{"id":475522,"date":"2026-02-18T08:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/475522\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:58:10","slug":"las-vegas-raiders-roster-bad-fits-in-klint-kubiaks-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/475522\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Raiders roster: Bad fits in Klint Kubiak\u2019s offense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Las Vegas Raiders have a new head coach, officially hiring former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak<\/a> after the Super Bowl. This means the Raiders will shift toward the Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay style of offense, featuring a wide-zone heavy rushing attack and a lot of play-action concepts off of that in the passing game<\/a>, since Kubiak comes from that coaching tree.<\/p>\n

So, of the holdover players on Las Vegas\u2019 current roster, who is a bad fit in this type of system?<\/p>\n

This is a moot point since the Raiders are widely expected to use the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft on Indiana\u2019s Fernando Mendoza, who would be a great fit in Kubiak\u2019s offense. But the remaining O\u2019Connell believers within Raider Nation who are hoping a new coach can make a formidable starter out of the 2023 fourth-round pick are going to be disappointed.<\/p>\n

According to Pro Football Focus<\/a>, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold had the ninth-highest play-action rate (27.6 percent) among QBs with at least 340 dropbacks during the 2025 regular season and was second with a 90.4 passing grade on such concepts.<\/p>\n

When O\u2019Connell made seven starts and appeared in nine total games in 2024, he had a 23.4 percent play-action rate and posted a 49.9 passing grade<\/a> that was second to last among qualifying quarterbacks. He was better in this department as a rookie, earning a 69.7 mark<\/a>, but that still ranked in the bottom half of the league\u2019s signal callers.<\/p>\n

Also, O\u2019Connell struggles with accuracy in the intermediate passing game, owning a 52.9 adjusted completion percentage<\/a> in 2024 and 59.4 in 2023<\/a> on passes 10 to 19 yards past the line of scrimmage, and that\u2019s a big part of Kubiak\u2019s scheme. In comparison, such throws accounted for 21.4 percent of Darnold\u2019s attempts last season, and he posted a 68.6 adjusted completion percentage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"HOUSTON,<\/a><\/p>\n

HOUSTON, TX – DECEMBER 21: Las Vegas Raiders offensive tackle DJ Glaze (71) sets up at the line of scrimmage in the second half during the NFL game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Houston Texans on December 21, 2025 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Glaze must improve in pass protection regardless of what offense Las Vegas runs moving forward. He finished the regular season tied for the second-most pressures allowed with 48, per PFF<\/a>, as the concerns about his athleticism and ability to stay in front of speed rushers coming out of college have reared their heads.<\/p>\n

While Kubiak\u2019s use of play-action can help mitigate that issue, it\u2019s actually the running game that makes the Maryland product a bad fit.<\/p>\n

A wide-zone system requires athletic offensive tackles who can get to edge defenders\u2019 outside shoulders to reach block them, or climb up to the second level and block linebackers in space. Glaze might be known for his run-blocking, but he\u2019s much better in a gap-heavy scheme with down blocks and double teams rather than the stretch runs that the Raiders\u2019 new head coach likes to use.<\/p>\n

For example, Glaze earned a solid 68.4 PFF run blocking grade<\/a> as a rookie, when 36.6 percent of the play calls were gap runs. However, he dropped to a 54.9 mark this past season, which coincided with an 8.3 percent reduction in gap runs. The 2024 third-round pick\u2019s best chance at having a successful career in Vegas is by switching to guard, and that could still be an issue from a fit standpoint.<\/p>\n

To be fair and similar to Glaze in pass protection, Thornton\u2019s route running has to improve to reach his full potential in the NFL, whether he\u2019s playing for Kubiak or any other coach. The Tennessee product has plenty of speed to be a deep threat, but right now, cornerbacks can sit back in off coverage and stay on top of him because they don\u2019t have to worry about the short to intermediate routes against him.<\/p>\n

As mentioned above, the intermediate passing game is a significant part of Kubiak\u2019s playbook. So, the pressure is on even more for Thornton to become a better route runner.<\/p>\n

Adding to that, this style of offense includes a lot of sight adjustments for wide receivers, meaning what route they run is often dictated by the defense\u2019s coverage. That means wideouts need to be able to run a full route tree because they could be asked to go deep, intermediate or short on any given play to make the defense wrong.<\/p>\n

In other words, the heat is on for the 2025 fourth-round pick to improve his biggest weakness with the Raiders\u2019 coaching change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Las Vegas Raiders have a new head coach, officially hiring former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[203280,72260,349,99],"class_list":["post-475522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-las-vegas-raiders-coaching-staff","tag-las-vegas-raiders-roster","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}