The Las Vegas Raiders' quarterback issues during the 2025 NFL season are much deeper than meets the eye. Yes, everyone can see Geno Smith tossing interceptions to opposing teams in bunches, and they see him go tumbling to the ground with sack after sack.
But it's the little things, too, that have so plagued this Las Vegas offense. Not just missed throws, but failing to see open pass-catchers altogether. Not just taking sacks, but taking sacks in crucial situations when checkdowns or throwing the ball away were clear options.
Raider Nation has long been fed up with Smith, and based on his NSFW gestures to the home crowd after the loss to the Cleveland Browns, the veteran quarterback is getting sick of the fan base, too. A change must be looming, and no matter how soon it happens, it won't be soon enough.
Former Raiders WR James Jones is fed up with Geno Smith's poor showings
After Sunday's loss to the Denver Broncos, former Raiders wide receiver James Jones talked with host Amber Theoharis and Hall of Fame cornerback Eric Allen on the post-game show. Jones didn't exactly mince any words when talking about Smith.
Jones and Allen do what they call an "Early Review of the Tape," where they watch key moments from the game and break them down from the perspective of accomplished former players. While watching a clip of Smith taking yet another sack on third down, Jones ripped into the quarterback.
"3rd-and-8. Geno Smith. The ball has to come out of your hands," Jones said, clapping emphatically between each word. "You cannot sit back there and hold this football. If not, get outta there and make a play with your legs. Check it down. Get the ball outta your hands. ... Let your playmakers break tackles. Get the ball in their hands."
The two fast-forwarded to nearly an identical situation on the following drive. Although the play design was not ideal, Jones essentially blamed Smith for a bad pre-snap diagnosis and laid into him once again.
"Again, we are 3rd-and-7. I want y'all to pay attention. It's empty! This ain't the answer," Jones said, as Smith's pass fell incomplete. "This is not the answer for empty. We're trying to get a screen set up, this is not the answer. I would love for us to check to a one-on-one route and get the ball out of our hands quick."
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On the third play that they showed, Smith threw a jump ball to Tre Tucker when he was double-covered, and one of those Broncos defenders was reigning Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II. Jones, again, held Smith accountable.
"Listen, man, I ain't the smartest man in the room; I don't claim to be. But all I know is, if they got one of the baddest men on the planet over there, and he double-teamed with one of the smallest receivers on our football team, we probably shouldn't be throwing the 'Moss' ball. That's probably not the play to go," Jones said.
It is gratifying to hear a former player and someone so plugged in with the franchise have the same complaints about Smith as the fan base does. The crew finished off their show with a discussion about who to play next week at quarterback, given Smith's injury.
Injury or not, it is painfully clear that Kenny Pickett would be Jones' choice.
"We're in the National Football League. When you don't do your job, you get benched or you get cut. That's just the name of the business. I don't care how much money you make, that's just what happens to you," Jones said. "We've been scoring, what? 14, 15 points a game? So this ain't like Geno Smith has only had one bad game. We're 2-11. So Geno Smith has not played good football for a long time. You have to go with Kenny Pickett. ... We need a spark. We need something different. The quarterback always gets blamed. It ain't fair, but that's what happens. Kenny Pickett gotta go in the game."
Yeah, Jones pretty much said it all here. This set of criticisms is brutal, coming from a former player who knows how much harder it is to accomplish things on the field than it is to play armchair quarterback. But this long-winded condemnation of Smith's play is certainly warranted as well.