The Las Vegas Raiders have been stuck in quarterback purgatory for over two decades. Ever since Rich Gannon led the team to the Super Bowl during the 2002 NFL season, the Silver and Black have struggled to find a franchise player under center.
Derek Carr was the closest thing, but even after nine seasons with the team, he was only able to muster two playoff appearances and had no postseason wins to show for it. This offseason, however, that seemingly changed with the addition of Geno Smith.
While Smith is not likely to be one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL this season, many expect him to lead this team to a winning record and potentially be a Pro Bowl-level player. After all, he is just one year removed from two-straight Pro Bowl appearances.
Raiders can only hope for Bleacher Report's "nightmare scenario"
This would be a dramatic improvement for the Raiders as they try to build a solid program under new general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll. However, Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon believes that a slight improvement would be a nightmare scenario for the Raiders.
"Geno Smith and a decent core help the Raiders win enough games to lack great first-round draft capital in pursuit of a franchise quarterback in 2026," Gagnon wrote.
Given that the Raiders have failed to find a young franchise quarterback at the top of the draft board, this viewpoint makes sense in a way. However, it ignores the fact that if the team improves this season, the Raiders will not be looking to replace Smith in 2026.
RELATED: ESPN already giving Raiders brutal 2026 NFL Draft outlook
When taking a look at the most successful quarterbacks in the league, a good portion of them are early draft picks, but not exclusively. Roughly half of last year's playoff quarterbacks were drafted in the middle of the first round or later, and the Super Bowl-winning quarterback was drafted in the latter half of the second round.
If Raider Nation truly trusts the new regime that they have in place, they should feel confident in their ability to grab great players anywhere in the draft. While the 2026 quarterback class is shaping up to be a strong group, that only means that there will be more options, and it is less pressing to be at the top of the board.
After a brutal four-win season in 2024, all that Raider Nation wants to see is improvement and a bit of hope for the future. If that drops the team back a few spots in next year's draft, so be it, because Spytek can find great players anywhere.