Klint Kubiak has made himself quite clear during his six months as the Las Vegas Raiders' head coach: everything will be earned. As training camp has gone on, fans are realizing that Kubiak is actually putting his money where his mouth is, too, as several positional battles are raging on.
Preseason games can be a great indicator of where these competitions stand, but oftentimes, teams keep their starters or key players out of exhibitions for fear of injury. But Kubiak told SiriusXM on Friday that he plans on playing the Raiders' starters a lot this preseason, even veteran Kirk Cousins.
"Yeah, we're just treating everybody like it's year one. [Cousins] is advanced for obvious reasons, but you're only as good as your weakest link," Kubiak said. "So, we gotta make sure that everybody's on the same page from square one. Our guys are gonna get plenty of reps to play in the preseason, our starters."
Kubiak's declaration is important and beneficial for several reasons.
Klint Kubiak is right that young Raiders team and starters need preseason reps
This young Las Vegas team needs as many live reps as it can get. 56 Raiders on this roster have two or fewer years of NFL experience, which is well over half the team. To learn the ropes, trial by fire is necessary, and Kubiak will be relying on too many young players to sit them out of the preseason.
Plus, Kubiak is a brand-new coach, and he is running a system that is unfamiliar to almost everyone in the building. The same goes for defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, who has never called plays and needs to have his key pieces out there so he is acquainted and comfortable in his role by Week 1.
In all honesty, this coaching staff and front office have a good idea of who is going to make the roster. Obviously, there are some close calls to make, and every player should get at least some opportunity to prove that they belong on the 53-man team or the practice squad.
But Las Vegas doesn't need a million reps to figure stuff like that out. They have live periods in camp and joint practices to sort through these lower-stakes battles. What matters more is seeing how the top groups are gelling together at this point and determining the winners of key battles.
The better an idea the Silver and Black have about who is starting at right guard, at corner opposite Eric Stokes, at free safety and who the No. 3 wide receiver is, the more ahead of the curve they'll be by the opener. Teams shouldn't be hesitant about who to play when the real games start.
Oh, and having a crystal clear idea of who gets the nod under center is probably a good idea, too.
Raiders' QB battle could be determined during preseason
Fernando Mendoza hasn't exactly banked a ton of NFL reps. In fact, he has zero under his belt. But his veteran counterpart, Cousins, has played 11,051 in the regular season, 264 in the playoffs and 497 more in the preseason. That is quite a chasm, and most would say Cousins doesn't need to play.
But Kubiak has revealed that Cousins, the presumed starter, and the rest of the first-team offense will be getting live reps in preseason. Everyone needs to be on the same page, so even though Cousins has a grasp of the offense and would fare just fine without snaps, he's only doing his 1/11th out there.
All of the Raiders' young players need to keep establishing their rapport with Cousins, especially in a live setting. It would be tough to adjust if they spent the whole preseason playing with a quarterback who wasn't even under center in Week 1. It would lead to miscommunications, delays and bad timing.
Cousins, however, hasn't played in the preseason since 2021, when he played just 30 snaps. In fact, those are the only 30 snaps he has played in exhibition games since 2019, so this will be quite an adjustment for the nearly 38-year-old quarterback with 14 NFL seasons to his credit.
While Cousins will play, Mendoza should also get extended run, which will be exciting. Raider Nation is surely still holding out hope that the young man can continue to impress in whatever opportunities he is given and put pressure on Cousins ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
It could play out like the battle between Derek Carr and Matt Schaub back in 2014, when Oakland sought out the latter as a veteran to mentor the former. Of course, fans remember the rookie beating out the experienced signal-caller and quickly becoming a face-of-the-franchise type of player.
Playing Cousins in the preseason is actually a critical component of this, as the staff, front office and fanbase need that side-by-side comparison with Mendoza to affirm that the young player is actually worthy of starting and not just an exhibition sensation.
Kubiak and the staff have too much respect for Cousins to sit him during the preseason and then just give his job to a younger quarterback as well. So, for every conceivable reason, the Silver and Black playing their starters is beneficial for this team ahead of the first year in this rebuild.
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