the building. Yo, everybody was asking, Kubiak, who's he gonna bring? Is he gonna bring a legitimate staff? Are we gonna have guys in there that are gonna get the job done?

And has Kubiak answered that question for Raider Nation, man? Andrew Janukko coming in, he's going to be the offensive coordinator. We all know that he has traveled with Kubiak at every stop. He went with the Saints. He went to the Seahawks. He's an experienced guy. He was the quarterback's coach. He came in here. He knows his system. He gots a guy that is experienced, a guy that is hot. Then we go to defensive coordinator. We got our boy, man.

Robbie Leonard!

Raider Wil (03:01.271)
Hey, finally, you know what? You look at it. Robbie Leonard gets hired. What up, Eric? What's cracking, baby? Yes, sir. Staff is looking legit, baby. We are looking legit. Hey, Robbie Leonard finally gets an opportunity, guys. We finally see our coaches getting promoted, getting the opportunity that they need. And we're not letting them go anywhere else. We're not saying, hey, man, go over there, get your opportunity and go shine. No.

The Raider said, hey, Robbie Leonard, we're gonna give you the opportunity. I get it. Everybody was saying, well, we need an experienced DC. We need a guy that's gonna go in there and already knows what he's doing. We don't need a bunch of rookie coaches. Guys, he went out there and got the best that he could, and I'm telling you the best that he could. Robbie Leonard is an absolute stud. Andrew Gianocco, an absolute stud. And then what does he do?

He goes and gets it experienced guys and puts them all around these young guys that are talented. He is suiting and booting our coaching staff and giving them the ability to do things to grow into their positions, man. We go and we get Rick Dennison, offensive line coach, a guy that's been in the league 20 years, 20 years. Hey, it's a lot better than what we had with Brennan Carroll. I will tell you that much.

With Brendan Carroll, we had a guy that was inexperienced, a guy that didn't know what he was doing, a guy that we literally can call a fail.

Raider Wil (04:36.129)
Nobody wants to see a Brendan Carroll come back into this situation with inexperienced coaches. So what do we do, man? We get an offensive guru, rec denison, a guy that's been around the block. Hey, we're also looking at guy from the Vikings to come over and be a quarterbacks coach. That's experience. mean, like guys, we're doing all the right things. When we go to the defensive side of the ball, we got Woods who we retained. He's been passing game coordinator.

Now we're bringing the guy hold on. Let me get you guys some accurate names here. Hey, we also got Travis Smith, defensive line coach that we brought over from the Titans. And let me tell you, man, the Titans are pissed off. They wanted to keep this coach. They thought that this guy was a legitimate coach. Big luck. You absolutely correct, baby. Hey, right now, if we had Brennan Carroll, you would have.

the freaking GM going in and giving classes on the offensive line. He wouldn't understand what to do, how to explain this, how to run this. Guys, this is the whole thing, right? When we talk about not having experienced coaches, when we talk about not having guys in the right spots, Kubiak is trying to do that. Kubiak is sitting there going and analyzing the whole situation and getting us the best solution for our problems, man. Rick Denison is an absolute beast.

Everywhere that he's gone. He's had success He's shown that he can do it and with 20 years of experience 20 years Not a rookie. Are you gonna tell me that this team is not gonna be prepared? This team will absolutely be prepared with every little single detail They will know what to do who to block where to go. Hey, that's what we're talking about right now Yes, Rick Denison is an absolute beast man. He is a 20 year freakin

senior on this league. The Titans dude is an absolute beast. That is correct. Man, I'd be like, if you look at it, Kubiak is going out there and making these selections, man. And people are going, hey, these are legit. Like, if you look and talk to all the analysts, or listen to all the analysts, listen to all the podcasts that are going out, everything like that, man, everybody's talking about what a great job Kubiak is doing. What a great job the

Raider Wil (07:01.953)
Guys that he's bringing, they're qualified. They're guys that are gonna come in here and do a solid job. Absolutely, Paul, you ain't lying, baby. They are putting down a legitimate staff out there. We are putting down roots. We are putting down a future for this team. And Raider Nation, if you're not excited about that, I don't know what's gonna make you excited. Because last year, yeah, we went out there and I brought all the Kool-Aid.

Don't get me wrong, man, everybody I thought, said, hey, Pete Carroll, he's got that championship pedigree, he has this, he has that. Great, but was he the prime candidate? No, Kubiak was always the prime candidate, man, this year. And you know what we finally got to do? We got the bag, we got the guy and he's filling it out and it's looking beautiful. I'm hoping, I'm telling you guys right now, I'm hoping that Max Crosby is paying attention.

to what the Raiders are doing. Because this year, I really do feel, that we have a future. We have a lot of young coaches. We have creativity. We have a lot of guys that are going to go out there and give 100 % of what they got in order for the players to excel and grow. So again, I'll go back to other coaches now, So now we're looking at a Zach Zini. We brought him over from the wide receivers coach from the Steelers. If you guys look at this young man,

He has been all over the place. He's known as an enforcer. He's known as a guy that's going to go in there, put no bullshit. He was with the Steelers when Pickens was there. He didn't deal with Pickens's issues. Obviously, you saw Pickens get shipped. Now, is Pickens a great talent? Obviously. But he's not going to deal with any of the issues that we got at wide receiver. So here we go. Hey, you're absolutely correct. I'm going to get to the chat right now.

