Raiders Season Preview Show: Preparing for Miami

0:00Raters Masquerade powered by confirmed 360 is back for year number three. Go all in with the all-inclusive tailgate located in Lot B at Allegian Stadium, the ultimate pregame with unlimited food, an open bar, and live music before every home game. No game ticket needed, just your pass to pregame. Visit RaidersExperiences.com today for passes or walk up before the game while space lasts. Again, that's RaidersExperiences.com to party with the nation. We're on Nockfee with Nockfee injury law. Over 1,000 of our cases were referred to us from other lawyers. When other lawyers trust you to handle their cases, you should too. Hall Nockfee at 702 Injured. Welcome to the 2026 Raiders. I'm Jason Preview show, I'm JT The Brick. That's Q Myers, who joins us from Raider Nation Radio and ESPN Radio.

1:00Q, it's a new era and I'm excited because it's led by Clint Cuby, actor, new head coach. Yeah, I'm excited as well, JT. And it's something I've been saying a lot on the radio is that I don't know what it is about this era and I don't know what it is about this hate coach, but it just seems like it fits. It seems like it's the right time, the right guy, the right plan. You know, when he says ride for the brand and play with shocking effort, you know, and it just, it seems like that's been something that we've seen through the whole summer from the players. They've really leaned into that and I think maybe it's his no, no nonsense type approach and it's all football and he doesn't get too high, he's not too low, he's just real steady Eddie. I feel like that that really is resonating with these players. I'm excited about this. What I love about this is he's coming off a Super Bowl, the Raiders had a way to the end. Yes. And they had a way all the way to the end, but the good thing about him is he's all ball. As you've said, I've never seen anything like this. I mean, I'm talking every time we sit down with him or he's out to podium. He's just talking about football. There's no frills here and I like that because I think that's what the organization wants now.

2:01And that's a new direction they're going in. It's what they need, actually. You know, they need that no frills. They need just the right direction, lay it down, get to football, right? And place them real good, cop and marry football and I think that's what they're trying to do. I think the offensive line is key here because the offensive line really struggled last year and they couldn't open up holes. They didn't do a good job at past protecting. Then they bring in a new coaching staff here who's really specializing in that. And with Tyler Lindorbaum and Colt Miller back healthy and the competition that you saw every day at practice. How excited are you about this unit? I'm very excited because I think it all really resonates right there in the trenches. Right. The offensive line has to be able to protect. They have to open up holes if Kurt Cousins is going to be the guy and then eventually Fernando Mendoza be the guy. It all starts up front. And so with Rick Denison coming in, being the offensive line coach knowing that he's got many peltes on the wall. He's been there, done that. He's been around for Gary Kubiak. He's been around for many different iterations of offensive lines and many different teams.

3:03You know he understands what he's doing and you can see these guys really starting to come together. And what we know is this blocking scheme is proven. Right. You just have to go out there and get the guys to be able to execute at a high level. And you're going to have some really good running backs. You're going to have some really good offensive play. We know that Raider Nation is really thanking John Spide Tech and his staff because they went out there and got maybe seven to eight new starters. And I thought that was critical. And the Kobe Dean, what they were able to do, Kwe Walker, Quitte Pay, will get into Max throughout the show here. But this is a new team. Yeah, imagine if they didn't have that free agent class along with the draft. The draft was very deep Fernando Mendoza obviously number one. But wow, a lot of big time proven players on this roster. Yeah, and we were talking to John Spide Tech on earlier in the week. And he was talking about the new players that are on the defensive side of things. And you know, at one point, JT was Max and them, right? Max and the rest of the guys. Now there's difference makers in my opinion on every level. When you look at the defensive line, you look at the linebackers, you look at the secondary, the safeties. There's guys and there's some that are unproven because there's some that are young.

