Las Vegas’ general manager and head coach talked about the most important position on the field during the NFL Combine.
INDIANAPOLIS — Quarterback is the Las Vegas Raiders’ biggest need and thus, the biggest storyline surrounding the Silver and Black this offseason. So, the question arises of what new general manager John Spytek and new head coach Pete Carroll are looking for in a quarterback.
Spytek and Carroll didn’t give a direct answer for obvious reasons, but they did shine some light on their evaluation process, starting with the current quarterbacks on the roster.
“It’s a mix of experience, and Gardner [Minshew] has done a lot of good things in his career, too,” Spytek said of the Raiders’ current QBs. “Aidan O’Connell has showed some quality stuff in his opportunities as well. I haven’t seen much of [Carter] Bradley. Ao we’re going to see if those guys are where we need to head or if we’ve got to add to it, but we’ve got to win more games too.”
Meanwhile, Carroll spoke about building an offense and mentioned how we can “get misled by star power” while diving into how he’d like to support a young passer through the running game.
“The quarterback position needs to be supported in every way possible so that they can be as effective as they’re able to be,” Carroll explained. “And that takes a combination of elements that make up the support of the QB. The running game is a huge element of that. Not just so that you can run the football.
“…You have to be able to run the football so that you can control your aspect of the game and take care of the ball so that the quarterback isn’t under duress, he isn’t in issues, he’s not behind the sticks, he’s not behind the game, he’s not behind the score because of the way the defense plays, the way the special teams play, and we try to build a team around the quarterback position.”
That being said, the Raiders do need to address the position this offseason. One of the early rumors surrounding the club is that they’re exploding trading for Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Neither Spytek nor Carroll would comment on players from another team’s roster, but both touched on bringing in a veteran passer.
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“The quarterback position is going to be highly contested, and if you look back at when we started at Seattle, and how we built the competition to find the proper guy that would take over in that job, that was a very intricate, elaborate process,” Carroll said. “And then you saw [Russell Wilson] won the competition because it was a wide-open competition that was very well designed and organized, and it worked out fine.
“So, however this goes, our guys are all going to take a shot at it, and we’ve got guys on the roster right now that are fighting their tails off to see if they can own that position. We’re going to give them a chance.”
Spytek has a history of adding quarterbacks in free agency through his time with the Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccanneers to add some credence to the veteran passer route. But, the general manager isn’t married to the idea.
“I mean, not to be kind of the cliché here, but any avenue where we can find a quarterback we’re going to explore,” the GM said. “So obviously there’s free agents. We have some guys in the building that we want to give a chance to compete. And working with Coach [Carroll] and with Chip [Kelly] and Olie [Greg Olson] and the whole offensive staff, we’re just going to try to find as many guys as we can to load that room up and have a great competition there.”
Of course, there’s the draft as well and the general manager shared some thoughts about the upcoming crop of rookies.
“Got a lot of guys that have played a lot of good football, some guys that have been through some adversity,” Spytek said. “The transfer portal is becoming more common. You’ve got Cam Ward and Will Howard and a bunch of these guys that have kind of showed different levels of success at different places. And they’ve all kind of risen to the challenge and made some programs that maybe haven’t had the success recently, Colorado, Miami, that they are accustomed to having. And so I think you got to give your credit to those guys for being a part of that and doing that. And I’m looking forward to talking with a bunch of them this week and getting to know them better.
“I haven’t had a chance to spend any time with any of them. To me, that’s a hugely important part, maybe the most important part, especially at quarterback. We get a little bit caught up on how far they can throw it as opposed to how they think it and how they process it and how they lead it.”
With the sixth pick in the draft, Las Vegas might have to trade up to get Ward or Shedeur Sanders. Spytek was asked if either are worth the move but, of course, he didn’t really bite.
“I don’t know, we’re just getting started here,” Spytek diplomatically replied. “We’re going to go through our process and figure out who’s the best fit. We’re just kind of getting started with stuff like that too. I mean, Pete [Carroll] and I are drinking from the fire hose pretty strong right now, and so we’re going to get there but I wouldn’t rule out anything. I mean, I try to be an open-minded person, and if it makes sense for the Raiders, we’ll do it. If it doesn’t, we won’t.”