Raiders Mailbag: If Kirk Cousins Gets Injured, Is Fernando Mendoza Or Aidan O’connell Next Man Up?

The pads are on, and Friday’s practice included the first fight of Las Vegas Raiders training camp, so things are certainly heating up in Southern Nevada! We have a lot to go over for this week’s mailbag, so let’s get to it!

A: It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff stacks the quarterbacks on the depth chart, and it definitely seems like Aidan O’Connell isn’t standing out during training camp since there hasn’t been much information or reports on him so far. To be fair, that could also be a result of more eyes and attention being on Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza since those two are the main stars of the quarterback room right now.

Luckily, next week’s preseason game will give O’Connell an opportunity to show people (and other teams around the league) what he’s got.

The plan B behind center is something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. To be clear, I don’t have an insight into what Klint Kubiak is thinking, but I do have a theory on what Kubiak’s plan could be. Of course, this assumes O’Connell is still on the roster for the regular season.

I could see a situation where O’Connell actually begins the year as the backup/second-stringer and Mendoza is the emergency game day quarterback. Before you freak out and head to the comments section to tell me what an idiot I am, hear me out for a second!

If the reason for sitting Mendoza is so that he doesn’t get thrown into the fire before he’s ready and ruin his confidence, then it would make more sense for AOC to be the backup because he’d be the one to go in the game if Cousins gets injured rather than the rookie getting thrown into a chaotic situation. But if it’s the other way around, then Mendoza’s first regular-season appearance is coming off the bench cold and having to play in a game that he didn’t get to prepare for as the starter.

If Cousins is going to be out for multiple games, Kubiak can evaluate if he wants Mendoza to be the starter. In that situation, the No. 1 pick’s first regular-season appearance will be a much more controlled environment where the coaching staff can include him in the game plan, and he can prepare all week to be the starter. Neither situation is ideal, but one is a lot less chaotic than the other.

Ultimately, it depends on how ready Kubiak and Co. feel Mendoza is. If they think the No. 1 pick can handle a situation where he comes off the bench cold, then without question he’ll be the Plan B. That’s similar to how Justin Herbert made his first NFL start, as the Los Angeles Chargers’ team doctor infamously punctured Tyrod Taylor’s lung while trying to give Taylor an injection for his injured ribs. That was in Week 2 of Herbert’s rookie season, and he handled the situation well and has been the Chargers’ starting quarterback ever since.

However, if Kubiak wants to keep the training wheels on Mendoza, then that’s where keeping O’Connell around comes in handy so that the rookie doesn’t have to get thrown into the fire if he isn’t ready.

Q: With Kirk Cousins’ history of taking his offensive weapons to Tampa for private film sessions with Jon Gruden to build chemistry, did you hear any rumblings of him doing that this summer with Fernando Mendoza, the receivers and the tight ends?

A: Cousins did that after he signed with the Atlanta Falcons, and he talked about having film sessions with Mendoza during the rookie’s pre-draft visit. Also, there have been a lot of reports from OTAs, minicamp and training camp that mention those two have basically been side by side and working together a lot. So, there’s definitely some of that going on between the quarterbacks. But I haven’t heard anything about them meeting with Chucky and bringing the pass catchers down to Tampa.

A: There are some lofty expectations here, but let’s go for it!

If I had to guess, it’d probably be something like Cousins’ 2020 season, when Klint was the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach and Gary Kubiak was the offensive coordinator. Minnesota finished 7-9 that year with Cousins completing 346 passes on 516 attempts (67.6%) for 4,265 yards, 35 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Granted, the touchdown figure is his career high, and he hasn’t thrown more than 500 passes since 2022. So, he’d probably be closer to the 25-30 touchdown mark and under 4,000 yards if the Raiders are a fringe playoff team.

Q: Instead of being studs and duds, which Raider players have been pleasant surprises so far during training camp?

A: The top two candidates have to be cornerback Hezekiah Masses and wide receiver Malik Benson. Despite being day three picks, both guys have been standouts during camp and appear to be pushing for a starting spot. It feels like we’ve gotten positive reports from Masses and Benson in every practice so far.

Not far behind them would be a 2025 day-three guy, defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway. Reportedly, Hemingway spent a bunch of much-needed time in the weight room and keeps popping up in the one-on-ones and full team periods.

A: Putting in work in the weight room and conditioning during the offseason is more important for linemen than any other position because you’re trying to move another large human being or hold your ground against a large human being every play about 60 times a game. So, you better be strong, and you better be in shape to hold up for all four quarters.

Also, while you can get some field work in as a lineman, it’s not like the skill positions where a quarterback and wide receiver can do things like routes on air or 7-on-7 that are closely related to what they’ll have to do on gamedays. The body needs a break after spending five months getting beaten up, so it’s not like you’ll see NFL linemen putting pads on and hitting each other in the trenches very often during the offseason. Plus, field work or doing position-specific drills is another form of conditioning for linemen anyway.

With Hemingway, he was really athletic (for a defensive tackle) and a decent pass-rusher coming out of South Carolina and showed flashes of that during his limited snaps last season. However, Hemmingway was a questionable run defender as a prospect and really struggled in that department in year one because he wasn’t big and strong enough.

