The 2026 NFL season officially kicked off on Thursday evening, as it does every year, with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. It wasn't all that long ago that the Las Vegas Raiders were beginning the Josh McDaniels era in this exact game, where he infamously had Josh Jacobs out there getting reps.
But this year's contest had nothing to do with the Silver and Black, at least not directly. However, the Raiders' preseason opener will be against the Arizona Cardinals on August 13, and Las Vegas got a glimpse of them as they took on the Carolina Panthers in this bonus exhibition bout.
And while it is hard to read too much into a single preseason match, especially one without any first-stringers and hardly any second-teamers, young Cardinals quarterback Carson Beck looked great in his NFL debut. Hopefully, he rides that momentum into next week at Allegiant Stadium.
Because this young Raiders secondary and first-time defensive coordinator Rob Leonard could certainly use the challenge in the early going.
Carson Beck should challenge Raiders' defense in preseason opener
Beck took a circuitous route to being a third-round pick by Arizona in this past April's draft, but he was a successful college quarterback and can certainly carve out a solid pro career. And he can definitely thrive in a preseason setting against primarily backups, as he did against Carolina.
In two quarters of work, Beck completed 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown, good for 9.9 yards per attempt and a quarterback rating of 125.4. He looked comfortable in the pocket, taking just one sack, and he took care of the ball.
He made a handful of difficult completions, putting his accuracy and ball placement on display, and he uncorked a few deep balls and layered some nice passes downfield against the Panthers' secondary. And honestly, this is the kind of performance Raiders fans should want to see from him.
Winning and losing in the preseason ultimately don't matter. But this time of year is critical for figuring out who should be a part of this roster, and it will be a good opportunity for Leonard, Klint Kubiak and Andrew Janocko to get their feet wet in their new roles against a young QB who is playing well.
With so many young players rotating in on defense, particularly in the secondary, Beck seems like he is ready to test them and give both the coaching staff and fanbase a good indication of where these rookies and second-year players are in their development process.
Having even one game under your belt at this juncture is a major advantage for Beck to have over Las Vegas rookies like Zeke Masses, Jermod McCoy, Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson, all of whom figure to play a good amount against Beck during next Thursday's preseason showdown.
What those young players show and how they adjust on the fly will say a lot about them in the early going. And how Leonard prepares for this game and builds a plan to shut Beck down will say a lot about the young coach at this early juncture as well.
Most people don't care about the Hall of Fame Game, as it is easy to brush it off. But Beck performing well made my Raiders-centric mind think about what it means for the preseason opener in Las Vegas. And his finding a groove against Carolina gives the Silver and Black a measuring stick.
Hopefully, Beck looks like a shell of himself against Leonard's young, new-look defense, and Raider Nation can feel confident about how the group performs. If not, it obviously won't be the end of the world, but Beck's Hall of Fame Game showing proved that Las Vegas could have a nice early test.
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