The Las Vegas Raiders still don't have their long-term answer under center, but Geno Smith is a substantial upgrade over anyone the team has had since Derek Carr left. Frankly, he's an upgrade over most of Carr's years in the Silver and Black, if we're being honest.
The easy-to-tab beneficiaries of Smith's presence and an upgraded offensive coordinator in Chip Kelly, are Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers. Meyers produced despite lackluster quarterback play, so Smith being merely capable is a good thing for him. Bowers led all tight ends in uncatchable targets last year, according to Pro Football Focus, and still had a record-setting rookie season.
Of course, Smith continuing to perform at the level he has been, in conjunction with Kelly's new style, will benefit the entire Raiders' offense. The offensive line will look better in pass protection, and the ground game will benefit from the passing game being an actual threat.
There's a sneaky beneficiary of a functional Raiders' offense
Raider Nation has probably forgotten what a balanced, functional offense looks like, but they should be reminded this season. Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic has unearthed an under-the-radar player for each NFL team as Week 1 approaches, and for the Raiders, her pick was wide receiver Tre Tucker.
"Tucker was a third-round pick in 2023 out of Cincinnati and could be a top beneficiary of the Raiders’ offseason additions of quarterback Geno Smith and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly," Rodrigue wrote. "Tucker is small — just 5-foot-8 and 182 pounds — but separates well and has plenty of speed. He had 47 catches for 539 yards in 2024, but now that he’s paired with Smith and Kelly, this season could be his breakout."
During training camp, Tucker quickly showed he was not going to simply fade from the Raiders' wide receiver pecking order without a fight. He appears to have quickly built nice chemistry with Smith, who also offered some nice praise for the third-year player.
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Last season, according to Sports Information Solutions, Tucker was 35th among wide receivers with a minimum of 25 targets in intended air yards. But as could be expected, he was just 79th among that same group in completed air yards.
This effectively means that Tucker dealt with inaccurate passes on deep targets last season. Fortunately, Smith is PFF's highest-graded deep passer over the last three seasons, which is a nice match for Tucker's speed and separation ability.
Bowers and Meyers will be the primary beneficiaries of the Raiders having a functional passing game this season. But Tucker is slowly sneaking into the conversation as a breakout candidate who will match nicely with Geno Smith and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
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