*The Ceiling for the 2024 Raiders* IS WAY HIGHER Than You Think

You didn't think I was going to leave you on that last video with some negativity more than one day, did you? Because look, I talked about the doomsday scenario in my last video. What if Aiden O'Connell doesn't develop and our quarterback stinks? And a lot of people were like, man, I can't believe you would suggest such a thing. People seem to forget that in that same video I said, I don't think this is going to happen. In fact, I think he's going to turn out to be a pretty damn good player. There's nothing wrong with having that discussion. With that being said, every doomsday scenario has a mirror, has an evil twin, or in this case, a good twin. And that twin is the best case scenario for the Las Vegas Raiders. We're going to talk about Max Crosby, Devontae Adams, Aiden O'Connell, Antonio Pierce, Luke Goetze, the whole nine yards. There's going to be best case scenarios for every single player, and we're going to be realistic. Obviously, the best case scenario would be us hoisting the Lombardi trophy. Will that happen? I don't know. Probably not. But the best case scenario means the most likely slash best. What can we do with the roster that's currently constructed? Is it good enough to win a Super Bowl? Can Aiden make a Pro Bowl? Can Brock Bowers break rookie records? We're going to discuss all that, but before the video starts, I need you guys to comment below. What are your best case scenarios for every single player that you want to talk about? The offensive and defensive line, Daniel freaking Carlson, our left tackle Colton Miller, head coach Antonio Pierce, anyone you want to talk about, what's the best case scenario? And one more thing, I want to make this a full-time job. And the only way I can do that is to get views. And the only way I get views is by subscribers. And if I can get to 10,000 subscribers before the new league year, that can change everything. And if you are new, please consider hitting that subscribe button. Right now we're so close to 7,000. I am on pace to get to 10,000 before the new league year, but we gotta be running this thing up. If you can get me to 10k, we can change how we are perceived. Me and you can do this thing together. Hit that sub button. Best case scenario time. Let's talk about Antonio Pierce because I feel like of all the question marks coming into this season, including Aiden, Christian Wilkins, and question marks, I mean, what are they going to be? I'm not saying can they be good. We know Christian's going to be good. But there are a lot of question marks. A lot of unanswered questions. Who's going to start? How is the offense going to look? The defensive line, is it going to match? Tyree Wilson, blah, blah, blah. Of all the question marks, Antonio Pierce to me is almost the most likely to hit his best case scenario, which I believe is coach of the year candidate. Now I just want to start off by talking about coach of the year criteria. If you coach the best team in the league, you're not the coach of the year. That's just the way the NFL honors works. You have to be a coach of a team who wasn't supposed to be there. Like a D'Amico Ryans or a Dan Campbell. Somebody like a Kyle Shanahan who went 13-4 with like six different quarterbacks last year or two years ago, whatever that was. He didn't win coach of the year. People who win games when they're supposed to do not win coach of the year. But people who take teams like the Raiders who are predicted to finish last in the AFC West by people like Colin Cowherd, that right there is a scenario ripe for someone to come in, head coach Antonio Pierce, and win 10 games and be a coach of the year finalist. At 10-7, if he gets us into the playoffs and we make some noise, all of a sudden people are going to be like, is Antonio Pierce the coach of the year? Did he just bring Aiden O'Connell to the playoffs? And I think, without a shadow of a doubt, that Antonio Pierce is going to be the Raiders head coach for the foreseeable future. I think if you went crystal ball mode and said, how many years is Antonio Pierce the head coach? I think it's like more than five. I think he's going to be here a long time. I believe in everything he can do. And I'll tell you this, if the roster isn't good, I could see someone like a Tom Telesco getting fired before an Antonio Pierce does get fired. I'm not saying that that's going to happen. I like Telesco too. I'm just saying, in a world in which we fall apart, I think we retain Antonio Pierce and get a better GM. Antonio Pierce's best case scenario is winning? Winning? No. Is getting nominated for coach of the year. And maybe winning if we make the playoffs. The defensive line is the next thing that I think is most likely to hit the best case scenario mark. We got guys like Aiden we got to talk about. And the running game. And the offensive line. And Getze. But this defensive line can be rocking and rolling. Here's what I'll say. It's not really fun to say that Max Crosby's best case scenario is to win Defensive Player of the Year. It's like, yeah, thanks. We know that. And I could even say like his best case scenario is to beat Justin Tuck's sack record. Justin Tuck? Michael Strahan. Excuse me. Those are things that I could say, right? But here's what I want to say. The defensive line is a collective. I think the best case scenario is that Tyree Wilson has more sacks than Malcolm. Take that this way. Max Crosby's going to have double-digit sacks. Christian Wilkins will probably have double-digit sacks. Malcolm Koontz and Tyree Wilson. There's only so many more sacks to go around unless we have an all-time great defensive line. I'm not predicting that. Could happen. I'm not predicting that. But if Malcolm Koontz has 7.5, that would be a great year for Malcolm Koontz, right? 