The list of problems for the Las Vegas Raiders continues to grow each and every day. What seemed like small, fixable issues at first have now metastasized throughout the building. At 2-8, all hope is lost for the 2025 NFL season, but it is not too late for the team to salvage some hope for the future.
Of course, that would require the coaching staff to lean on the team's young talent, specifically the rookie class, but they have refused to do so thus far. Though there have been countless examples, the latest, and perhaps most egregious, is first-year guard Caleb Rogers.
Rogers was a third-round pick in April's draft, but despite the valuable draft capital invested in him, he can't get on the field. In fact, he can't even get in uniform. Las Vegas has made him a healthy scratch for each of its 11 games this year, even with the interior offensive line dealing with injuries.
Chip Kelly's latest quote is emblematic of Raiders' issues
Although it has not been rectified, this saga has been well-documented. On Thursday, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly added another layer to the situation when he was asked how far he thought Rogers was from being game-ready for the Raiders.
"It could be two plays into the game on Sunday, you never know, just because of where we are from a depth standpoint," Kelly said. "We'll go through training today and training tomorrow and finalize who the five guys are gonna be. We're always gonna put the five best guys on the field. That's Pete's philosophy, and I've always agreed with it."
Perhaps Kelly misunderstood the question, but this is a complete non-answer. Being ready is not the same thing as being thrown into the fire because you're the only healthy player. Plus, you can't be thrown into the game if you're not active.
Kelly might be avoiding this question because he doesn't think that Rogers is ready, which is okay. It certainly calls into question the ability of the coaching staff to develop its talent, but not all rookies are ready to go right away, and Rogers was always going to be a project.
But now is the time to get going on that experiment.
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The Raiders are 2-8. They're not making the playoffs, even if they win out. Winning a handful of games toward the end of the season, ultimately, doesn't mean anything unless the young players on the team who will see this rebuild through are key factors in those victories.
Kelly and Carroll's insistence on sticking the best five players out there on the offensive line makes sense, to an extent, as poor offensive line play can derail the entire unit. But the "best five" last week was one of the worst, and perhaps the worst, combinations that Raider Nation has ever seen.
Rogers, like the team's other rookies who are scrounging for playing time, a higher snap share or usage when they are on the field, cannot get better unless they are entrusted to play freely in a game scenario. 100 practice reps aren't as valuable as a single play in a regular season game.
But the coaching staff's stubbornness in still trying to salvage this season is futile. The players they have chosen to "win now" are not getting the job done, and the future is not getting any brighter the longer these rookies sit on the bench.
Rogers should be one of the team's starting guards this week and every week until the end of the season, barring a return from injury for Jackson Powers-Johnson. That way, Las Vegas will know what it has in the young player. Plus, it's not like things can get any worse for the Raiders' offensive line.
Kelly's latest comment, however, insinuates that that won't be happening.