At 285 pounds, he was a bit of a tweener size-wise. A little too big and not quite athletic enough to be an end but on the smaller size to play on the interior. So, Hemingway’s goal this offseason should have been to add some size and strength to become a more complete defensive tackle, and it sounds like he took that to heart.

With Jackson Powers-Johnson, I think he was a good athlete for how big he was coming out of Oregon, weighing 328 pounds at the NFL Combine. That’s part of the reason he was getting some first-round buzz as a prospect and ended up being taken 44th overall. But he had plenty of size to spare, where dropping 10 to 15 pounds would put him in the 315- to 320-pound range and would improve his movement skills and conditioning even more.

If you want to try it out for yourself, get a weighted vest, do five minutes or so on the treadmill, and then take the vest off and see how much easier the next five minutes are. You’ll feel like a completely different person, LOL! All of us can probably relate to this: it’s a lot easier to maintain a high level of conditioning if you’re lighter.

Especially with Kubiak coming in and running a wide zone rushing attack where linemen are working laterally more often than coming straight downhill, the need for JPJ to be 330 pounds is reduced. Instead, if Powers-Johnson is still big and strong enough at 315, being quicker, faster and more agile with the weight loss will help him be more effective in Kubiak’s offense. And it helps that he already has a decent athletic foundation.

Q: On defense, is the new DC aggressive or conservative?

A: It’s hard to say since this will be Rob Leonard’s first season calling a defense. But it sounds like he’s installing a multiple defense, meaning there will be a wide variety of fronts and looks/coverages, similar to how Vic Fangio, Mike Macdonald and Steve Spagnuolo operate. Leonard worked for Macdonald in 2023 with the Ravens, and he was on Spagnuolo’s staff with the Giants from 2015 to 2017.

So, you’ll likely see a variety of simulated pressures and pattern-matching coverages for a more aggressive Raiders’ defense, especially compared to Cover 3 Pete last season.

Q: Is there competition for Dareke Young to return punts?  Who else will return kickoffs?

A: Young returned a handful of kickoffs last year, but he doesn’t have any punt returns during his career. There have been a variety of guys who have been getting reps as returners, and special teams coach Joe DeCamillis was asked specifically about Malik Benson, Jermod McCoy and Tre Tucker when it came to the return game. So it’s an open competition, and it seems like those four are the main contenders. Dylan Laube is likely factoring into the mix, too.

Q: All the articles I’ve read and videos I’ve seen all talk about the great strides the team is making as a whole. Is that the coaches really doing a good job, or is everyone comparing this training camp to last year’s terribly coached team?

A: This is the time of year for optimism, and I’m not trying to be that guy who is raining on everyone’s parade. But it’s not like we were hearing that the Raiders were going to be a 3-14 team at this time a year ago.

That being said, I do think the coaching staff has been upgraded from last season’s disastrous crew, which the players will certainly benefit from. The first position group that comes to mind is the offensive line, and it’s good to hear Rick Dennison say that a guy like Jackson Powers-Johnson seems to be making strides in the mental part of the game.

So, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle. The new staff is much better equipped to develop the young players on the roster, and just about anything would be an upgrade over Pete Carroll’s staff.

Q: There’s been a lot of negative chatter about John Spytek’s draft choices, especially about Jack Bech. I’m curious what you think of Spytek’s 2 drafts and his approach?

A: The returns on Spytek’s day two picks, including Bech, have been pretty low so far. However, it’s also only been one year, and last season’s coaching staff was infamously stubborn about playing rookies/young players. Also, while Bech wasn’t getting much love early in camp, he’s been making some plays and popping up in a few recent reports. The same goes for Treydan Stukes, who caught fire for being on the second-team defense during the first week and a half of practice but started getting run with the starters on Thursday and Friday.

I know everyone wants immediate results, but save yourself some heartache and don’t overreact to reports from the first two weeks of training camp. The Raiders haven’t even played a preseason game yet, and there’s expected to be some growing pains with any young player. And if you’re basing your analysis of Spytek off last year, remember how incompetent that coaching staff was and how frustrating it was that they weren’t giving guys like Bech bigger opportunities.

Calm down, and let’s watch a few games before getting riled up!

Q: I assume that the NFLPA sets the maximum number of training camp days, hours and days in pads. Do you think they are helping their constituents by limiting prep time before the season begins?

A: The way I’ve always looked at this is it’s what the players asked for and the owners agreed to. So, if there are any negative impacts, there’s no one to blame but themselves. Plenty of players and teams rise to the occasion under the current format, and every organization is under the same set of rules. It’s called the Not For Long league for a reason; if you can’t get yourself or your team ready to play, update your resume because someone else will get the job done.

Q: Will the Titans be allowed to stash Laki Tasi on the practice squad, or does he have to be on the 53-man roster or waived?

A: It’s the same process as last year when Tasi was with the Raiders. If the Titans cut him at the end of camp, he’s subject ot waivers if any other team wants to add him to their 53-man roster. If he goes unclaimed/clears waivers, then Tennessee gets to add him to its practice squad under the IPP exemption. So, Tasi’s tenure in Vegas is pretty much over.

That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.