We’ve detailed the Raiders 2024 season Ballers. Now we move on to the second part…
Busters
HC Antonio Pierce, OC Luke Getsy
This team was doomed from the start. The team had little of the mojo it had over the latter half of last season. And having one of the worst offenses in the league was not helping.
Pierce was out of his depth in terms of game management and while he preached not getting too high or low, no one rode the emotional roller coaster more than he did.
Getsy simply walked in a ruined any chance the Oline had of succeeding by changing up their blocking scheme. The result was disastrous.
In the the nine games with Getsy still in place, either he or Pierce (or both) were a Buster six times. And three times a Top Buster.
QB Gardner Minshew
For all the talk about how the Raiders should have gone with Aidan O’Connell from the start, Minshew did actually look better in training camp. Even though it was clearly a lesser of the evils situation. Then Minshew went out and looked downright terrible. He had one good game — that miracle win in Baltimore. Outside of that, he was a Buster six times, and twice a Top Buster.
CB DeCamerion Richardson
He was thrust into a starting role when he was not ready for it. Jakorian Bennett was lost for the season and the rookie Richardson was the Raiders best option. He routinely got torched by opposing receivers and was named a Buster four times over the final eight games, including twice a Top Buster.
S Isaiah Pola-Mao
Pola-Mao also stepped in as an injury replacement. And overall, he showed enough that he could get a shot. That game he had with two forced fumbles spoke well of him. But he has some work still to do, including his penchant for not keeping his head up when he tackles. He was a Top Buster three times down the stretch.
LT Kolton Miller, RT DJ Glaze
This was tough. Because the blocking scheme put Miller in a tough spot early in the season and Glaze is a rookie. The result was Miller giving up seven sacks along with seven penalties, while Glaze gave up three sacks with eight penalties.
The two of them could be the Raiders starting tackles for years to come, so it’s important not to take this as a judgment of their talents. Glaze showed a lot of signs he will be a talented tackle in this league and Miller just had a down year, from which I expect he will bounce back.
RB Zamir White
White came on strong late last season when he had a fresh body and the rest of the NFL did not. I was still skeptical he could sustain it because I hadn’t seen anything special about his running abilities. And this year he was an utter liability. He was a Buster three times in eight games and every other back the Raiders played looked like an upgrade.
