The Las Vegas Raiders have made some of the most noise this NFL offseason from both the front office's point of view and player personnel. One of the biggest pick ups was adding Geno Smith to the roster for the foreseeable future, hopefully providing the franchise a quick turnaround.
Smith being the new quarterback in Las Vegas gives the Raiders a new wave of confidence in the locker room, and it should for the supporting fans, Raider Nation. After misleading quarterbacks and backups taking the starting role, the addition of Smith and the extension brings new life.
Last season, the former Seattle Seahawk ranked fourth in the National Football League in passing yards, collecting 4,320 in 17 games played. He also secured 21 touchdowns for the Seahawks, where between three quarterbacks last season for the Raiders, they totaled 19.
Going from a bench player to the starting quarterback in Las Vegas with a boat load of cash should give Smith the confidence that his organization believes in him, and according to analyst Rich Eisen, it's time for the rest of the league to believe in his abilities as well.
"The Raiders have not had somebody with his stability and his ability at the quarterback spot since, one would say, the year that Derek Carr took them to the playoffs with my boy Mayock," Eisen said on the Rich Eisen show.
"What the Raiders need is stability and they need a guy who's not only buying in, but he's going to get others to buy in when their new head coach is coming in.... "We're done churning through coaches and front offices' and quarterbacks, we're done with it."
Eisen mentioned that the Raiders have brought adults into the room, in both an experienced quarterback as well as an experienced head coach in Pete Carroll. Now that all the funny business seems behind the organization, this could be a franchise that turns more heads than anyone would expect.
The Raider Nation deserves a stable quarterback, a stable front office, and a stable football team. Yes, it's going to take work, but once it's time to play football, best believe the Raiders are going to leave it all out on the field and earn the respect from their faithful fans.