Alex, these hires are absolutely setting us up for Mendoza. When you're talking about the experience that we're bringing in at all these key positions, especially offensively, this is gonna be a very quarterback friendly offense. A team that is experienced in all the right spots in order for him to be successful.

Raider Wil (09:25.087)
If they bring in the quarterback's coach, I think it's from the Vikings, I forget his name off the top of my head. But we're looking at having a really experienced staff where he can come in, he knows the system. But if you really look at it, man, let's really look at it. Kubiak is putting in key guys in key positions in order for him to have success. We're going to have a successful quarterback for the first time, not just out there by himself.

trying to make it happen. We're going to have a whole team that is going to give us the ability to make it. And a Paul. I'm there with you. I'm excited. I definitely see as buying a veteran offensive line to protect Fernando. If that's the way that the Raiders want to move and that's the way that everybody is predicting that we have to move, Paul, I 100 % agree with you that we have to protect Fernando Mendoza. We have to look at that.

and address the offensive line. A lot of people are saying, hey, we're going to back up the Brinks truck to Tyler Lindemann. Tyler Lindemann is the center for the Ravens. One, because if you listen to what Kubiak has said, you need an intelligent, intelligent center in order to run his offense, in order to be successful in the West Coast offense, because he alleviates a lot of the stress from the quarterback.

by having the center make all the line calls, make all the adjustments. That is a huge, huge thing. Salute, Johnny. Salute, John. Salute, salute, salute, baby. Thank you for stopping by, man. Thank you for showing love. I appreciate the support, brother. But guys, like I keep saying, every single move that we've seen on this coaching staff is definitely a move that we see happening for success. Defensively, right? We got Robbie Leonard.

We got now we got the safety's coach. We got Matt Robinson. We got the defensive line coach Travis Smith. And from what I heard, we're going to get another experienced linebackers coach. I don't know if that's secured yet, so I don't want to announce it yet. But guys, when you're talking about that's right, that's Solomon. So I think it was announced he's going to be the linebackers coach. He actually was the guy that Robbie Leonard got hired. So when you look at all this guys.

Raider Wil (11:47.854)
We're hiring experienced position coaches, position coaches that are worth their salt, position coaches that can go in there and tell Max Crosby, hey man, I'm going to come in here and make you better. I got the experience to make you better. And if you look at it at every single position, even though we got a rookie defensive play caller, you're going to have senior coaches at every position in order to back them up. Guys, that's a great combination to have.

I know a lot of us are not coaches. know a lot of us don't have the experience to go out there and make those calls. But when you have that, you have a lot of back, like support, man. You have a lot of backup. You have guys out there that you're looking at and you're saying, man, hey, can I make this play call? As a rookie play caller, there's a lot of situations that happen that you need that reliable guy. And if

Looking at the way that the Raiders have built the staff. There's plenty, plenty of experience at the position coach positions to give that experience back to give that to the coaches. And let's see here we got Paul man. Thank you brother for being active. It says let glazen Forsyth walk. Sign Linden bug and go pro bowl offensive guard from the Browns who is the free agent. And he says Max is it going?

Anywhere, baby.

And I believe it, man. I'm gonna tell you right now. We'll get into that later. We'll get into the Max Crosby talk. It's crazy, man, because we were talking about it on the podcast on Tuesday. And on Tuesday, man, we kind of like have the group thing. This is kind of my first one on one with you all. So I appreciate you all stopping by. I know that this isn't kind of my thing. I usually have Cisco or Paul. I hope to have you on the show here soon, man, whenever you can. You know, I always have a co-pilot. But yo.

Raider Wil (13:48.856)
When we look at this, man, let's, I just got done talking about the coaches. I want you guys to let me know in the chat what you guys think about the coaches, what Kubiak has done, what you guys feel this year. Is there any difference? Is there something that you guys see or don't feel that you guys think we need to fill in? Let me know in the chat, man. I'm gonna move on. Hey, let's talk about this Max Crosby situation. All right. And hey, Paul, I love it.

I love what you just said, bro. He ain't going nowhere. Guys, can we stop the noise? Can we just really stop this, I feel like this every year.

Raider Wil (14:31.083)
Journalists are saying that we're selling Max Crosby in aisle six. So please send us all your trades. Yo, this is an impossible move. Guys, can we stop the madness? We are not trading Max Crosby. Max Crosby is not going anywhere. Big Gluck says, it's definitely an upgrade everywhere. Absolutely, brother. We are upgraded. Guys, the only position that I can really think about that we

did not upgrade or say, hey, we got a guy that was experienced was head coach. Pete Carroll was the only guy and Pete Carroll really was at the back end of his career. He was 100 years old.

I mean, like at the end of the day, when we're talking about upgrade, we're upgrading at every position. Kubiak, young head coach, upgrade. Robbie Leonard, young defensive mind, upgrade. Andrew Gianocco, offensive coordinator, upgrade. Guys, all these guys are upgrades. Every single one.

You can't tell me that a previous coach from the previous regime is not.

better than or worse than any these coaches, man. They're all worse. Every single one. You can't tell me that there's a coach that was in this previous regime that was worth their salt. And if there is, I want you guys to put it in the chat, man. I want you guys to tell me who it was that was worth their salt besides Robbie Leonard because we obviously kept them and we kept the coaches that were worth their salt and they're still here.

