3 takeaways of Raiders offense after 14 games

The Raiders’ 63-point explosion against the Chargers on Thursday night was exhilarating but also frustrating.

Why? Quite simply, more was expected of the offense this season. The failure to do so cost coach Josh McDaniels, offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi and general manager Dave Ziegler their jobs.

The 18.9 points the Raiders are averaging ranks 25th — it was 15.5 points before Thursday’s game — and going into Week 15, they were last in rushing while averaging 3.5 yards per carry and ranked 22nd in passing yards.

It’s been an unmitigated disaster and meant replacing veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of rookie fourth-round draft pick Aidan O’Connell. The switch has done nothing to inject life into the attack, though, and it’s likely the Raiders will select a quarterback, possibly in the first round, in the 2024 NFL draft.

Here are three takeaways of the offense after 14 games:

1. Quarterback

The decision to part ways with longtime quarterback Derek Carr did not include a set plan for replacing him in the short or long term. After dabbling with the idea of trading up in the draft, the Raiders decided against giving up the draft capital being asked by the Bears, who had the No. 1 pick. They settled on Garoppolo, the longtime 49ers quarterback and former pupil of McDaniels in New England.

In theory, it made sense. Garoppolo won a lot of games in San Francisco and grew up in McDaniels’ system, and it seemed reasonable he would stabilize the position on the short term.

But there were issues from the beginning, as Garoppolo could not pass his physical upon agreeing to a three-year contract. That meant restructuring the deal to reflect the Raiders’ concern over his foot surgery. In retrospect, the injury red flag should have been the Raiders’ cue to kill the agreement and move in another direction. Instead, they moved forward with some protective contract provisions.

After Garoppolo was cleared to play in training camp, he never looked comfortable physically or within the scheme. That carried over to the regular season when it became obvious he wasn’t ready to contribute in a way the Raiders envisioned.

That led to the firing of McDaniels and Lombardi, and O’Connell replaced Garoppolo at quarterback. The rookie from Purdue has a future in the NFL, but it’s still unclear whether it’s as a midlevel quarterback or a backup.

The inability of both quarterbacks to perform at an adequate level has marginalized Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, Josh Jacobs, Hunter Renfrow and Michael Mayer, and created a punchless attack that has cost the Raiders winnable games.

2. What happened to Jacobs?

The Raiders boasted the league’s best running back last season in Jacobs, who rushed for 1,653 yards. The breakthrough season came on Jacobs’ contract year, and it led to a contentious offseason of contract talks that didn’t produce an agreement until the week before the first game.

How much that played into Jacobs’ step-back season is not known, but it probably didn’t help. Neither did Garoppolo’s and O’Connell’s inability to challenge teams downfield, which has left defenses to stack the box against Jacobs and the run game.

Jacobs has 805 yards rushing on 233 carries and averages just 3.5 yards per run. It hasn’t been nearly enough to offset the failures in the passing game.

3. Offensive line

To the naked eye, the offensive line has been just as guilty for the stagnant attack as anything else. But the reality is that group has not played nearly as badly as the statistics might show.

Pro Football Focus ranks the offensive line 12th best in the NFL, more than adequate to field an effective attack.

That doesn’t mean the Raiders can’t stand some upgrades on the offensive line, most notably at right tackle. And with Andre James set to hit free agency, the center spot will be open to either left guard Dylan Parham or an addition from the outside.

But this isn’t a position at which the Raiders need to make wholesale changes or upgrades.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.