Rams could be reason Raiders turn to Fernando Mendoza

Kirk Cousins leads the NFL in touchdown passes with 14, and started his career with the Las Vegas Raiders at 3-0, but the veteran signal caller is playing with fire amid a three-game losing streak. If the Raiders lose to the spiraling Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the fans begging to see number one pick Fernando Mendoza take the reins could finally get their wish.

It’s not necessarily because Cousins lost the job, but that he was always just keeping it warm for Mendoza.

In fact, Cousins has played so well this season that Las Vegas should be able to flip him before the trade deadline for a draft pick. Perhaps on his way back to the Minnesota Vikings?

That was one of the topics that came up in this weeks 5 Qs with Silver and Black Pride’s Matt Holder. I asked about the season that Cousins is having and what it means for Mendoza, and his answer pulled no punches:

“At that point, it might be time to start thinking about 2027 and beyond because the team isn’t winning despite the 38-year-old quarterback playing well.”

Under any other circumstances, the Raiders would be thanking their lucky stars for Cousins. The carousel has been a nightmare since Derek Carr was cut and went to the Saints. But despite his 14 touchdowns, Cousins is starting to just get in the way, it seems.

Q: Is Kirk Cousins all the way back to being Kirk Cousins, or do you think he’s just had a nice setup so far and Fernando Mendoza will take over this season?

A: Cousins has definitely played a lot better than I (and most people) expected. It helps that he has experience working with Klint Kubiak, since they spent three years together in Minnesota when Gary Kubiak was the Vikings offensive coordinator (2019-2020), and Klint was the quarterbacks coach (2019-2020) and took over as OC in 2021. During the preseason, it was clear that Cousins has command of the offense/system, and that has continued over the last six weeks. The Raiders come into this game ranking sixth in points per game (27.0) and seventh in passing yards per game (263.5).

However, as you alluded to, the veteran signal caller is keeping the seat warm for Mendoza. Cousins has played well enough to make the Raiders a surprise playoff contender in the first half of the campaign, likely extending his time as the starter. And even during the three-game losing streak, he’s far from the team’s biggest problem and is a big reason they’ve been competitive in two out of the three losses. But the fact of the matter is that Las Vegas hasn’t beaten a quality opponent, and the October losses have made September feel like more of a fluke.

If the Raiders lose this week, that’ll be four in a row and their record will dip below .500 for the first time this year. At that point, it might be time to start thinking about 2027 and beyond because the team isn’t winning despite the 38-year-old quarterback playing well. So, even though the decision would have nothing to do with Cousins’ performance, turning to the rookie to give him experience and start building for the future will likely become Kubiak’s and the organization’s priority. 

Q: Tre Tucker could be one of the more shocking fourth-year breakout receivers of recent memory. What makes him so good and do you expect his production to continue long-term?

A: The 2023 third-round pick has been getting better and more productive every year despite working with subpar quarterbacks. For example, Tucker was the Raiders’ leading receiver with 57 catches, 696 yards and five touchdowns last year, all of which were career highs. He came into the league as a deep threat, and that’s still his bread and butter, but he’s grown tremendously as a route runner to be a threat in the intermediate areas of the field as well. 

So, I’m not surprised that Tucker is starting to climb up the receiver charts and get more recognition this season, ranking 20th in the NFL with 371 receiving yards through six weeks. He’s a good second option behind Brock Bowers in the passing game and has been the only wide receiver on the roster who has been productive this year. That being said, the long-term production question is tough to answer because the fourth-year pro is in a contract year. It will be interesting to see what his market looks like because his production has typically come in spurts rather than being consistent game-by-game, making it difficult to determine if he’s a go-to target moving forward.

Q: I don’t know anything about defensive coordinator Rob Leonard. Tell me about him.

A: Leonard was hired as the Raiders’ defensive line coach during Josh McDaniels’ second and final season as head coach. He had worked with defensive coordinator Patrick Graham — who he replaced this past offseason — for several years prior to landing in Las Vegas. Last year, Leonard’s role expanded by adding defensive run game coordinator to his title, and the defense showed a few impressive run blitzes and stunts that helped create negative plays in the running game throughout the season.

When Klint Kubiak took over, what likely helped the former defensive line coach stay with the Raiders and receive a promotion is that he spent one year under current Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald when Macdonald was the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator. Obviously, Kubiak is tied to the Seahawks’ head coach too, having won a Super Bowl together last February. It seems pretty clear that Kubiak wanted to run a variation of Macdonald’s defense in Vegas, which is what Leonard is doing.

The first-time coordinator has continued to develop the blitzes and stunts that he used in the run game last year, expanding them with simulated pressures, creeper blitzes and safety rotations to defend against the passing attack. Vegas’ defense has a lot of moving parts that can create confusion for quarterbacks and lead to turnovers — they had nine in the first three games — but that also can be a determinant. 

Leonard’s tendacies have been exposed during the three-game losing streak, as the Chiefs and Patriots routinely had the perfect play call for the Raiders’ defense. That was a little better last week, but the unit is very reliant on taking the ball away, and getting just one turnover in the last three weeks has led to them allowing 108 points during that time frame. At the end of the day, Leonard is still learning how to be an effective play-caller, and it doesn’t help that he doesn’t have that much talent to work with.

Q: Who is one player on the Raiders defense that’s an absolute baller but the majority of NFL fans haven’t heard of him before?

As mentioned above, Vegas’ defense doesn’t have enough talent outside of Maxx Crosby, who everyone has heard of at this point. So, this is a tough question to answer, but the first name that comes to mind is linebacker Nakobe Dean.

Granted, Dean was fairly well-known as a draft prospect coming out of Georgia and spent the last four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, meaning he’s far from a “no-name”. But he fits the criteria the best because he hasn’t received any Pro Bowls or postseason recognition and is all of the field on the Raiders’ defense. The former Eagle has made several impact plays against the run, routinely coming up with big third-down stops in key moments of the game. Within that, he’s tied for the NFL lead with three forced fumbles, all of which have come in the fourth quarter with less than four minutes left on the clock. 

Q: Give the Offensive Line a letter grade and tell me if you think they’re trending up or down this week.

C-.

Tyler Linderbaum signed a historic contract in free agency that makes him the highest-paid center by $9 million per year, but he has only been above-average and not the Top 5 player at the position the Raiders thought they were getting. Left Tackle Kolton Miller has been solid but isn’t nearly the pass protector he was in the past. Those were the two veteran linemen most people, including myself, were counting on to be the reliable presence in the trenches and help elevate the group as a whole. However, that hasn’t been the case.

Guard Spencer Burford is inconsistent at best, as he’s gone back and forth between being bad and good from week to week. At the other guard spot, Jackson Powers-Johnson beat out Caleb Rogers in training camp to be the starter in the first four games he played in. However, Powers-Johnson has also been inconsistent, leading to Rogers replacing him last week. The latter had an okay showing against the Bills but really struggled when facing defensive tackle Deone Walker, who has been on a tear to begin the season.

Meanwhile, the only pleasant surprise on the Raiders offensive line has been right tackle DJ Glaze, who has dramatically improved after being one of the worst pass-blocking offensive tackles in the NFL last year. But the offense still can’t run the ball because running backs Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. don’t have consistent holes, and the pass protection isn’t good enough for a 38-year-old quarterback who can’t move and navigate the pocket. Mendoza could help improve the latter, but Vegas certainly needs to get more out of the trenches moving forward.