4:05But at the same time, there's guys that they had success in college. So I feel like as long as you have that success in college, you can get that to translate in the National Football League. And then you have guys like Nikobe Dean and Kwe Walker at that linebacker position. That's a huge upgrade. It's a huge upgrade. Yeah, I think the key to this season, as we open this up is, can you sustain drives on offense with Aston Genti and obviously Mike Washington, Jr. Can you move the chains and keep the defense rested and then can the defense cue get off the field on third down? This has got to be a defense on third and five, third and seven that gets off the field more possessions. Yeah. Because last year, the Raiders didn't have a lot of offensive possessions. And that offense and especially the run game that you mentioned, that's going to help that defense. Stay fresh, right? So if you have Aston Genti, you have Mike Washington moving the chains. If the Raiders could sustain drives, we saw some of them in the preseason. We saw a couple drives that were 12 plays, 14 plays. That's what you need. Keep that defense fresh, but they've got to finish when they have those drives. They can't finish with three. They've got to finish with seven. Well, the team identity is what we want to get into because as of now, they're trying to build an identity.

5:09Yeah. And we talked about the ball coach who's no frills. And I think the offensive line for me will be the identity of this team. There are stars on this team. AJ Cole is a star. Absolutely. Max Crosby, Fernando will be a star for years to come. But what do you think the identity needs to be going into the Miami game and the early part of the schedule? I just go back to what coach said, right? Again, play with shocking effort, right? Ride for the brand. I mean, I don't know about you, but that gets me excited just to hear that. And I remember asking Kirk Morrison, like, what does that mean to you? And he said, man, make those other teams go out there and earn it. Right? Don't make those other teams think that all this is an easy win. It's just the Raiders. No big deal. No, these guys are going to lay it all on the line. If you win, you're going to have to win. Right? You're going to have to go out there and play for that name on the, on the front of your jersey and the name on the back of the jersey. And be who the Raiders are. The Raiders are a brand. The Raiders are a brand not like a lot of other brands in the National Football League. They're an iconic brand. You've got to play like that. Represent the ones. We just saw alumni day, right? We saw all the greats that were there at a league of stadium that were former Raiders.

6:10You got to play for those guys too. I'm happy you mentioned that. I think the identity of this franchise is winning world championships. Hasn't been that way for a little bit, even though a lot of regimes have tried. I think they got to get back to physical football. Yes. They have to be so physical on the offensive line that they blow up the defensive line and push them back. And then the offensive line has to be the point that past protects and make sure that there aren't any jail breaks and there aren't sacks. And you know, they're not blowing up as in genty and Mike Washington behind the line of scrimmage. If they can play physical, mean aggressive football. And I think that's what coach Kubeak wants. And that's why he wanted a wingman fashion genty. Yes. He mentioned that all the way back at the scouting combine. And we saw that wingman really get a lot of work in the preseason in Mike Washington. And we realized, Scott can do something. He's fast. He's physical. Right. There's a lot to like about Mike Washington. And obviously we love action genty. So that one, two punch is going to be able to keep the defense fresh. It's going to be able to keep the offense with the short yards again if as long as they're staying on schedule.

7:13So it shouldn't be a lot of third and longs. They should be able to pop four or five yards and feel comfortable and keep the playbook wide open for Kubeak. Who, by the way, is an exceptional. I think elite matter fact play calling national football league. And we got to mention Brock Bauer. He's one of the best players in all of football. He's not even in the beginning of his prime. He was injured last year for a little bit. Now he's healthy. And I think they have to be explosive with him. Q with everybody talking about the wide receiver depth, which we'll get into. Let's look at Brock Bauer. And if he has an explosive here with Kirk Cousins and he gets the ball often, I think he's going to move the chains and have a pro ball here. I think he's going to break records. Yeah. I mean, just being out of practice and seeing the way that they're using Brock Bauer and realizing what they did with JSN last year in Seattle. And the fact that he lined up everywhere. I mean, that's the thing about it. That's what excites me about this offense. He can line up outside, Brock can line up outside. He can line up in the slot. He can line up in the back field because we saw JSN. There's proof of concept. They've done this. I just think that you're going to almost find one of those wears Waldo type situations.

