Six teams around the National Football League are currently in search for an answer at head coach. These teams all have one thing in common: they’re eyeing Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson for the job. The Las Vegas Raiders are no different.
No singular [potentially available] coach is more sought after than Ben Johnson, as FOX insider Jordan Schultz notes. As of right now, four of the six teams in need of a head coach have already scheduled interviews with Johnson.
One of those teams are the Las Vegas Raiders, who will talk to the Lions offensive coordinator on Friday.
While head coach interviews are usually the candidate selling themselves to the team, this situation is different–teams will be trying to sell themselves to Johnson. Every team wants the 38-year-old on their side, and they’ll have to convince him why they’re the best available choice.
Johnson will then begin ruling out teams, just as he’s already done with the New York Jets.
But how can Mark Davis, the controlling-owner of the Raiders, convince Johnson to take his club’s head coaching job?
Las Vegas Raiders: Convincing Ben Johnson to stick around in Sin City
To be blunt, there aren’t too many reasons why a coach of Johnson’s demand would select Las Vegas as the place to build his empire.
It all starts with the quarterback situation. It’s not only that Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew are a few universes apart from Drake Maye and Caleb Williams in terms of desirability, but the team doesn’t exactly have a clear path to get a notably-better option.
Even the Jacksonville Jaguars, who make up the final of the four teams scheduled to have an interview with Johnson, have Trevor Lawrence. And if Johnson isn’t sold on Lawrence, that’s fine; they have the fifth-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, one selection before the Raiders.
That doesn’t mean Las Vegas couldn’t go out and grab a veteran such as Sam Darnold or Dak Prescott to give some desirability at quarterback, but there’s no guarantee presented.
Detroit loves to run the football. Only five teams accumulated more rushing yards per contest than the Lions in 2024, and only one totaled more rushing touchdowns. The Raiders, in comparison, ranked 32-of-32 in rushing yards this season. Their 10 rushing touchdowns ranked fifth-least league-wide.
Rhamondre Stevenson of the New England Patriots gives a team a threat at running back, as does the Jacksonville duo of Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne. To a degree, so does D’Andre Swift.
As for Las Vegas, there isn’t much of a rushing threat to be talked about. Perhaps that’s exactly why Sin City ran the football so lousy in 2024.
According to NFL Network, the Las Vegas Raiders have the sixth-of-six most attractive head coach opening this offseason; or, the least attractive of the six. As it relates to Ben Johnson, that seems quite accurate.
A potential advantage
In previous years, Patrick Graham‘s defense may have served as a positive for potential incoming head coaches. This year, however, seven of the unit’s 11 starters are slated to be free agents.
That includes cornerstone pieces such as Nate Hobbs, Robert Spillane and Tre’von Moehrig, making yet another problem the next man in charge will have to deal with for Las Vegas.
However, there is one thing the Raiders have that none of their current competitors can match: a promising offensive line.
A big part of Detroit’s offensive success has come by way of their offense line. In fact, the unit finished their ’24 campaign with the fourth-best O-line via Pro Football Focus’ season finale rankings. No team hosting an interview with Johnson in the upcoming days cracked the top-18 on this list.
Of course, that includes the Las Vegas Raiders.
Individually, however, the pieces of the Raiders’ offensive line are superior to any of their current competitors for Johnson.
Kolton Miller, Sin City’s left tackle, finished the season as the 11th-highest graded pass-blocker among all tackles league-wide. Rookie D.J. Glaze is a promising right tackle who held sack-master T.J. Watt to zero pressures when faced against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As far as the Raiders interior O-linemen go, there’s just as much promise. Jordan Meredith was the 10th-highest graded guard this season while his position-mate Dylan Parham was the 24th-highest.
Finally, there’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, who struggled at guard but excelled mightily at center. From Week 9 onward, which marked the rookie’s first start in the middle, the 21-year-old received the 7th-highest grade among all centers in the NFL. He was one-of-three centers to have a grade north of 74.0 in both run- and pass-blocking.
The bottom line
There truly are not many reasons to make Las Vegas stand out over all other teams interested in Johnson.
While Jakobi Meyers is a great receiver, if Johnson’s eyes are on weapons, there’s little reason to believe he wouldn’t favor Jacksonville. On top of Trevor Lawrence, a higher draft pick than the Raiders and a plenty-serviceable running back duo, the Jaguars have a star for years to come in wideout Brian Thomas Jr.
And although Sin City’s tight end Brock Bowers is going places, to say the absolute least, so is Evan Engram. Bowers finished his rookie campaign with the third-most receptions in a season by any tight end in league-history. Engram, Jacksonville’s tight end, recorded the second-most ever during his ’23 campaign.
You can bet two coaches being fired in a three-year span isn’t exactly painting a picture of job security in Johnson’s mind, too.
If there is a redeeming quality to the Raiders in the eyes of Johnson, it almost certainly will be their promising offensive line that can both protect the quarterback and open up lanes for runners. And while the Raiders don’t currently have a premier running back on the roster, luckily for them, a major contributor in the running game is significantly easier to acquire than a game-changing quarterback.
If that’s not enough, it’s back to the drawing board for Mark Davis and company. Steve Spagnuolo still stands as a coach the Raiders have requested to interview, and the stars continue lining up for a potential Jon Gruden return.
*Top Photo: Daniel Bartel – Imagn Images
Whatever You Do, Do Not Rule Out Jon Gruden As Las Vegas Raiders Next HC
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