Raiders Week 5 Mailbag: Does the Broncos defense have a weakness?

I feel like a Raiders season doesn't really begin until the drama starts. So with all the trade talk and hype surrounding Davante Adams lately, consider this Week 4 game against the Denver Broncos the 2024 Las Vegas Raiders season opener!

I'm joking, of course, but we definitely have a lot to talk about in this week's mailbag.

Q: Does the Broncos defense have any weaknesses that the Raiders can exploit?

A: Denver's defense is pretty strong overall, especially in coverage, as Patrick Surtain II has become one of the best cornerbacks in the league and Riley Moss has emerged as a good second cornerback this season.

But the Broncos' defensive line isn't that good against the run. The problem is, as you all know, the Raiders have struggled to run the ball for most of the season. Granted, they finally broke through last week, so hopefully the Raiders can continue this weekend, especially with Adams sidelined again.

Q: How should we expect the rotation of defensive ends, with and without Maxx Crosby?

A: I think Tyree Wilson earned a little more playing time with his performance last week, so I expect him to score more runs in the future. If Crosby plays, he and Wilson will be the starting defensive ends and get the lion's share of reps, while Charles Snowden will come in on third downs.

If Crosby is out, Snowden will likely start again, splitting reps with K'Lavon Chaisson. Las Vegas did that last week and Janarius Robinson would be the next man off the bench.

Q: Ideally, I would prefer to trade Adams for a No. 1 and no compensation. And just trade him to New Orleans because I think their draft position would be more favorable. My question is: What realistic trade and who do you think the Raiders can make?

A: My knee-jerk reaction when the trade talks came to light was that Las Vegas could get a first-round pick for Adams. However, I've looked into recent wide receiver trades (see related post below) and think a second-rounder is probably the most likely compensation.

Plus, it sounds like that's exactly what the Raiders are asking for or expecting in return based on the reports. Hopefully they can add something else to sweeten the deal.

I understand that you want to sell him to the Saints. But if the Jets are willing to part ways with Garrett Wilson to reunite Aaron Rodgers and Adams, then I would lean that direction as the team would have a replacement for Adams immediately. Getting Wilson might be a long shot, but I could see it happening.

A: It's a combination of all three things you mentioned. Luke Getsy insists on calling zone runs, but Zamir White isn't a zone defender, the offensive line lacks blocks or doesn't get much pressure, and White doesn't make good reads.

Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images

However, we saw that the Raiders had to stop some runs last week. Some of these were gap runs with White or at least inside the zone moving downhill, and Alexander Mattison had a few good cuts on runs outside the zone. Hopefully we'll see more of this in the future, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Mattison take over as he's a better zone runner.

Brock Bowers definitely has the worst hairline. The guy was bald at about 19 years old and at 21 he's almost bald (not even peaking). Maybe we need to change his pro comparison to Jason Witten at this point…

A: I touched on this a bit in the answer above. White had a few more gap runs while Mattison was more on the outside zone, but White still had more stretch run carries than I would like to see. In addition, Getsy has gotten the receivers more involved in the running game. This isn't usually that sustainable, but it can help clear things up as it gives the defense something else to worry about.

The passing attack was harder to assess because the Browns had a lot of man coverage and it was the first game without Adams, the Raiders' best man-beater. That's a big reason why they haven't had as much success in the air. Going forward, I would expect Getsy to run the passing game through Bowers.

A: 1) Bowers 10 or more targets, Tre Tucker five to six and Jakobi Meyers about eight. That's about 25 goals between those three, so about five more for other players at 30 attempts per game seems like the winning formula to me.

2) Marcus shared the numbers on this and Las Vegas used 12 staff for most of last week, which was a big change from the first three games. Therefore, I expect there will be more two-tight end sets in the future.

3) I think a Michael Mayer trade is on the table since, as you mentioned, Tom Telesco is not the general manager who selected him. But I would like the Raiders to play a full season to see if they can handle playing with Bowers and Mayer on the field at the same time, especially with Adams on his way out.

A: I have a feeling they'll take whatever they can get for Adams at this point. It wouldn't surprise me if they ate up some of his salary by converting it into a signing bonus to sweeten the deal for a trade partner and increase the offer. It feels like the damage has been done and the Raiders would rather use whatever resources they can get to build for the future than keep a disgruntled player around.

Q: Where are you with Carson Beck today, Matt? I'm still on Shedeur because of the RaaDuhs…but what about that Cam Ward?

A: I was excited about Beck at the start of the season, but I've definitely cooled off after his last few performances against Kentucky and Alabama, especially this last one against Bama. It seemed like he regressed to Carson Beck in 2023, where he made too many bad decisions that put Georgia in a huge hole. I respect his determination to come back in this game, but such miserable starts can't happen in the NFL.

Aside from a tough game against Nebraska, Sanders has impressed me this season. I have questions about his leadership, but there's no denying he has plenty of arm talent.

For me, Ward is currently QB1. In my opinion, he has been the most impressive quarterback in the country this season, showing the arm talent and athleticism to make off-platform throws. Additionally, his decision-making has improved compared to last year. My Bleacher Report colleague Damian Parson also weighed in on why he's a big fan of Ward.

At this point in the process, Ward is QB1 ahead of Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and Georgia's Carson Beck. Why? Ward is physically superior when it comes to certain fundamental skills like arm strength and athleticism. He makes throws from multiple platforms and with multiple arm angles that most quarterbacks can't. Ward's accuracy and ball placement are on par with Sanders and Beck, but he has stronger physical skills. Therefore, its ceiling should be considered higher.

The two-time transfer player plays with a level of confidence that borders on “cocky” but also helps ensure his teams are never out of the game. Simply put, Ward has superstar tools and skills for the next level. His concerns are trainable, but his natural abilities are not.

Things could change as I delve deeper into each player's game and we get closer to the draft, but my quarterback rankings for these three are currently: Ward, Sanders, Beck.

A: No. Antonio Pierce's problems at Arizona State were specifically due to violations of NCAA rules and he didn't break any laws, so the NFL won't discipline him. Even when the NCAA makes a decision and penalizes someone, the NFL usually doesn't step in and doubles down. That's one of the differences between this situation and Terrelle Pryor's situation a few years ago.

Pryor was never punished by the NCAA because he withdrew from Ohio State and entered the league after the tattoo scandal. Pryor was also caught driving with a revoked license, so there was also a legal problem.

In other words, this just looks bad for AP.

A: To be honest, all the drama surrounding Pierce is concerning right now and I'm starting to worry about it too. If it was an isolated incident it wouldn't be such a big problem for me, but there's a lot of drama surrounding the head coach at the moment.

That's not what a team needs from its leader, especially a coach, and liking the social media post about trading Adams was petty and childish, as you mentioned. I wish I could ease the concerns, and I was in Pierce's corner last week, but it's getting harder and harder for me to defend him after everything that's happened lately.

Unfortunately I don't have any insight into the changing room.

That's enough for this week's mailbag. Thank you all for sending in questions. And as a weekly reminder, if you'd like your questions answered in a future column, tweet them to me. @MHolder95send them an email at [email protected] Or search the website for our weekly call for questions. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.