Raiders fans do not have to wait long to see their team in action again. The 2025 NFL season officially kicks off in one week on Thursday Night Football. That makes this the perfect time to make some last-minute bold predictions ahead of the 2025 season.
Las Vegas made some huge changes this offseason, which makes it difficult to predict how they'll handle their business this fall.
The Raiders upgraded at head coach by adding Pete Carroll. They also traded for QB Geno Smith and added a potential superstar in Ashton Jeanty.
But there are still questions about the team's secondary, as well as the pass catchers not named Brock Bowers. The Raiders undeniably got better this spring, but it remains to be seen if it will be enough to make a difference this year.
Will the Raiders shock the NFL in 2025? Will they crash and burn just like in 2024? Or something in between?
Below we will explore three Raiders bold predictions ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty dominates, does NOT win Offensive Rookie of the Year
Ashton Jeanty received a ton of hype before entering the NFL, and rightfully so.
Jeanty had a special 2024 season at Boise State. The superstar running back had 374 carries for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns. He took the college football world by storm and almost broke Barry Sanders' single-season rushing record.
That's the kind of thing that will get you noticed.
The young running back has already received hype, with many analysts predicting Jeanty win Offensive Rookie of the Year. He was also the early betting favorite to win the award after the 2025 NFL Draft.
It is easy to understand the hype.
Jeanty is a rare talent. He should receive plenty of opportunities to succeed in Pete Carroll's offense.
But all of that said, I'm predicting that Jeanty will not win Offensive Player of the Years.
There's really only one reason. He's not a quarterback.
Realistically, this award almost always goes to a quarterback. In fact, the last time a non-QB won the award was Garrett Wilson in 2022. Brock Purdy was the best quarterback drafted that year, but only played in nine games. So there was not much competition for Wilson at all.
ESPN's Seth Walder explained that other elite offensive weapons have been crushed by quarterbacks in recent seasons.
“This award is just so tilted toward quarterbacks,” Walder explained. “It's not that other positions can't win, as Garrett Wilson and Ja'Marr Chase each won in the past five years, but the QB has the edge in a close race. Justin Herbert beating out Justin Jefferson (by a lot!) in 2020 was evidence of that. Ward was the clear-cut QB1 in this class, and I like how the Titans fortified their offensive line ahead of his arrival.”
That means that Cam Ward is the one who Jeanty needs to worry about.
The only way I can see Jeanty winning the award is if Ward and the Titans have a bad season and Jeanty plays incredibly well.
Both could happen, but I think Ward will come out on top.
Geno Smith has best career season in 2025
There isn't much more Geno needs to do to prove that he's a legit franchise quarterback.
Smith shocked the world by coming out of nowhere and thriving with Seattle in 2022. He even won Comeback Player of the Year as a result.
But my bold prediction is that Geno Smith will takes things up a notch in 2025.
Reuniting with Pete Carroll and playing in the same offense as Jeanty and Brock Bowers could do wonders to take pressure off Smith. If things go well, he'll have his best season as an NFL quarterback.
When talking about his best career season, I suppose it depends how you measure success.
In 2022, Smith threw for 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns with only 11 interceptions. The Seahawks shockingly made the playoffs, but lost in the first round against the 49ers.
So that's a good bar to set.
However, Smith threw for more yards (4,320) and had a better completion percentage in 2024.
Let's combine the two: Smith will have over 4,320 passing yards, 30+ touchdowns, over 70.4% completion percentage, and do enough to lead his team to the playoffs.
Raiders finish above 0.500 but lose in the first round of the playoffs
Weirdly, this feels like my safest prediction on this list.
If both of my other predictions come true, then it is almost guaranteed that the Raiders will take a huge leap forward in 2025.
And I'm not the only one who thinks so.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell named the Raiders as one of the NFL teams most likely to improve in 2025.
“The Raiders went from Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew at quarterback to Geno Smith, and they replaced Antonio Pierce with former Seahawks and Patriots coach Pete Carroll,” Barnwell wrote. “Swapping out overmatched, replacement-level options (or worse) with solid veterans isn't the sort of move that inspires Super Bowl aspirations, but it does raise the Raiders' floor, where there hadn't been competent management since the Jack Del Rio and Reggie McKenzie era nearly a decade ago.”
Las Vegas only won four games in 2024, so admittedly there's pretty much nowhere to go but up.
But could the Raiders really get to the playoffs?
I can see it happening based on Las Vegas' soft schedule.
Games against the Patriots, Bears, Colts, Titans, Browns, and Giants all feel very winnable. Add in a few divisional wins, and the Raiders could easily be in the hunt late into the season.
Of course, they'll need some help in a tight AFC conference. But it would happen.
