Sin City Raiders

First, the news was that the Las Vegas Raiders had Kliff Kingsbury coming in to be their offensive coordinator, until he wasn’t. Later that same day, the news was that Luke Getsy will be the Silver and Black’s play-caller for 2024. And that’s where we are now.

As of the time of this writing, the Raiders have not made an official announcement. But all signs are indicating that Luke Getsy will be the next offensive coordinator for the Raiders after Kingsbury withdrew himself from consideration.

How did we get here?

Before Antonio Pierce was even officially named the head coach for the 2024 season, rumors began that Kingsbury would join Pierce’s staff, and with Pierce being defensive-minded, that Kingsbury would have full control of the offense. Sounds like a good deal for Kliff, right?

It is fair to say the Raiders have a few unanswered questions on offense. Should Aidan O’Connell be the starter? Should they draft a quarterback in the first-round? If so, should they trade up? Will Josh Jacobs leave as a free agent? How much does Davante Adams have left? How will the offensive line look? Did all these uncertainties scare Kingsbury away? Did the Raiders offer not meet his demands? Would he rather go somewhere like Washington where they have the No. 2 overall pick?

It is a strange scenario with the USC offensive assistant coach that reminds me of the last time the Raiders tried to hire someone directly from USC–remember when Steve Sarkisian allegedly turned the Raiders down and Al Davis hired Steve’s right-hand man, Lane Kiffin?

Regardless of why Kingsbury is out, Raider Nation can move forward on who’s in: Luke Getsy.

The former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator is a tough one to analyze. The Bears had a good running game, but how much was that amplified by Justin Fields?

Whether you want to call Fields a QB who’s a threat to run, or a running back who will occasionally make a good throw, Fields led Chicago in rushing. However, Khalil Herbert averaged himself a nice 4.6 yards-per-carry on 132 runs. Combined, Herbert and D’Onta Foreman went for over 1,000 rushing yards in 2023, so make of the Bears ground game what you will.

In Chicago’s passing game last year, D.J. Moore caught 96 passes for 1.364 yards and their next-best receiver was tight end Cole Kmet; catching 73 balls for 719 yards. Can Getsy transfer that type of production to Davante Adams and Michael Mayer? Speaking of Adams, Getsy worked with the star receiver for several years before becoming Chicago’s offensive coordinator. Getsy bounced around different roles in Green Bay’s offensive coaching staff, so he has history with the most respected player on the Raiders’ offense.

With Kingsbury, the question was would he try to force his air-raid offense on the Raiders and how would that work? With Getsy, the question is how much credit should he get for his work in Green Bay versus how much of a red flag was it being a part of the Chicago Bears?

With Kingsbury, we’ll have to see where he ends up and how that team plays next year. With Getsy, whether we like it or not, we’ll find out.

AP may have been joking when he was asked what he wanted in his new OC, but with the Raiders defense suddenly becoming the strength of the team, let’s hope Getsy can get Pierce those 24 points per game.