Let's be honest: nothing is going to change for the Las Vegas Raiders until they get the right head coach and quarterback combination. Pete Carroll is not the right man to lead this Raiders team out of the darkness, and Las Vegas doesn't have a franchise quarterback currently on the roster.
So, what can the team do for the remainder of the 2025 NFL season? Well, for starters, they can play their young players and see what they actually have in the building. Win or lose, the Raiders must go into the offseason with a clear indication of how much their young players can factor into the future.
In part due to injuries, Carroll and Co. have started to give the young players a chance lately, and to no surprise, the results have been positive. In Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, however, the rookie class, in particular, let the team down in a 31-0 loss. But that is completely okay.
Raiders rookies didn't have success vs. Eagles, but grew immensely
Outside of Ashton Jeanty, who has gotten to play all season and whose highs and lows have been well-documented, let's take a look at some of the matchups that the rookie class had in Sunday's game against the Eagles.
Wide receivers Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. had to wriggle themselves free against Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell. Caleb Rogers had to handle legends like Brandon Graham and up-and-comers like Jordan Davis. Darien Porter had to cover A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith.
Tonka Hemingway and J.J. Pegues had to fight past Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson and Tyler Steen. Charles Grant even got some burn and had to block edge rushers like Jaelen Phillips and Jalyx Hunt. This rookie class was up against some of the most premier players in all of the sport.
Did they all hold up fine? Definitely not. But this experience, in a game where the final score couldn't have mattered less, is invaluable. It is so much better for these young guys to have in-game reps against these Philly stars, making their mistakes and learning from them now, as opposed to later.
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Porter and Rogers, in particular, struggled in their extensive playing time. Rogers gave up two sacks to Graham, and Porter was penalized once, missed two tackles, gave up three catches for 71 yards and was at least partially responsible for a miscommunication that led to a Brown touchdown.
Bech also played 34 snaps and only caught two passes for 17 yards. Thornton Jr. played 8 snaps and was never targeted. Hemingway had one tackle and one missed tackle in 13 reps, and Pegues didn't record a single stat in 16 snaps. The two had 33.4 and 53.6 Pro Football Focus grades, respectively.
Simply put, this rookie class got yanked around a bit on Sunday by the defending Super Bowl champions. But now they know what that level looks like, and they can take what they've learned and be better for it in the final three games and into next year.
Would a portion of these miscues going the other way or a handful of big plays from the rookies have made a difference in this lopsided game? Absolutely not. But the just the fact that they were out there learning on the job should be a positive for Raider Nation, and a stepping stone for these players.