8 was great for him last year, but we needed more from somebody else. And if we get Christian with 10, Max with 14, Koontz with 7.5, and Tyree Wilson with 9, that would mean that not only Malcolm Koontz is the player we thought he was, matched his production from last year, but Tyree Wilson is developing into a superstar. If I told you right now, who would you rather have become the next Max Crosby? Malcolm Koontz or Tyree Wilson, everybody should say Tyree Wilson because he's younger and because Malcolm Koontz has already showed flashes of greatness. So you have someone like a Malcolm Koontz stay as he already is, but you have someone like Tyree Wilson leap him. That is the best case scenario for the Raiders defensive line. Not Max Crosby breaking a sack record. Not Malcolm Koontz going ballistic. It's Tyree Wilson showing up as the third best defensive end. Speaking of the defense, I don't think it's hyperbolic to say this. The Raiders defensive best case scenario is finishing with the league's top defense. The last team the Kansas City Chiefs lost to was the Las Vegas Raiders and they didn't lose to the offense. They lost to the defense. Multiple defensive scores in that game. Patrick Mahomes' worst game of his career maybe. He made some plays in that game, but he also gave away two costly turnovers that won us the game. And when the lights were shining brightest, he couldn't complete a pass, fourth and goal, threw it, knocked down by Nate Hobbs. We have the ability, and again these are not predictions, these are best case scenarios, to have a top 10 defense, a top 5 defense, and if you can have a top 5 defense, why can't you have the best defense in the league? It all hinges on the secondary. Because our linebackers, now with Eichenberg, Spillane, and Diablo are going to be just fine, especially with how good our defensive line is going to be. But there are going to be times where the defensive line can't get there all the time. And we're going to need some coverage sacks and some deep ball interceptions. And that's where Marcus Epps, Trayvon Marig, Taylor, our new kid, Jack Jones, Nate Hobbs, and Jacoryan Bennett come into play. If Jacoryan and maybe a Taylor or a Marig can solidify themselves as an absolute stud muffin back there, our defense can be the best in the league. I believe Aiden O'Connell is going to be the quarterback of the future. I do not want to sit here and tell you he's going to have a C.J. Stroud type season. Now, best case scenario means best case scenario. But I prefaced the beginning of this video by saying this. The best case scenario has to have a hint of likely to it. You can't just say Aiden's best case scenario is winning MVP because I don't believe that to be possible. Here's Aiden's best case scenario. Aiden O'Connell's best case scenario is, by the end of the season, putting the quarterback controversy to bed. Burying it in the cemetery, in the black hole, never to be heard from again. Gardner Minshew will be the backup in two years' time, and Aiden O'Connell will be the unequivocally be the starter going into 2025. If he can do what I believe he can do, which is be accurate and make the right reads, he can stand behind an offensive line that is one of the best in the league and only got better with the draft. Aiden O'Connell's best case scenario is leading a team to a winning record, keeping the turnovers down, and at the end of the season, having the rest of his teammates along with Antonio Pierce, Luke Goetze, Tom Telesco, and the fan base name him the starter. And then we'll talk about what happens in 2025 in 2025. Because if you remember Derek Carr's years, the only reason I bring him up is because he's our most recent quarterback. If you remember Derek Carr's first year, he did okay. He showed some flashes. His next year, 7-9 Pro Bowl. Year after that, 12-4 MVP finalist. Aiden O'Connell, year three, can make that jump if he continues to progress. But I believe his best case scenario for right now is putting the quarterback competition to rest. Luke Goetze, best case scenario for ROC. Obviously it has to do with the offense. Obviously it has to do with the performance of the offense. Can he get the running game going? Can he get Aiden to make the right reads? Blah, blah, blah. Our best case scenario for Luke Goetze is spreading the love. We have so many weapons. Some Bears fans have said he was good with what he had. He didn't have enough tools. Other Bears fans said he was unable to adapt to his surroundings. And I think the only concern with Luke Goetze is his adaptability. Can he take things from Chicago that worked? And can he take things from Green Bay that worked? Mostly Green Bay, hopefully. And put them together along with this two tight end 12 personnel, along with this three-headed Monstrat running back, along with all these wide receivers, and a young quarterback. Can he show that he can move the ball around to trick defenses, to confuse defenses, to get the best out of our offense, and to get the best out of every single player? Because it doesn't matter if you have pro bowlers at every single position. If you don't have a guy that's calling the right plays, it will all fall apart. And while I'd love to say best case scenario is having the best offense in the league, again, I don't believe that that's going to happen. What I believe is that his best case scenario is that you have a Michael Mayer that has six touchdowns, a Brock Bowers that has eight, a Devontae that has 12, a Jacoby that has nine, two running backs that rush for over 500 yards, Samir 1000, Alexander Madison with 750. You've got to show that you can use all these weapons. And if Luke Goetze shows adaptability, that is our best offensive scenario. The best case scenario for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024 in terms of standings, in terms of playoffs, I think it's this. I think the best thing we can do this season, the best case scenario, is to win the division. I'm not predicting that. I'm saying, what is the ceiling for our season? I think it's winning the division and winning a playoff game. Beyond that, I don't know. I don't know if we can just go into Cincinnati and beat them. I don't know, even if we win the division, if we can go into Arrowhead in a playoff game with Aidan O'Connell, who's never been in that scenario before, and beat them. I don't know if that's possible. But the best case scenario is winning the division with the defense bringing us along the way, with the offense chipping in and not screwing things up, and winning a playoff game because we'll have one at home. I believe if we win the division, we won't have the 1 or 2 seed, or probably the 3 or 4 seed. Which means we'll play a wild card team at home, a team like the Dolphins, or a team like the Steelers, or a team like the Jaguars. Beat them, and then from there, it's house money. If we can find a way to win another game, that's great. But I think our absolute ceiling, best case scenario, in my opinion, winning the division and winning a playoff game. What say you? I already called you out. I said, give me your best case scenarios. I've been reading all of them in the comments below. Thank you so much for watching. Drop likes, drop comments, and please be sure to subscribe. I love you guys, and I'll see you next time.