The Las Vegas Raiders embark on yet another new era for the franchise in the upcoming 2024 season. Interim head coach turned full-time head coach Antonio Pierce has been given the reins of the team to lead them in what hopes to be the opposite of most of the last couple of decades or so.
With every new head coach comes interest and intrigue, and that starts with their first moves, which occur during their first offseason. The offseason is the very beginning of a coach's tenure and can be very telling of what the future may look like. Of course, sometimes teams are handcuffed due to limited cap space, lesser draft picks, or other reasons, but nonetheless, it's something to look for.
What the Raiders probably needed the most, however, they couldn't obtain either in free agency or the 2024 NFL Draft. Thanks to the Atlanta Falcons' surprise pick of Michael Penix Jr., the Raiders missed out on finding their future quarterback. However, as a backup plan, they signed veteran Gardner Minshew to compete with Aidan O'Connell for the starting job.
The Raiders did walk away with one of the more talented players in all the draft in Georgia tight end Brock Bowers with their first-round pick, and then followed it up with highly-touted Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson. Those will most certainly be some viable pieces for this season's offense, but there are still lingering questions elsewhere on that side of the ball, notably at running back.
Now that All-Pro Josh Jacobs is gone to the Green Bay Packers, the running back room looks a lot less stable than it once was. Jacobs was a big part of the Raiders' offense the last couple of seasons, and with his absence, that could affect the efficiency of what was already a struggling unit, ranked 27th in the league last year.
What's more troubling is that the Raiders didn't do a lot to fix the situation, or there were simply little resources. Where the draft left them high and dry of a quarterback, free agency did the same with a running back. They did sign former Minnesota Vikings back Alexander Mattison, but was that really the answer?
Alexander Mattison's signing with the Raiders leaves further uncertainty in the running back room
Again, Jacobs' absence is a massive void for a team that was struggling on all fronts as an offense. In fact, the Raiders had one of the worst rushing offenses in the NFL last year, averaging just 90.7 yards per game. Alexander Mattison will now pick up where Jacobs left off and join Zamir White, Ameer Abdullah, Brittain Brown, and sixth-round selection Dylan Laube out of New Hampshire.
Where the concern really starts for this crew is that it has little experience. Abdullah has the most career starts of any back on the team with 23, while Mattison is right behind him with 19. Abdullah looks to find himself contributing mostly on special teams, though.
White, who filled in admirably for Jacobs at times last season, will be the presumed starter. He started in four games and finished the season with 451 yards and one touchdown, according to Pro Football Reference. Meanwhile, Mattison had a career-high season in his fifth year in Minnesota, rushing for 700 yards with another 192 through the air. He didn't score a single rushing touchdown but had three receiving.
Mattison just never quite materialized into the back that the Vikings wanted him to be, though it seemed he was given plenty of chances. When Kirk Cousins went down and quarterback play dwindled, that did seem to give him more touches. That could perhaps be a similar issue in Las Vegas with quarterback play not being strong with either Raiders signal-caller. Hopefully, Mattison can be of help and improve the Raiders' offense in 2024.
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