Raiders Coaching Search Poll: Finally, Raiders to Considered Patrick Graham for Coaching Job

Could defensive coordinator be option for 2024?

There is so much focus on the chances of Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce becoming the team’s full-time coach in 2024 and for good reason.

Pierce is 3-3 as the team’s coach (he replaced the fired Josh McDaniels in Week 9). Players enjoy playing for Peirce and have spoken up for his behalf of getting the job come January.

But he may not be the only worthy candidate on owner Mark Davis’ current staff. The Raiders’ defense has made big strides and much credit should go to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham for that.

The unit is allowing 20 points a game, which is tied for the ninth best mark in the league. Also, the Raiders have 19 takeaways, which is their highest total in seven years.

Graham came to the Raiders in 2021 as a potential NFL head coach and he might get some interviews after this season. So, Davis might want to put Graham on his list along with Pierce.

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O’Connell’s Last Outing vs. KC Could Help in Round 2

A lot of weight was placed on the shoulders of Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell when he was given the keys upon Antonio Pierce’s promotion to interim head coach.

Not even nine games into his NFL career, the 2023 fourth-round draft pick was tasked with leading a turnaround effort for a team that had been on a decline.

O’Connell still has a lot of growing up to do; there’s no question about it. But while not all of his performances have met the standards expected from an NFL starting quarterback, the rookie has proven he can hold his own against the league’s best.

That was apparent in his last meeting with the defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, when O’Connell threw for 248 yards and a touchdown without a single turnover. That experience, along with his season-best outing against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15, will be vital as he prepares to take on the AFC West’s best team yet again.

At the same time, Raiders Interim Offensive Coordinator Bo Hardegree wants his rookie quarterback to keep in mind that “every week’s a new challenge.”

“He’s learning every week, I’m learning every week,” Hardegree told media members on Tuesday. “From that game [Week 12], obviously and that this prior game, is protecting the football. That was important.

“And [him] just playing with that ability to play fast and kind of learn from anything that came up in this game and the prior game versus the Chiefs, it will be important going forward.”

O’Connell has totaled 1,613 passing yards and eight touchdowns so far in his rookie season, having made seven starts.

For his 248 passing-yard, four-touchdown game against the Chargers last week, O’Connell has been nominated for the NFL’s Rookie of the Week Award for Week 15, the league announced Tuesday.

The Silver and Black will return to action versus their AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Christmas Day at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Don’t miss it on Monday, December 25, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST.