Le Journal

The Las Vegas Raiders have the number one pick in the draft, and everyone is expecting that to be Fernando Mendoza. However, there are other positions of need for the Raiders, and one of them is the offensive line. Throughout the season, the Offensive line has been a topic of discussion with viral videos displaying their mistakes. It is vital for them to upgrade, and while it will start in free agency, the draft will help build it up for the future. One of the first destinations for the draft is the Senior Bowl. It is the place where team’s and get their first look at prospects during live practices and conduct interviews with players. There is plenty of offensive line talent available that could help elevate the Raiders’ offensive line immediately. Emmanuel Pregnon OG, Oregon One of the highest graded guards participating at the Senior Bowl is Oregon interior offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon. Pregnon transferred from USC and had his best year in college. He allowed five pressures all season and no sacks in 15 games for the Oregon Ducks. At 6’5 and 318 pounds, he is scheme diverse, excelling in zone and gap schemes. He could be a day 2 option for the Raiders. Keylan Rutledge, OG, Georgia Tech Another standout player is Keylan Rutledge from Georgia Tech. Rutledge is a big body at the guard position at 330 pounds with great athleticism for the position. Running mostly a power scheme in Georgia Tech’s offense, Rutledge is great when being pulled and smashing linebackers, and he helped Georgia Tech have one of the best run games in the country. At the Senior Bowl, scouts will have a chance to see more traditional pass blocking reps that were not seen on film during his time with the Yellow Jackets. If he excels, he could shoot up boards with his skills as a run blocker. Max Iheanachor, OT, Arizona State The tackles for the Raiders this season gave up 21 sacks, and Max Iheanachor from Arizona State could be a player who adds competition. Iheanachor is huge at 6’6 and 330 pounds, but is light on his feet as a right tackle. One of his best games of the year was against the expected first-round pass rusher, David Bailey from Texas Tech. Iheanachor had a first-round buzz heading into 2025, but did struggle at times during the season, allowing 14 pressures. If he has a good week of practice, he could be a player the Raiders’ scouts look at to help upgrade the tackle position.

I hope everyone enjoyed watching the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, help the Indiana Hoosiers take home the College Football National Championship on Monday night! With that in mind, we’re keeping it rolling with the offseason mailbag this week, focusing on the head coach search, 2026 NFL draft and free agency. As a heads up, I’ll be at the Senior Bowl next week, so feel free to hit me with questions about any prospects who will be in Mobile. However, due to time/travel constraints, that also means I won’t be able to do a mailbag column next week. But I will be back ahead of the Super Bowl and more than happy to talk about who stood out at the Senior Bowl. As always, anything Raiders-related is on the table and fire away with anything that’s on your mind. Send your questions my way by either dropping a comment in the comments section below, tweeting at me (@MHolder95) or via email at SBPQuestions1@gmail.com. I’ll follow up with another column in the coming days. If you don’t have a commenting account already, you’ll need to create one but the steps are pretty easy and it’s a seamless process. Also, we have full-time moderators to enforce the Community Guidelines.