Raider Wil (16:17.429)
So hey, like I said, we're upgrading everywhere. But the Max Crosby situation, right? Like I said, I feel like every single year, the journalists go out there and say, Max Crosby wants to be traded by the Raiders. I get it, we're a bad team. I get it, we don't win a lot. But it doesn't automatically mean that Max Crosby wants to be traded from this team. It doesn't automatically mean that.

Hey, we're not a good place to be at that we don't have the best facilities that we're not out there trying to make the right move. I give Mark Davis credit guys. Mark Davis is trying to hire the right guy. He has hired Josh Mcdonalds when he was hot. He hired AP when he thought AP had the swarm. He thought he went with the experienced guy. Now he finally fired or hires the guy that's the hottest coach in the game.

So all these things are all coming to fruition, So when we look at this and Max Crosby looks at this, it's not that we're not trying. And I'm telling you right now, I don't believe that Max Crosby came out and said, I don't want to be a Raider. I want to be traded. I don't believe that he called Tom Brady and told Tom Brady that he's like, hey, man, I'm done playing for this team. I don't want to be here.

This isn't my team. Are you kidding me? I'd be like, bro, this team is paying you maximum dollars and you're going to call them and tell them that I don't want to play for you when you're 27 years old, 28 years old on the top of your career?

and the player that talks about having legacy? Nah, Nah, that ain't Max. Max doesn't wanna go anywhere, And really, we've talked about it in the previous show, like I said, Max is injured. Unless a team signs a waiver or takes a waiver on Max Crossby, sorry.

Raider Wil (18:19.457)
We will not see a trade.

Let's see. Hey, big luck. You absolutely right. This is exactly the way I feel. They know the Raiders are finally in a good place. So they say, hey, let's let's say that Max Crosby run. This is exactly the way I feel, man. When you're a journalist and you follow the Raiders, it's like let's cause as much controversy as possible right now that they got Clint Kubiak and it looks like they're headed in the right direction right now that they're finally getting their shit together. You know what? Let's drop this bomb.

Let me get a little sipped up. Let me sip on that scissor. Get up on that show. It looked like Jay Glazer had had a couple that show. I'm gonna just keep it real and go, hey, you know what? Max Crosby wants to be traded and he doesn't wanna play for the Raiders. That's what another GM told me. And then when De'Anner Thrasi comes out and they say, yeah, he said that he wanted to play for Vrabel. And then it comes back out, well.

You know what? We were just talking hypotheticals about coaches that he would like to play for.

then why would you even not come out before and address that issue immediately when people were bringing it up?

Raider Wil (19:39.574)
And now people are coming out and saying, well, we're backtracking. It's going to take this type of trade, that type of trade, in order for them to get Max Crosby. Well, there are so many teams lined up to do it. I don't see that many teams giving up two number one draft picks. How many teams are going to give up two number ones to give up Max Crosby? We are talking about people saying, hey, there's going to be a Micah Parsons type trade. Where are all these trade partners they're talking about?

I don't see them. Alex, let's see here. Yeah. I don't think so either. Just a media hub. Exactly. It's a lot of media hype, man. When you look at that and you say, hey,

Bro, everybody's backtracking. Everybody's saying, no, now they're not talking about Max Crosby getting traded. Now they're saying, yeah, know, Max, you know, he could possibly stay. no, you know, now we're only gonna send the one and the two. I'm gonna ask you guys right here. All right, chat, let me know. If you were to trade Max Crosby, what type of trade is it gonna take? Are you gonna take two number ones? Are you gonna do a Micah Parsons trade?

Are you going to take a one and a two? What is it going to be? Let me know in the chat and I'm going to tell you guys right now. In my opinion, if you were to trade a player like Max Crosby, Max Crosby's value is not in that he's a true pass rusher or that he's a DN. He's a complete DN. I'm going to tell you guys right now. I don't consider Max Crosby a pass rusher. The reason that I don't consider him an elite pass rusher is because he's only had 14.5 sacks.

His maximum amount in one season. But is he legitimate? Absolutely. Does he create pressure and chaos? Absolutely. But he's a more complete defensive end. He's a great run stopper as well. So at the end of the day, I don't consider him a Myles Garrett. Myles Garrett is an absolute beast. Myles Garrett had 25 sacks on the Browns.

Raider Wil (21:52.204)
So when we're talking Max Crosby, Max Crosby is trying to reach towards Miles Garrett. So at the end of the day, for me, I'm going to tell you right now, what they said that teams are lining up to do a markup, Micah Parsons type trade for him is absolutely bullshit. There is no team lining up right now trying to give you two number ones, a defensive, or a pro bowl defensive player.

back for Max Crosby. If there was, it would be all over the news. It would be all over ESPN, just like Max Crosby saying or singing a song saying that he had built a house in the bay and they say, you know, he's gonna go to San Francisco because he shoots threes like Steph Curry or something like that. I'll be like, this is how crazy it is, bro. This is how wild it is.

with everything that's going on with Max Crosby. People bring up any little thing to say that Max Crosby's not gonna be here. To say that Max Crosby doesn't wanna be a writer.

