Las Vegas Raiders are mostly excited about this season, but there are areas of concern.
The Las Vegas Raiders are reflecting optimism right now, and it’s showing in the fan base. Raider Nation are a devout bunch, and Sam Warren of The Athletic showed just how much in the recent fan poll he took that showed the answers to a variety of questions.
The first question was about the possibility of trading defensive end Maxx Crosby if the Raiders can get a first round pick, and the split was interesting. Nearly 70 percent of fans want to keep Crosby, which makes sense given Crosby’s production, popularity and his relentless self-promotion in a variety of formats.
It also reflects how badly the Raiders need Crosby right now given the state of the roster and the fact that it might take a while to simply be competent on the field.
GM John Spytek also got a grade in this poll, with Warren giving fans an A-through-F choice, and 66.8 percent gave him a “B.” Clearly, this is a forgiving group given the lack of production from running back Ashton Jeanty along with the struggles of the young receivers who have been added.
New coach Klint Kubiak also got a high grade, but it wasn’t based on a letter system. The choices here were Very Confident, Confident or Nuetral, with several lower chases that barely got any votes. The first two choices got over 90 percent of the votes, which isn’t surprising that Raiders fans were almost as optimistic about the Pete Carroll hire last year.
It’s Kubiak’s scheme that’s drawing the most positivity, with almost 60 percent using that as the basis for optimism versus his leadership and coaching pedigree.
New defensive coordinator Rob Leonard didn’t fare as well, though, probably because he’s a holdover from last year’s disaster. The percentages broke down to 46.7 percent of fans being neutral about Leonard, with 40.6 being positive, so there’s very much a “wait and see” factor involved here.
Fan skepticism also surfaced in a much bigger way with the offensive line. Warren provided an answer that said “It’s in better shape, but I wish they made more moves.” That answer drew almost 80 percent of the vote, which reflects the almost exclusive reliance on center Tyler Linderbaum to provide improvement across the entire line.
Warren is saving his results on the quarterback situation for another piece, but he did add that Jermod McCoy is clearly drawing most of the fan interest beyond that, as nearly 50 percent of the voters chose McCoy when faced with a question that was phrased “Besides Mendoza, which member of the Raiders' 2026 draft class excites you the most?”
