When Pete Carroll was hired as Las Vegas Raiders' head coach nearly a year ago, it was with the idea of the team being competitive quickly. How that would look in terms of wins and losses this season was unclear, but if there was progress it would presumably be noticeable.
Instead, things went the other way. Carroll proved to be ill-suited to coach a roster that was not in position to be competitive. He doubled-down on his failures by refusing to give younger players more playing time in favor of veterans he had prior ties to.
At times, how Carroll defended and praised underperforming players made it seem like he wasn't watching his team on the field.
In some sense, the only year of the Carroll era in Las Vegas was the worst of almost everything. A 3-14 record earned the first overall pick in April's draft, but the Raiders learned very little about their 2025 rookie class this side of Ashton Jeanty.
Not every rookie was ready to play immediately like Jeanty was, but many couldn't have been worse than the veterans that played instead.
Raiders' place in rookie class ranking further proves folly of Pete Carroll's ways
ESPN's Aaron Schatz has ranked the 2025 rookie classes around the league, using some advanced value and production metrics like would be expected from the creator of DVOA, 1-32.
As could also be expected, the Raiders are well down the list at No. 26.
"The Raiders finished the season with one of the 10 worst run offenses of the past 45 years, according to DVOA, but it wasn't running back Ashton Jeanty's fault. The No. 6 pick was near the top of the league in missed tackle rate; there's only so far you can get without good blocking. Speaking of the blockers, third-round pick Caleb Rogers started six games at right guard, and another third-round pick, Charles Grant, started one at left tackle."
"The Raiders had two rookie wide receivers, but they didn't get on the field too much until the last month of the year. Second-rounder Jack Bech finished with 20 catches for 224 yards, and fourth-rounder Dont'e Thornton Jr. had 10 catches for 135 yards."
"The Raiders got defensive contributions from undrafted free agent cornerback Greedy Vance (who played six games at the end of the season) and two defensive tackles who each appeared in nine games, fourth-rounder Tonka Hemingway and seventh-rounder JJ Pegues."
Of all the rookies Schatz named above, one (Jeanty) played 400 or more snaps on their side of the ball. Thornton almost got there, with 399 offensive snaps, followed by Bech (the one young player Carroll vouched for) at 343.
For a direct comparison there, wide receiver Tyler Lockett played 308 offensive snaps over 10 games after reuniting with Carroll in the middle of the season.
It was easy to see the 74-year old Carroll being unwilling to play young players if the Raiders' situation started to dictate it. One win between Week 1 and Week 18 certainly dictated it, and he still wouldn't do it.
But on the bright side, there is a group of second-year players with untapped potential the next coaching staff can practically work with as if they are rookies heading toward next season.