I don't get it. Why is the media always just saying, hey, I want to mess with the Raiders. I want to make sure that they're not having to get here. But hey, that's my thing. Again, when I'm talking Max Crosby, guys, we're talking a guy that has a 30 million dollar plus here a contract. We're talking a guy that's coming off surgery. We're talking about a guy that has a lot of leadership quality stuff.

Absolutely. But at the end of the day, when we're talking about trading him. Hey. Whatever those reporters are smoking on, they need to pass that shit because I'm going to tell you guys, man, they are smoking on something. They're always trying to make something up when it comes to the Raiders and Max Crosby. And at the end of the day, I'm going to tell you. And if we do trade them and we get the bag and we get a Mike Parsons top trade.

Raider Wil (24:03.479)
type trade am I gonna be mad? No! Who would be mad if the Raiders get two number ones, a Pro Bowler and an extra player? I ain't gonna get pissed off! I'm gonna be like okay if Max that's what you really wanted to do was go somewhere else then we're cool man at the end of the day hey if Max wants to go somewhere I'm cool with it but I'm gonna tell you guys this also

We can't sit here and say, hey, we gotta do what's right by Max. We gotta send him to a Super Bowl contender. We gotta do this. No! What the Raiders have to do if we trade Max Crosby is do what's best for the Raiders.

And that is get the maximum value for Max Crosby. Get whatever it is.

But maximum value. I don't want to hear about, yeah, you know, we're going to get a one and a two. If we get a one and a two, guys, I believe that the Raiders have done Max Crosby an absolute disservice. And hey, at the end of the day, like I said, do I expect, I expect Max Crosby to be at practice at the beginning of the year, man. I don't expect him to be anywhere else.

I think that this is just gonna be blow over. It's all a bunch of bullshit and we're gonna move forward from that man. Alright.

Raider Wil (25:39.84)
Alright guys, in the next section where we're going to talk about now man is hey, Combine. Combine is coming up an exciting time for us to go look at players in underwear. Right? That's all they're doing. We've got guys running 40s, guys that will throw the ball, a lot of excitement. I'm going to tell you guys right now, don't be one of those guys that buys in to the Underwear Olympics.

The scouting combine is great to look for certain aspects, but don't get enamored by a guy that runs a 4-3-40. Don't get enamored by a guy that bench presses the freaking par 55 times. These are all measurables that come up to the thing. If their quarterback comes in or a player comes in and doesn't perform as well as you expected them to, guys, it happens.

It's the Underwear Olympics. It's the Combine. It's something that when you look at and you say, it's obviously now, I'm gonna tell you, man, I feel like the Combine has weighted so heavily now that it almost outweighs film. I hope that we look at the film and don't look at the Underwear Olympics and say, hey, this is what we should do and pick. Because when you look at the Scouting Combine,

When you look at all those issues, all the things you get enamored with are the same things that need to be transferred over to tape.

You see, and this is scout guys you have on the board rounds four and seven. Absolutely. This is all the things that you have, man. You this for me when the scouting combine happens, what it does is open up your eyes to guys that might be at a lower level at a division two at a division three. Look at the guy from John Carroll. Guys, if you guys have been listening to the guy that was at the senior bowl.

Raider Wil (27:45.89)
The wide receiver from John Carroll, an absolutely D2 monster, tore up the senior bowl. Tore it up. So that's letting you know that there is talent all over this draft. That there are players eligible to make the Raiders great and to make the Raiders a better team at every position of depth, man. This is where it is with the draft this year.

wide receiver. There's 42 wide receivers that are listed to be drafted this year, guys. We are looking for wide receiver one this year.

The Raiders are looking for a wide receiver one. 42 wide receiver ones are eligible. Guys, the Raiders are looking for a defensive end opposite side of Max Crosby as well. There's a ton of depth at this draft at the defensive end. There's so much talent that the Raiders can add in this draft to make this team make a change. And I'm not going to say that we're going to make the change to go to the Super Bowl next year.

But what I do see is us making a change for the better. What do I expect in the draft? First, what I expect in free agency. In free agency, as we have talked, guys, we need to address the offensive line. I would like for Tyler Lindemann to come in. I would also look at, let's see here. Sorry, guys, I wrote down the name here.

Raider Wil (29:30.293)
I would like guard Zion Johnson. Well, we could also look at Jalen Watson. We can look at receiver Romeo Dobbs. We could look at all those guys in Frig Agency to come in here and make a difference. And fill a hole. The reason I say a right guard is because what I see is we can go left tackle Colton Miller left card JPJ. We can go Tyler Lindembaug at center.

We go a right guard and then we can have DJ Glaze who had a decent time before Brennan Carroll came. If we have him before Brennan Carroll, that means for us guys, we're gonna have a decent team. We're gonna have a decent offensive line in front of Fernando Mendoza and Gentie. And we're be able to run the football. Run the football, baby! That's exactly what we need to do.

In order for Fernando Mendoza to be successful, guys, we need to run the football. We need to play good defense. We need to do all the little things. And when we secure up that offensive line in free agency, and this is bringing in two maulers, right? Two guys on the offensive line. We're talking about spending right around 30 to $40 million of that 90 to $100 million of cap space. That means we still got 60 mil.

