Pickett impressed replacing injured Smith, but the Raiders' QB questions persist. Who guides their struggling future?
2025 has been a season that Las Vegas Raiders fans would like to throw out of their memory as soon as it's over. Disappointment and losses have been the name of the game all season long for Las Vegas, and Week 14 was much of the same story.
The Raiders lost 24-17 to divisional opponent, the Denver Broncos. The final score line reads as if it were a close game up to the final whistle, but a win for Las Vegas was never a real possibility.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Raiders trailed 21-7, and quarterback Geno Smith had just been knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury. Luckily, replacement quarterback Kenny Pickett was able to come in and impress, leading the Raiders offense to 10 points in the final frame of action. Still, it wasn’t enough to avoid their 10th consecutive loss of the season.
For Smith and Pickett individually, they both had played solid games. Smith converted 13 of his 21 pass attempts and threw for one score in his three quarters of action. It was just the fourth time this season in which the 35-year-old hadn’t thrown an interception.
When Pickett came on to replace Smith, he impressed in his short sample size. In 11 attempts, the four-year veteran completed eight of his passes while passing for a touchdown. He finished with a passer rating of 129.7.
In his latest article grading quarterbacks’ performances in Week 14, Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski gave Smith and Pickett a ‘C’ grade for their combined effort in Sunday’s loss.
“The chance to finally see Kenny Pickett in the lineup is a step in the right direction, even if that setup was forced after Geno Smith left Sunday's contest with a left hand injury,” Sobleski wrote.
“By the time Pickett entered this past weekend's game, the Broncos already held a decisive lead. How the quarterback performs if he's named the starter and gets a full week of practice with the first-team offense could be interesting. Clearly, the Raiders are looking for their future starter. Pickett deserves a chance to show what he has.”
Head coach Pete Carroll has an interesting choice to make in next week's matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. If Smith is healthy enough for a return, should Carroll slot him back into the QB1 spot despite the 2-11 record the team has earned with the veteran under center?
If the ultimate goal is to see what talent they have to be able to make informed decisions in the offseason, then the Raiders should ride with Pickett. Of course, it all depends on Smith’s health, with injuries to his shoulder and hand.