Not for a lack of effort, but Mark Davis just hasn't quite figured it out as the owner of the Las Vegas Raiders yet. Clearly, he can run a professional sports franchise well, as evidenced by his work with the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces. But he just hasn't found that secret sauce for the Silver and Black.
In an effort to do so, though, Davis has actually taken a significant step back. He is no longer a part of the football operation, at least not a key one or a final decision-maker. In fact, he is selling off minority shares of the team and angling for another eventual principal owner in Egon Durban as well.
As far as football, though, that is being left up to John Spytek, Klint Kubiak and of course, Tom Brady. Davis seems to like the results so far, even if it's early. This is particularly true at the quarterback position, which he shared with Raiders.com's Paul Gutierrez after a training camp practice last week.
Raiders owner Mark Davis is confident in new quarterback plan in Las Vegas
Raider Nation already knew that Davis was ecstatic about the team drafting Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Although it didn't take a football genius to see that he was the obvious choice, Davis truly seems to believe that he can soon restore the franchise's greatness.
But he also loves what Kirk Cousins is doing in the present.
"All I see is him finding open guys and getting the ball to them," Davis told Gutierrez as he took in Raiders training camp. "Kirk Cousins is looking really good. He's a pro quarterback. It's the Tom Brady effect."
The "Tom Brady effect" hasn't really been felt yet, as the team is 5-25 since he was officially approved as a minority owner. But hopefully, the tide turns this year with what appears to be a few signal-callers who are at least solid heading into the season.
Davis also referred to Cousins at various points as "crisp" and "deliberate," according to Gutierrez. It's not like Mark knows the game as well as his father, Al, did, but it doesn't really take a trained eye to see strong quarterback play in camp. And Mark Davis has been around enough to know what's what.
Here's the kicker, though: Davis doesn't just think Cousins and Mendoza are good players. He, just as Kubiak recently said, believes that the Silver and Black actually have three very capable signal-callers in the building in Las Vegas.
"We've got three legit quarterbacks on the roster."Raiders owner Mark Davis
The old football adage is that if you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none. But that doesn't really apply to this mentor-mentee, passing-the-torch sort of situation that the Raiders have going on with Cousins and Mendoza. And O'Connell has proven his worth time and time again as well.
Hopefully, Davis is right this time. The team has tried everything since he took over in 2011, with little to show for it. But the Autumn Wind could actually be blowing in Las Vegas for the first time in years, and it sounds like Davis won't be surprised at all if the Raiders turn it around.
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