8:14Where is this guy at? And so I think that Brock Bauer says an opportunity to really have a good season as long as he stays healthy. He'll be fine. If you look at the history of Clint Cubiak through his father and where he learned how to call plays with John L. Way back in the day with his father. What he was able to do in San Francisco, some of the coaches, the Minnesota years where Kirk Cousins were legit. Yeah. We're talking 4,000 yards, big numbers there. That's another big thing that we need to talk about. How quickly can this offense be explosive? We talked about the run game. We'll stay with that and we'll see what could happen here with a Clint Cubiak. Kirk Cousins, Brock Bauer's, Tyler Lindermom offense. That is a new look. Kirk Cousins, Q, I'll just tell you, he is just methodical. And I believe he understands that this is his opportunity. He didn't want to come here to be a backup. He wants to be the starter. He is, but he's got to get off to a good start. Yeah, and you mentioned it before on the radio show, Radio Nish Radio, that he's not going to come off the field. Once he gets on the field because he's that wily veteran, he knows how to stay on the field.

9:15And I think that that's good for the Raiders. And look, this is a guy who's now healthy. When we saw him at Allegiant Stadium, and he was a member of the Falcons, he wasn't healthy. We saw that and it was obvious, but a few years removed from the Achilles back with Clint Cubiak and having an opportunity to be the starter until he's not. I think this is a great opportunity. And you know, I know we saw a small sample size of him in the preseason, but I saw enough in training camp of him lining guys up when they were maybe not lined up correctly and being able to command the offense to say, you're not lined up correctly. Get over here. This is where you're supposed to be. And I would always look over at Paul G or someone and say, that's what he could do right now at this stage of the game that Fernando can't do. Yeah, I think the ball's got to come out quickly. He's not very mobile. He could be that mobile at this stage of his career, but I think he can make really good decisions early and change the play. What Clint Cubiak's offense is all about and I want you to want to mention Tom Brady in the essence of what Brady wants to do is get to the line of scrimmage, look at the defense and know where to go. Right.

10:15And if you got to change the play, do it. And I know that coach Cubiak will have a lot of confidence in him doing that. And it's a timing lit offense, right? So these why receivers tied in these guys that are going to be catching the ball. They've got to be a certain spots at a certain time. They have to be on time. That's how this thing works. But you mentioned Brady and his whole career more times and not he gets to the line of scrimmage and he knew if the play was going to work or not. Right. And so there's times and even in that that final preseason game that was against the 49ers, that was basically the dress rehearsal. You felt Cucons get to the line and say, OK, we're good. We're good. We're good. And you saw him get multiple first downs. You seen him throw a couple of touchdowns in the preseason. And he just looks like he understands Clint Cubiak's offense. And so I think this is really good for a team that has to learn how to win games. Yeah, and he's the pros pro. I talked to him in a production meeting. And the way he handled all the Mendoza questions. Yeah. Fernando is going to be a lead in this league and Raider Nation is counting on that. But how many times was he asked about mentoring him? Right. Now he's the starter. Now he jumps into this schedule. This is his football team and he's got to lead.

11:16Lead him really good right out of the gate. And it's funny because as many times as he was asked about being a mentor, he kept saying I'm not a mentor. But you know, I'm just I'm just leading, you know, and it's up to Fernando to follow. And like Cucubiak said, learn through osmosis, right? Just kind of see what it takes to be a pros pro. He's been around the league for a very long time. So how did he stick around so long? When did he go to treatment? When does he, you know, when does he, you know, go to the lunch room? Where is the lunch room? I mean, there's stuff like that that he can learn from Kirk cousins and he will learn. But you have a veteran out there day one in a season where you have to establish who you are as a culture, as an organization, trying to get to winning ways. That, I mean, you can't ask for anything else. And let's get a no connolly and what a pro. All the time. We'll see him at practice. Yep. And what he's been through in the past and he shows up early and he stays late. He had that come from behind drive. We were there for Houston and that was so cool. Yeah, it was. And Aiden has been a pros pro. You said it right. I mean, no matter what he's been asked to do from multiple staffs, he's done it. And he was complimented so much by Clint Kubiak and John Spitek from day one.

12:19Yeah, I'm excited about this quarterback room. It's a good one. But Kirk cousins has been named the starter and he's got to win if he wants to stay out on the field. I've known Rob Lennon for a while and I've been waiting for this opportunity for him. And he even said there were very vanilla in the preseason here. But getting Quay Walker and Nikobe Dean and Quitte Pay. He's got to unleash these guys. These guys got to stay on the field. I think they're impact players and wow, what additions to the steam queue. Yeah. And honestly, the defensive tackles, the interior that defensive line are going to play a big role in this Rob Lennon led defense. I mean, those guys are tasked with keeping Quay Walker and Nikobe Dean clean. Right. So they can go and make those plays. They've got the speed. They're their impact players. This is the first time in a long time that I said that there's defensive impactful players at every level as far as I'm concerned. And Rob Lennon is going to have an opportunity like you said to unleash them. But those defensive tackles that interior has to keep those guys clean. I think it's critical if those players were not on this roster coming into this year. And we would talk about the Raiders having developing younger linebackers and all that.

13:19These guys could be stars and they've played at the highest level with Philly and Green Bay. Really solid organizations where they were in big spots and they get their hands on the ball. And they rip and they turn the ball over. And here's the key. They're vocal. These guys aren't going to stand for an ADR drive or a 60 yard drive. They're going to be in the huddle getting everybody lined up in the right place. Well, they know what it takes to win. You said it, Green Bay, Philadelphia, those are places that have winning history. And so they're being injected into this Raiders defense. And then you have an alpha like Max Crosby there as well. You realize that there's a chance to make plays. One of the biggest bugaboo's for me with this defense over the past handful of years is they don't turn the ball over enough. They don't take the ball away enough. But you have guys we've seen them make plays in training camp. We saw make plays in the preseason. You have playmakers on all levels. Trading stooks. What'd you see from him and all these practices? He got better and better. He did. He got better and better. He's going to be very comfortable. I named him a day one starter with the moment that they drafted him. And I really truly believe that he has started quality.

14:20He's a young ball hawk that could play in multiple positions. Yeah, and I'll tell you this about Tyran Johnson. I went back and broke down the film looking at his career in Buffalo. Yeah. He played in a lot of big games. You know those are my home games? Yeah. Those games he was there on the field there and how to get off the field. So he's got a lot of experience too. I think six, seven new starters on defense again back to John Spite. That who said we're going to have a good draft. We're going to draft defensive players. But we got to bring in veterans to help the great Mad Max Cross. Well, the good thing is the veterans are all on the defensive line and in the linebacking room. And then the secondary is very young. And so they're going to all help each other. They're going to work together in unison. And that's what I'm excited about is you go out and make a move and get four new players. And then you go out and move and get four new guys in the secondary. And a guy in Jamad McCoy who was the first round talent that dropped to the fourth round. Hezekiah masses. All these guys have ball history, right? History of going in sea ball, get ball. That's what we used to hear. The great sea wood and EA say that all the time, sea ball, get ball. They can do that. So as long as the defensive line is doing their job, the linebackers are doing their job,

15:20these guys have an opportunity to make plays in the back end. Yeah, it's really important that they make plays because coach talked about it too. You got to catch the ball. Yes. And then you play safety. You're there at linebacker, the ball's tip. Yeah. Turn the ball over and make a play. Now we take a look at the schedule, which is one of the most unique schedules I've ever seen. In my time here with the writers, it is a tough one, but it opens up week one on the 13th against the dolphins and Q. Finally, the writers get a home game again. Yeah. Open up the season. Exactly. And so that's the biggest key is being able to open up at home. They haven't had that since they opened up a Legion Stadium against Baltimore in that Monday night football game. And so that was many moons ago. So yeah, having that opportunity and really with the team in Miami, that's got a lot of questions, right? I mean, they're a rebuilding team. The writers are a rebuilding team. I think that they have a lot further way to go, but that doesn't mean that they're going to be some pushover when they come to the Legion Stadium. Yeah, and initially I was taught in the organization to look at the first four games, break it down into fours. And the first four games, the charger games, short travel. So a home game, you don't have to travel.

16:21Right. 45, 50 minute flight there. You should be ready to go. That feels like a home game with Raider Nation there. Then the trip to New Orleans, which has been a friendly place for the writers over the decades to go play where they want a Super Bowl. And then you get Kansas City early. I like getting Kansas City early as they're trying to find their identity again from last year. And they're trying to figure out what their quarterbacks are going to do. Right? Who's Patrick Mahomes going to be, especially early on in the season, knowing that he's coming back from not only in ACL, but on LCL as well. So, you know, is he going to be the guy that most of the time when he makes really big plays, it's what? Off platform. He's, he's, you know, scrambling around making some plays, having making some magic happen. Is he going to do that? Is he going to be comfortable doing that? It's not really the physicality. It's usually between your ears if you have that confidence. A first place team, a championship team would have a schedule like this once we get to the gauntlet. Not a team coming off three wins. I've never seen anything like this at the Patriots, the bills at home, the rams at home back to back. A trip to the jets, which will be a lot of fun. Then at the Niners, the world champion Seahawks, and then the Broncos who went to the AFC championship game.

17:27When they put this schedule together on Park Avenue, someone had a look around the room and say, what is this? Are you sure? They're getting the NFC West queue and that happens. That's already pre-ordained here, but the rest of this part of the schedule from the Chiefs week four, because they deserve a lot of respect to the Broncos week 11. We're calling it the gauntlet. Yeah, there's no doubt. I mean, look, October and November is going to tell you all you need to know about this this Raiders team and how they're going year one under Head Coach Clint Koubiak, which is a great test, but you're right. I mean, when you get the draw of the NFC West and we know how good that that division is, and then the AFC West is one of the best divisions of football as well. You don't have any days off. You really don't? You can't look at the schedule and be intimidated by it. It's actually a great schedule for the fans. They're going to see some marquee teams and some great players. And if the Raiders can get off to a good start, keep some of these games close. Have an opportunity. I think that's the key to the year. Yes. Keep these games close in the third and fourth quarter. Have a chance to win. Exactly. That's the thing.

18:27I mean, you have to be able to win the games that you're supposed to win. The ones that you look like, okay, those are 50-50s, but we're playing at home, so let's go get this one. And then those real tough ones, be very competitive, push the bills, push the ramps, push the Niners. You know, all those, all those games. Make sure you're in those at the end because you have an opportunity. We see how this league is. It's really a one-score league. And we've seen the Raiders have a lot of success winning one-score games. For Q-Mires, I'm JT. It's going to be a great season Raider Nation. Thanks for joining us on the season preview show. There's a lot to talk about. Make sure you're there. Wear black. Get to a Legion stadium. The first game against the dolphins on September 13th. We need a big crowd, a loud crowd. Show up Raider Nation. We know you'll be there. And go Raiders. Raiders' masquerade, powered by confirmed 360 is back for year number three. Go all in with the all-inclusive tailgate located in Lot B at a Legion Stadium. The ultimate pregame with unlimited food, an open bar, and live music before every home game.

19:32No game ticket needed. Just your pass to pregame. Visit RaidersExperiences.com today for passes or walk up before the game while space lasts. Again, that's RaidersExperiences.com to party with the nation. Rohan Nockfy would Nockfy injury law. Over 1,000 of our cases were referred to us from other lawyers. When other lawyers trust you to handle their cases, you should too. Hall Nockfy at 702 injured. Karma Automotive. Commitment to excellence on the field and on the road. Meet Karma Rivera, 536 horsepower, hand built in America. The official luxury vehicle of the Las Vegas Raiders.