But you're shoring up two spots. Then we can draft the wide receiver. We can draft the defensive end. Hell, everybody's already known that we're going to draft Mendoza in the first. But I haven't heard anybody would tell me who else we're going to draft. Everybody keeps telling me, Fernando Mendoza, Fernando Mendoza. Guys, Fernando Mendoza is not the only player on this team that we need. We need a defensive end. We need a linebacker.

We need a corner. Hell, we need another safety.

Raider Wil (31:32.961)
We don't know if Jeremy Chins even the answer at Strong Safety.

So when we're looking at all these holes, there's a lot of holes we gotta fill.

This team isn't ready just for Fernando Mendoza to come in here and then him just be in here and be the savior of this team.

So guys, what I'll say is this, this draft is loaded. This draft, I'm 100 % with you guys. I think this is gonna be the draft that if we address the offensive line and we get Fernando Mendoza can be the start of the change of this franchise.

Raider Wil (32:13.516)
Finally. Guys, I'm 43 years old. I've seen this team in one Super Bowl. I wasn't even born yet in 83 when the Super Bowl happened.

I feel bad for young fans, man. I don't know about y'all, but I feel bad for young fans. They haven't seen this team have success. But now, in this moment, in this time, with Kubiak at the helm, with the decisions that are being made, I finally feel like this team is gonna be making the decisions that are gonna be headed in the right direction. That are gonna make you and I feel incredible at games.

But we're not sitting there going like man. What the fuck are we doing here? Why do we even come to these games? Because this year man, I really do feel like we hit it on the head. Who be at coming in here is a Cinderella story. I know that like what we said, we talked about Max Crosby. And you know freaking the press trying to shit on our fucking cereal. So I'll tell you guys like this man.

Raider Nation be excited, be pumped up. Because it's bullshit, man. He says, yo, Big Luck, you absolutely right, man. The NFL is better when the Raiders are relevant. My bad, You absolutely right. I'll be like, if you look at how Raider Nation travels when the team is bad, Big Luck, can you imagine it,

When the game is good, when we playing good, I'll be like, I know that you heard about us when we went down to Houston, baby, and we blacked that thing out. I know I was in Boston when we blacked that thing out. I know I was in Denver as well this year, and this team wasn't very good.

Raider Wil (34:16.363)
Now you're gonna tell me that this team is good? Man, Raider Nation is gonna go insane. But I'm gonna tell Raider Nation that we have to be patient. Man, this year, if we do start making a change, don't expect us to go to the playoffs. Don't expect us to go out there and be this team like the commanders that made the big change with Jade and Daniels. But I will make you say something.

that you will be happy about the stuff that you see on this field. Big luck, I'm with you. Let's black out America, baby. Let's make America great again by blacking it out and making the Raiders great.

But I'm to tell you, we should be excited. People should be locked in, really watching, especially right now in free agency. I think this free agency is going to tell us a lot what we're going to do in the draft, especially if we address the center position. Guys, I don't know. I'm going to ask you guys this question. Do you guys think JPJ is ready to play the center position for this team? Do you think he has the ability?

to play center for this team. I don't know. I'll be like, I don't, I think he's a modeler. I think he's a great player. I think he's a great kid. But I don't know if he has the head on his shoulders to me baking all the offensive line calls to take that pressure off Fernando Mendoza. Because that's what's required from the center from this coaching staff is for him to make all the line calls. So I'm gonna ask you guys.

Is JPJ smart enough to place center in Kubiak system? Guys, let me know in the chat.

Raider Wil (36:17.601)
Well, all right guys, while you guys are answering that in the chat.

And like I said, guys, lots of trade moving was going around as well. Lots of things happening. But again, I'm going to ask you guys that if you guys have the number one pick, are you guys trading back or are you guys drafting Fernando Mendoza? See here, if we don't get Linda bomb.

I say we take a shot at least of a full year not to move him like Pete did.

Raider Wil (36:59.362)
Hey!

That's not a bad idea. Why not give JPJ the opportunity, right? If we don't get Linderbomb, I could see that. I could see JPJ staying there because, it's a position of necessity and saying, hey, we're going to give you the shot, earn your stripes. He's the Remington Award winner. Alex says, hey, if we're going to draft anybody, we're drafting Mendoza. I ain't trading back. He said, no, I got Mendoza.

Hey, and I'm gonna tell you guys right now, a lot of people are saying that, that Mendoza's the number one guy, that Mendoza's the guy we need, but at the end of the day, is he? Is he the guy? I'm gonna ask you guys this question. Did we evaluate Fernando Mendoza off one season or off his whole career? Because everybody that I see that always evaluates Mendoza shows me the video of Indiana.

But nobody will show me the video of him at Cal.

Ooh, right? Hey, at the end of the day, we'll see what happens. Big Luck says, I draft Mendoza, take the shot. If we miss, it can't be worse than G-Dough. Hey, baby, you absolutely right. You know what G-Dough right now is saying? Big Luck, you're such a bully. You know, I'm gonna get you. Ha ha, you know what, man? G-Dough was a terrible move, but I'm gonna tell you.

Raider Wil (38:29.952)
I don't feel like this whole season was just on Gino. Gino, when we look at it, needed an offensive line, man. Gino wasn't the guy that people could say, we're gonna put our franchise on him. He never was. But our offensive line was just so devastated that, bro, it made him look even worse. All right, let's say here, Alex says, this Cal season was not bad.

He had no weapons. did well. Absolutely Alex. You know what? I'm not going to say that he didn't have good seasons. And this is where I like that he was efficient and I like that you brought that up. He had 16 touchdowns, nine interceptions one year and I think 16 and eight the other year.

And I forgot his freshman year, so you'll have to get my numbers on that. But at the end of the day, what I do see is a guy that can make things happen with limited players. And when he does get great players around him, he can elevate his game in order to perform at that level. Which would be fantastic, especially if the Raiders are able to get those guys in the draft or through free agency in order to elevate those positions. Because that wide receiver, hey baby, who do we got?

I want you to tell me.

Raider Wil (39:52.227)
That's right. We don't got nobody at wide receiver. I'll be like, there's a guy and we do got Brock powers and mayors. You're absolutely right. We got Gentia running back, but we don't got guys that are difference makers on the outside. We don't got a guy that we can say, Hey, that guy's our number one. That guy's going to take the roof off the defense. He's going to make that one-on-one play. He's going to make those guys feel like that.

There just isn't guys. There isn't a guy like that on this roster yet. So that's where I want to see the Raiders go with the second round or third round. I think Jack Bash is going to play a big role this year. He's going to improve. You're going to see a lot of players getting better. And he said, I evaluated, I evaluated, I evaluated him on growth. Big luck bad guys. Thank you so much. I got my tongue all twisted up. Yo, I agree with you. Big luck. I see.

growth happening at every year with Fernando Mendoza. Fernando Mendoza has shown a great ability of growth every single year he's been in college football. I'd be like, here's the thing. I'm going to ask you guys this. Do you draft the player on potential? Or do you draft the player that's ready at number one? Is everybody saying, hey, we draft Mendoza. Do you consider

Mendoza a game changer or a game manager? Because if you consider him a game manager and you draft him at number one, are you really doing the right thing with the first round draft pick?

Now if you consider him to be an elite guy, a guy that can be a game changer, I can absolutely see you making that draft pick, making that choice. So I leave you with that question there, man, when it comes to Mendoza. Is he a game changer or is he a game manager in your book? Guys, let me know in the chat.

Raider Wil (41:56.791)
All right, well, guys, here's another thing, right? okay, Alex, you say both. Well, if you are thinking of when you say both, right, you see a lot of potential. And this is what everybody sees in Fernando Mendoza. And I'm with you guys. I see a lot of like potential. It says right now, all these guys are potential. None are proven.

the next level. That's correct, Big Luck. Man, I love you, bro. You hit that right on the head. Bro, all we have right now is a bunch of potential. Even on the coaching staff, we're a bunch of potential. If somebody lights this bitch though, that potential is going to exponentially explode. Hold on.

I see the potential to be a game changer and hold on it says Hummer. Let me read you here right here. He says I'm not worried about wide receiver one with Kubiak system we knew we don't need a superstar wide receiver one. We have a few wide receivers to absolutely. He says hold on here. Let me re put that up. I want it our own line to be fixed first. We have three good ones need to get. Teller and the right tackle.

I don't know what a center. think you put, you were trying to put center. I agree with you, bro. I agree with you. I think in the West Coast system, you don't need that one guy to take the roof off, or you don't need that guy to make those big differences, but you do need them in certain key positions, right? And then when you look at it, we talked about it. When we look at addressing the offensive line, we should do that in free agency.

In free agency, I think it's the perfect position for us to address the offensive line. If we do this in the draft, we're going on potential again. We are potentially going to have a good right tackle, potentially have a good right guard. Now let's just solidify it. Say, hey, we have a solidified right guard that has a legitimate record.

Raider Wil (44:11.926)
a legitimate center that has a legitimate track record. That way, if Mendoza goes in there and he's on fire, then, we did the right thing. And if he's in there and he's not doing the right thing, then he's not doing the right thing. It's not because he's getting pressure. It's not because his offensive line sucks. It's not because he wasn't ready. But I agree with you, Hummer. I'm like, hey, I kind of like the wide receiver one response. I didn't really think about that that way, about the West Coast offense, about the way that it works.

And you're right, we don't need a true number one. We do have two number two. But a big look, I'm gonna go back to big luck and Alex. Guys, we're talking about a guy drafting him number one, saying that he's a potential game changer, but that he's a game manager.

Hey, salute, Steven. Hey, I appreciate you, big dog, for stopping by, brother. I love you, man. I hope you had a good time at Disneyland. We'll talk about that next time. I will have you on the show. Yo, but when we look at this, guys, when you're drafting the player number one, when you're making that guy the best player in the draft, to me, he has to be a game changer. He cannot be a game manager. He cannot be a guy that's going to go in there and just move the sticks and do what you want him to do. He has to be a guy that

pushes the envelope, a guy that can make your team better, a guy that's gonna make good players great. That's what I wanna see out of the number one draft pick. Do I believe Fernando Mendoza can get there? Absolutely.

Do I think he's there? No. That's what scares me. I'm gonna tell you guys the truth. I think he's a great kid. I think he's gonna be a hard worker. I think when he comes here, anything that he lacks, he's gonna work his butt off to try to do the right thing.

Raider Wil (46:05.432)
But I do think that him coming here as the number one quarterback, he's still coming in here raw. He needs to learn, he needs to develop, he needs to grow. And I don't know if Raider Nation is gonna have the patience to have this young man grow.

Raider Wil (46:27.458)
Big Luck says, but we don't know what he is. I think he will make the team better. I agree with you. I agree that he will make the team better, Big Luck. I think that right now, Fernando Mendoza is a huge upgrade over Gino Smith. One, I think he's a better leader than Gino right now. I'm gonna tell you this year, man, Gino really disappointed me. I thought he was gonna come in here at least with some senior leadership and say, hey man,

You know what, we're gonna have this. But the way that he addressed the media, and at first you do that, I get it. You go out there, hey man, it's all on me and this. But then when he started making it into just a joke basically, yeah, this is on me, my bus, my bus. Bro, you're gonna take shit, you're gonna get it. This is the NFL, you're an NFL quarterback and you're producing shit. So I do think Fernando Mendoza is gonna be a better leader.

says here, no JPJ is center. Wyatt Teller is, 2025 guard number five. 2024 Meredith was number five. Hold on here. I hate this timer thing. I'm going to turn that off.

All right, says no JPJ as center Wyatt Teller is 2025 guard number five 2024 Meredith was number five. Those two would be amazing. Miller at left tackle JPJ 2024 center tank 12th with 14 penalties.

Hummer, I can't disagree with you there. I would love to see JPJ at center. But my question for you is this, Hummer, like again, we go and we say, we want JPJ there. We think that he can do this. We think that he can make it happen.

Raider Wil (48:21.294)
But does Kubiak think that he can make it happen? Does Kubiak think that JPJ can make all the line calls, can relieve all that stress off Fernando Mendoza? That's my question, right? And I know that everybody's gonna hit me with, he was the Remington Award winner. He was this. That's college, this is NFL. The game speed is different, the looks are different, everything is different.

So I think that's where my question really lies with JPJ is that he is does he have the head to play center in this offense? And it says here, hey, Steven, I agree with you, Greater nation has no choice but to let him glow and learn. If we do draft Fernando Mendoza, you're absolutely correct. If this is the poison pill that we select, we have to be patient. We have to come out here and say.

And we know that Fernando Mendoza is going to make mistakes, that he's going to make throws that he shouldn't make.

that we have to stay the course. And that's, you're absolutely correct. I just hope that we don't sit there and we turn on this young man, where you start seeing the booze, where you start seeing the pressure from the outside saying, he's a bust because he's not performing well after the first four weeks, just like we did with Gentie this year. That's the insanity of it.

We go and we say Gent is a bust because he didn't do a good job, because he didn't rush for 2,000 yards. Have you not seen the offensive line that the Raiders have? That's why we didn't rush for 2,000 yards.

Raider Wil (50:03.286)
And I agree with you, man. He's going to take his lumps. He's going to learn a lot. And I'm going to say it. Hey, Steven, and I'm going to tell Raider Nation right now, just because we draft Fernando Mendoza. Does it mean that Fernando Mendoza has to play? Fernando Mendoza can come on this team, sit on the bench and learn. And everybody's going to tell me, what player is better than Fernando Mendoza? Guys.

There isn't a guy that's a lot better than Fernando Mendoza on this roster right now. If there was, we wouldn't be drafting a quarterback.

But you can't tell me that we are going to put this guy in a position to fail. If you put this quarterback in a position to fail straight from the get, what are we going to get for the next 10 years?

straight cheeks.

He's gonna be shot, he's gonna be emotionally drained, he's gonna be a total head case. So why not let him grow? Why not let him develop? Why not give him the ability to sit on the bench and learn?

Raider Wil (51:13.322)
Lots of great players have come into this league, sat on the bench for years and learned. Aaron Rodgers, who's 105 years old, play till he's 43. Guys, if we get Fernando Mendoza to sit on the bench for a couple years, but to play for the Raiders at a high level till he's 43 years old, I don't give a damn if he sits on the bench for one year.

Raider Wil (51:40.847)
You see and big luck says I disagree that's where I disagree if you take them at number one you have to play them if you don't draft them if not don't draft them and That's so eight big luck and that's all right if you don't if you Think that a guy comes in and you have to play him Then that's okay. I mean like everybody has their difference right my thing is if you have him play Okay, and he struggles and he doesn't have success

Are you destroying this young man's confidence in the short term for not having him long term success? I don't know.

Says Hummer, 100%, let him sit, play AOC with line improvements even while learning. AOC will do so much better than we saw. Another guy who does great in the option system. Hey, I can agree with you here, Hummer. I can see that, man. I could see a guy coming in saying, hey man, AOC, run the system for a year. We still got you on here. You're on a minimum contract. I see you.

Everybody keeps telling me AOC can't run the system, can't do that. But AOC could run a system if his offensive line can block. So why not see what he can do? Have Mendoza sit there, take the reins, hey, get another high draft pick next year, and we're moved.

Alex says I see him playing week five or six. I agree with you. Playing him in week five or six, that could be a possibility.

Raider Wil (53:22.754)
Patience patience patience Steven. I agree with you bro. Raider nation has to have a lot of it, baby Yeah We got Sam Darnold. he says hey

Raider Wil (53:37.517)
He says, no, look at Sam Darnold. Sam Darnold, you're absolutely correct, Big Luck. Sam Darnold is a one in a million type of guy. Let's be real. Sam Darnold went from the Jets, didn't have success, but he needed the right coach, the right person to find the ability for him to do stuff. Hey, at the end of the day, he had his thing going on.

and just needed the right guy to find his talents, to find his abilities, and to put him in the best position. That's what you found with Sam Darnold. And when you get a team around him, I mean, the Seahawks are just freaking built like a fucking shit house brick or a brick house, man. They're freaking stacked. They're stacked everywhere. That's what you get. I'd be like, Sam Darnold had great success because he had a great team around him.

Stop because Sam Darnold carried the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.

It's Jackson. Thanks for stopping by. yeah, I mean, a Debbie donor, whatever, man.

Says here, Alex, Rookie QB, we must have all patients with Mendoza. Absolutely. You have to have patients with Mendoza. You have to have patients with every player. Any guy that we draft that's a rookie, guys, it's going to take three years to evaluate. Right now in the 2026 draft, we should be evaluating the 2023 drafted players. That's going to give you enough information on how those players are doing.

Raider Wil (55:18.68)
Being patient is going to be key. I think again, are we making all the right moves? Is Kubiak stacking this team? Should regular nation be excited for the next season? Absolutely, man.

And big luck again, I agree with having patience, but he only gets better if he plays big luck. There's two ways to look at this baby. Every single time you hit that practice field should be like a game. He's gonna get that environment. He's gonna get that feel. It's going against our number one defense. He's gonna get a lot of reps and I get what you're saying man. I just feel like if we throw him in their game one, it's gonna be.

One, Kubiak is gonna feel that he's gonna be successful, that he's gonna have a ton of success out there and that he's not gonna be freaking compromised in any position, you know? And that's one thing you will see, I think. I think Kubiak's gonna make that decision based on what he thinks his offensive line do and the confidence that Fernando Mendoza's gonna get. You know, I do see that.

Only max in a few. Only max in a select few practices that way. Hey. I agree with you big luck. That's why I said it should be man. If every single player practice with that abilities, it would be crazy, bro. We'd have a really, really good team. Lime and usually take three years to perform good. QB usually takes four to five. Twenty twenty five was a mess.

information that is not useful because Carol and Junos wrecked everything. You're not lying, but you know what? I'm gonna tell you man, the Carol's really, really messed up a lot of the players that we had. I'd like DJ Glaze, I really do think is a better player than what he showed this year. There's a lot of players that regressed and that they just didn't perform because of the fact that you saw bad coaching.

Raider Wil (57:29.848)
But this year, I really do feel like we're addressing all those. So we should see some improvements. We should see a lot of the things happen. But my biggest concern is, guys, is if we do draft Mendoza, whatever we do, guys, whatever Kubiak does, I want you guys to sit there and support the team, man. Support his decision. If we draft him number one and he doesn't start, big luck. Know that Kubiak knows what he's doing, man. Know that he's going to have him ready.

If he does start them, I'm gonna be there right next to you chewing my nails, Ben supporting the squad, making sure that I'm yelling and I'm screaming. Because this is what it's gonna be. If we go in there for six games and there is no success, I already can hear Raider Nation. Why did we draft this guy? He's a bust, he isn't very good. He isn't this. It's not that, man, it's that he's a rookie and that he's growing.

Bigluck says, no. Even Brady said that if he didn't sit and learn from the bench, he would have crashed his rookie year. Was it worth waiting three long years before you hit the field for them? Hey, I agree. I agree, brother. And he says, Bigluck's response is you can't sit your number one overall for three years. Makes no damn sense. Hey, I agree with you there. I'd be like, I don't think he would sit for three years.

I think he would sit for at least, I'm with the forgot who is I think Alex said he's gonna set at least for six games. I'm there for at least six games that he sits that he watches that he learns that he sees the speed of the game. I'd be like if he sits the first season, I'm okay with it but big luck I'm there with you. If we sit him for three years Hummer, I'm really debating what the Raiders did.

To sit a quarterback, your number one draft pick, to sit your number one player for three years, wouldn't make very much sense. And you know what? Big look here, right? He wasn't a number one pick. He was the sixth pick in the draft or sixth round pick. So you have the luxury of sitting him for that long. And when you're talking about the number one pick compared to the sixth round pick, you don't have that type of luxury. So I mean, at the end of the day, man, it is what it is.

Raider Wil (59:57.359)
I'd be like, if we look at the Fernando Mendoza situation, he's gonna come in here to a tough spot. So Raider Nation, be patient. Make sure that you're out there, man, supporting the team. I'd be like, at the end of the day, it's gonna be a great season. So hey, guys, I appreciate y'all locking in today, man. We've been locked in here for the past hour. It's just been me and you. Yo, you guys have been amazing.

Salute to you guys, but stay tuned for next week on Tuesday. I'm to be back on the most notorious podcast and the next Thursday. Hey, we're to be doing the same thing. Silver and Black Radio podcast, baby. Thursday, 7 p.m. Pacific. And hey, I want you guys to do me a favor, man. Go into the silver and black radio podcast. Come sign up for the newsletter. We're going to drop a magazine. You guys are going to get the first digital magazine.

If you guys apply for the newsletter, you guys will get the first drop. You guys will see a lot of pictures of yourselves, some articles of yourself, everything like that, man. I appreciate you guys. Much love, And, again, it's all about One Nation. It's all about one scene. It's all about the Raiders!