Raiderstation

4. Las Vegas Raiders
Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator, Seattle Seahawks

Grade: B+

I heard Kubiak was asking the right questions during this process and will come in with the No. 1 pick in the draft and substantial resources to build the roster. The main reason I am bullish on this hire is that the same reasons the “coach watching” community were presumably down on Kubiak were the exact same reasons Mike Macdonald slipped through the cracks two years ago. We can label someone as timid or soft-spoken, but those labels often come from a fundamental misunderstanding of the person. For what it’s worth, I’ve heard Kubiak is an “animal” on game day. This is the correct hire for a team in this position, with the only question being how hands-off ownership will be in allowing Kubiak to grow into the role.

Kubiak specializes in an incredibly attractive brand of football loaded with explosive plays. The Seahawks ranked third in the NFL this year in air yards per completion and air yards per passing attempt. You could argue that the Seahawks get more out of play-action than any team in the NFL (they utilize it far less than the Rams but are close in total yardage). To me, this is an olive branch not only to Ashton Jeanty, but to any quarterback who is coming onto the roster.

The Raiders opted for my favorite coaching search strategy: When you have one of the worst jobs, be patient. Wait out the Super Bowl teams and give yourself a pick of candidates that may have otherwise been spoken for in another season.

chucker wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 8:54 am And if we need a starter because we want to ease Mendoza in, just start O'Connell or whoever we choose as a mentor. Winning games with that guy is not important.

JRaider17 wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 9:02 am Vinny on the radio is saying keep an eye out on Aden Durde.

rich72 wrote: Sun Feb 01, 2026 5:53 pm It would be awkward if the Seahawks lost like 40 to 0 in the super bowl.

Opoponax50 wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 10:09 am With Denver having to start Stidham, it's going to be difficult for Seattle to win by anything less than 25 points. Nothing will ever equal the the the series of bizarre events, circumstances, and decisions leading up to our Super Bowl against the Bucs, but like that game, this one has been decided before the teams even take the field.

Opoponax50 wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 10:09 am With Denver having to start Stidham, it's going to be difficult for Seattle to win by anything less than 25 points. Nothing will ever equal the the the series of bizarre events, circumstances, and decisions leading up to our Super Bowl against the Bucs, but like that game, this one has been decided before the teams even take the field.

DanKD wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 10:36 am Somebody is on something

BoKnows81 wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 11:08 am Lol holy shit. There's not even a logical excuse for that f[raiders_icon]ck up.

BotesBoats wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 8:39 am I think so too, but I struggle coupling that with knowledge of Kubiak's system, which is heavily reliant on play action. This isn't something Mendoza is going to be proficient at for a while. I don't see Kubiak changing what he does to accommodate RPO's. I'm just struggling to see exactly how he would accommodate his system for a rookie QB who doesn't even have the muscle memory for play action drop backs.

The simplest solution that I can see is using a bridge QB until he's ready. Which we also know Brady will be pushing for.

Raidernation1979 wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 11:18 am Mendoza has spoke about being at the manning pasing camp and doing play action for under center. This kid works harder than anyone. I have no doubts he’s already been working on doing from under center