A report from Jordan Schultz on Wednesday indicated that the Las Vegas Raiders are looking for an “offensive minded” coach to pair with likely first overall selection Fernando Mendoza. Additionally, Schultz went on to mention the top three candidates seem to be Klint Kubiak, Davis Webb, and Jesse Minter. While Minter is a defensive minded coach, he can likely bring in a strong offensive minded coach from his connections with former Ravens and Michigan staffers. Additionally, the consensus around the NFL right now is the Raiders are more than willing to wait till after this weekend’s conference championships and if needed, the Super Bowl to hire a head coach. Lets take a look at the Raiders three reported finalists, their potential coaching staffs, and much more: Experience Kubiak is the son of Gary Kubiak, and his younger brother Klay Kubiak is also the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. Klint, just 38 years old, has been a top name for a few years within circles as an offensive coordinator. He started his career with Texas A&M as a quality control coach in 2010-2012. Kubiak then went to work with the Vikings under in 2013-2014 as a quality control coach before then moving to Kansas in 2015. Kubiak then went back to the Broncos for 2016-2018 as an offensive assistant before pivoting to the Vikings in 2019. Kubiak spent 2019 and 2020 as the Vikings QB coach before taking the reigns as an OC in 2021. Kubiak then went onto the Broncos in 2022 as their QB coach, and the 49ers pass game coordinator in 2023. He then joined the Saints in 2024 as their offensive coordinator and Seahawks offensive coordinator in 2025. Minnesota Vikings (2019-2021) As a QB coach, Kubiak has seen success with 2019 Kirk Cousins completing 69% of his attempts for 3603 yards, 26 touchdowns, and just 6 interceptions while being named to the Pro Bowl. Additionally, Cousins finished with a 4.4% big time throw rate to just a 2.4% turnover worthy play rate as well. In 2020, Cousins completed 67% of his attempts for 4221 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions while maintaining the same number of big time throws and turnover worthy plays. In his first season as an offensive coordinator in 2021, Kubiak saw his offense rank 12th in total yards, and 14th in points. Additionally, Kubiak’s offense ranked 11th in passing yards, 9th in touchdowns, and tossed the least number of interceptions in the NFL as well. Their run game finished 17th in yards and 28th in touchdowns. His offense ranked 14th in EPA, 15th in DVOA, and quarterback Kirk Cousins went on to throw 4221 yards, 33 touchdowns, and just 7 interceptions with the touchdowns being a career high and the 2nd most yards of his career. Denver Broncos (2022) In his lone season with the Broncos, the team saw veteran quarterback Russell Wilson log a 60% completion rate, 3524 yards, and 16 touchdowns to 11 interceptions with backup Brett Rypien having a 60% completion rate, 483 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. Wilson struggled in his time post Seattle regardless and Kubiak’s overall influence is questionable as well in terms of success or failures. The Broncos delegated Kubiak as the play-caller in late November after Nathaniel Hackett’s incredible struggles as head coach. The Broncos finished the season 14th in total offense from the time Kubiak took over to the final game of the season. Seahawks running everyone's favorite RedZone play "X-Traffic"Klint Kubiak is cooking. pic.twitter.com/iNjAWXJdbW— FieldFlow (@FieldFlowus) January 18, 2026 San Francisco 49ers (2023) Kubiak served as the teams pass game coordinator, and the 49ers ranked top 8 in majority of passing aspects though Kyle Shanahan ran majority of the offensive systems. Kubiak was the 49ers unofficial offensive coordinator as well with the 49ers not naming an OC following the parting of former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniels. New Orleans Saints (2024) The Saints named Kubiak their offensive coordinator to start the 2024…

On Thursday, the NFL announced the finalists for their 2025 NFL Honors, and Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is in the running for two end-of-season awards: Defensive Player of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year. The four finalists for Defensive Player of the Year, joining Hutchinson, are Will Anderson Jr. (Texans), Nik Bonitto (Broncos), Myles Garrett (Browns), and Micah Parsons (Packers). From a statistical perspective, these five players represent four of the top six pressure creators in the NFL in 2025, with Hutchinson leading the way with 89 pressures. However, this category tends to heavily lean toward sack producers, and this could be where Garrett overtakes Hutchinson for the award. While Hutchinson registered a career-high 14.5 sacks that landed him fourth in the NFL and second amongst the finalists, Garrett set an NFL record with 23, a number that will be hard for voters to overlook. The four finalists joining Hutchinson for the Comeback Player of the Year award include wide receiver Stefon Diggs (Patriots), quarterback Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars), running back Christian McCaffrey (49ers), and Dak Prescott (Cowboys). Hutchinson is up for the award, as he was coming off a broken leg in 2024, and not only did he put up tremendous defensive stats in 2025, but he also registered 100+ defensive snaps (950) more than any other defensive lineman in the NFL this past season (save Max Crosby, who had 886). An impressive showing of stability after a gruesome end to his 2024 season. As for the other finalists, it’ll be interesting to see who can challenge Hutchinson. Diggs was coming off an ACL and registered 85 receptions (12th most in the NFL) for 1013 receiving yards (16th). Lawrence’s 2024 season ended due to multiple concussions, and he rebounded in 2025 by throwing over 4000 yards (6th) and 29 touchdowns (5th). McCaffrey dealt with multiple injuries in 2024 (only played in four games), but in 2025, he ran for 1202 yards (8th), scored 10 rushing touchdowns (9th), and led all running backs with 102 receptions for 924 receiving yards. Prescott saw a hamstring end his 2024 season prematurely, and he finished 2025 with 4552 passing yards (3rd), 30 touchdowns (4th), and led the NFL with 404 completions. The 2025 NFL awards show will air on NFL Network on February 5, 2026.