Many people around the NFL are still trying to figure out how the Las Vegas Raiders got out to a 3-0 start so quickly. The answers are there in plain sight, though not every piece of the turnaround is getting the attention it deserves.
Klint Kubiak’s role in the Raiders’ rise has already been widely noticed. He has guided the rebuild with the kind of command that makes it look cleaner than it probably is, and plenty of people expected him to be one of the league’s fast-rising offensive minds. Even the decision to sit No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Fernando Mendoza, whom NFL executives called the best QB prospect in the last four years, or lean on the veteran game of Kirk Cousins fit the kind of confidence people already associated with him.
But the story of this start goes beyond the obvious names. A few players have been doing the kind of work that changes a team’s week-to-week identity, and they deserve more credit than they’re getting.
DJ Glaze is one of them. He has gone from a rough-looking offensive lineman at the 2024 Senior Bowl to a player the Raiders clearly believe in, and his path has been bumpy.
He looked like the worst offensive lineman at that Senior Bowl before turning things around with coaching, then put together a strong rookie season. Last year’s collapse dragged him down with the rest of the organization, but he has bounced back under Kubiak and, even more so, with the arrival of Rick Dennison, whom the article calls the best offensive line coach in the NFL.
Andrew Janocko had plenty of praise for Glaze’s work habits and mindset.
"DJ [Glaze] is a really tremendous, hard worker. Somebody that's a smart football player.
Shows up every day to work, but that's the mindset of that whole group. What we're trying to achieve with that whole group is they come in, they put their heads down, they go to work.
All of them, the coaches that coach them, the players. That's kind of their mindset, and what they want to.
That's what they want to be."
Cody White has also made himself impossible to ignore after the Seahawks put him on the practice squad and the Raiders moved quickly to bring him in. Kubiak liked him, Zach Azzanni knew him from before, and the fit has been immediate.
White has become a special-teams standout and a dependable touchdown target, with three touchdowns in three games. Janocko highlighted the traits that have kept him ready whenever his number is called.
"Since we've had Cody [White] here, and knowing Cody for a while now, he's a really hard football player, really hard worker, smart, smart player and then somebody that is always trying to do the right things on the field, off the field, how he prepares, how he gets ready. He's ready for gameday whenever his numbers called that he's ready to make a play and do exactly what we ask him."
On the defensive side, Robbie Leonard is getting national attention, but he isn’t interested in turning that into a personal victory lap. He keeps pointing back to the players, and there’s no shortage of examples on his side of the ball. One second-year player has owned his future after a disappointing 2025, and Leonard says the improvement in the run game keeps showing up every week.
"Good, better. I'm always on him about it, keeping two cleats in the ground.
He's a great athlete. He's so intentional, man.
He's working. I mean, he's here when Maxx [Crosby] gets here, I think he might even beat him sometimes.
He's just so quiet and unassuming. But as a run defender, he's getting better.
He's getting better."
The rookie safety has been just as important. He stepped into a starting role, and when he missed last week, the Saints made the Raiders pay.
Through the first two games, Las Vegas could not have won without him, and he is set to return this week. Leonard made clear how much the team has missed him and credited the work of Matt Robinson as well.
"He's done a really good job. I think Matt Robinson's done a great job coaching them and teaching them the game, not just the playbook, but what things are like when the bullets are flying. And I'm excited to get him back this week."
In Other News...
Raiders Fans Face A Familiar Allegiant Problem Before Chiefs Game
When Allegiant Stadium opened, