The Las Vegas Raiders have hired Chip Kelly as their new Offensive Coordinator and Greg Olson as QB coach.
The Las Vegas Raiders, in the midst of restructuring their coaching staff under new head coach Pete Carroll, have brought in two veteran coaches to handle the offense. Chip Kelly has been hired as the Offensive Coordinator, and Greg Olson will take over as the quarterbacks coach. Both coaches bring extensive experience from both the NFL and championship-caliber college football.
Kelly, 61, has previously served as the head coach for the Eagles, 49ers, and the University of Oregon and UCLA. Most recently, Kelly was the Offensive Coordinator for the 2024 National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes. He joins a growing list of successful NCAA coaches making the jump to, or returning to, the NFL after National Championship bids, including Jim Harbaugh, Todd Monken, and Ryan Grubb. All three saw significant turnarounds with their new NFL teams in their first year, something that is a pressing need for owner Mark Davis, new GM John Spytek, and Carroll. Kelly has long been regarded as an innovative mind, and the tape from the Buckeyes’ 2024 season shows he hasn’t missed a step.
Olson returns to the Raiders for his third stint, having previously served as the Offensive Coordinator in Oakland. His last NFL stop was as quarterbacks coach in Seattle in 2023 under Carroll. While the Raiders’ plan at quarterback for 2025 remains uncertain—given the upcoming free agency period and NFL Draft—the team must be confident that regardless of whether they sign a free agent, draft a quarterback in an early round, or proceed with Aidan O’Connell, the offense will be in knowledgeable hands.
Kelly’s reputation is built on increasing the speed and efficiency of the offense, which has implications for fantasy players like tight end Brock Bowers and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers. Bowers, already considered TE1, will likely continue to play a major role in the offense. Meanwhile, Meyers, who thrived in 2024, is expected to return to a slot role, where he is best suited. Bowers has already established himself as one of the best rookie receivers in history, and Meyers will look to build on his breakout season. The Raiders will need to add a true “alpha” receiver to fill the role once occupied by Davante Adams before he was traded to the New York Jets. The futures of the quarterbacks and running backs, including Zamir White and Alexander Mattison, remain uncertain.
Writer: Brendon Booth (@bigbonededFFB)
Las Vegas Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers is ...
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The Las Vegas Raiders and Pete Carroll have reportedly agreed to make Carroll the new Raiders Head Coach.
The Las Vegas Raiders concluded their disappointing 2024 season by relieving Head Coach Antonio Pierce and General Manager Tom Telesco of their duties. In an attempt to reconstruct the leadership of the team, the Raiders have hired John Spytek as GM, and have reportedly reached a deal with Pete Carroll to be the Head Coach.
Spytek, with his previous connections to Tom Brady, helped build a Super Bowl champion in Tampa, and Carroll won his own ring as the HC of the Seattle Seahawks, so the respective legacies aren’t in doubt. The fact that Carroll is 74 years old, and the contract is only a 3 year deal, allude to more turnover in the Raiders’ near future, which is a head scratcher. Mark Davis had the opportunity to hire someone younger and more “fresh” with the idea of building a lasting program. Instead, it seems the idea is to allow Carroll to put pieces in place that will carry on what he builds, when he, inevitably, departs.
The team personnel, free agency, and draft implications remain to be uncovered as Spytek and Carroll begin to build the coaching staff. Offensive Coordinator is up for grabs and the future of Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham is uncertain.
Author: Brendon Booth (@bigbonededffb)
Tom Telesco is out as Las Vegas’ General Manager, after terrible year.
Two days after relieving Antonio Pierce of his head coaching duties, the Las Vegas Raiders have fire General Manager Tom Telesco. Telesco had been with the Raiders for about one calendar year.
Telesco served one draft cycle for the Raiders and orchestrated one of the best drafts the team has seen in it’s history. While not being able to add a quarterback in the early rounds, Telesco drafted TE Brock Bowers who set all-time rookie records for receptions and TE receiving yards. He also added Jackson Powers-Johnson and DJ Glaze to the offensive line, both being good enough to earn major roles, and CB Decamerion Richardson who played very well in a limited capacity.
While he had a good draft, the rest of Telesco’s tenure was fraught with failure. The hiring of OC Luke Getsy stands out as a terrible move, hand-in-hand with the signing of quarterback Gardner Minshew and making him the starter to begin the season.
The Raiders will, likely, now hire a GM who will make the head coaching decision. These moves will have no effect on the fantasy prospects of Brock Bowers or Jakobi Meyers in 2025, and both remain imminently rosterable, with Bowers being the likely TE1 in all formats
Brendon Booth | @bigbonededFFB
The Las Vegas Raiders have fired Head Coach Antonio Pierce.
After finishing with a 3-14 record, with zero wins in division, the Las Vegas Raiders have moved on from Head Coach Antonio Pierce. Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham is the only remaining member of the staff leaders that began 2024.
The rumors will be flying until owners Mark Davis and Tom Brady have made a decision on the Raiders’ 7th HC in 13 seasons, but the bottom line is that Pierce wasn’t the answer. The Raiders struggled as soon as Gardner Minshew was named as the starting QB, and the listing ship never recovered. To contrast, the Raiders lost bookend contests against the LA Chargers in weeks 1 and 18, losing to another new regime in LA, who had hired Jim Harbaugh, who had been long linked to the Raiders. Harbaugh turned the Chargers into a playoff team in year 1, while Pierce slid the other way, with the Raiders losing more games than in the previous year.
Brendon Booth | @bigbonededFFB
The Las Vegas Raiders trading their alpha WR leaves room for other pass catchers to ascend.
The Las Vegas Raiders have traded WR Davante Adams to the New York Jets. Adams had been the target leader for the Raiders in the games that he played before injuring his hamstring during Week 4 practice. Subsequently, his absence opens the door for other pass catchers to ascend.
WR Jakobi Meyers will be the first beneficiary of targets in the Raiders offense. In Meyers’ first five games of 2023, two played without Adams, Meyers averaged just over 7 targets per game, highest among the Raiders WR corps. Primarily, and excellently, a slot receiver, Meyers will be moved over to supplant Adams’ role as the X, or, outside and in-line receiver…the WR1. Meyers’ best season came in 2023 opposite Adams. He accrued 1028 air yards on 106 targets and a career-high 8 TDs. His ascension should result in similar numbers, rest-of-season.
The other major beneficiary of the target vacuum will be TE Brock Bowers. Bowers, the current PPR TE2, received 12 and 10 targets in the Raiders last two games without Adams. He has outpaced all of the Raiders’ pass catchers thus far and will continue to do so. Having scored just one TD will positively regress and he will finish the season as the TE1, barring injury.
There are other pass catchers who’s roles will increase in the Raiders’ offensive attack. WR Tre Tucker didn’t see much action in Week 6, although he did have 20 targets in the three games prior. Tight ends Harrison Bryant and Michael Mayer, when he returns to the team, will benefit, as will Week 6 surprise Kristian Wilkerson.
Bowers, Meyers, and Tucker should be rostered in all formats, while Bryant, Mayer, Wilkerson, and the rest will remain deep league streaming options.
Brendon Booth | @bigbonededFFB
Las Vegas Raiders rookie phenom TE Brock Bowers has been held out of team activities recently with a sore foot.
Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers enters the 2024 season with huge expectations. Taken with the 13th pick in the first round of the 2024 draft, Bowers was considered the best TE in college football and a consensus first rounder for three straight seasons at Georgia. In week 1 of the pre-season, Bowers began showing some of his promise, lining up all over the formations, including at fullback, and being heavily targeted in his series’ on the field. Since then, however, there hasn’t been much word on his progress and he didn’t play in game 2.
The Raiders currently haven’t formally said anything except that he missed the 2nd pre-season game with a sore foot, but there wasn’t an indication of an actual injury, nor any hint of prognosis. The Raiders’ beat writers have reported that Bowers missed the first two practices before the 3rd pre-season game, but other than that, there has been nothing from the team.
Without anything official and with the Riders planning on not playing any starters in the remaining pre-season game, the Bowers situation remains a wait-and-see and hope for the best. He is still Player Profilers TE2 in all Dynasty formats and his early 4th round ADP remains unchanged until there is official word of an injury.
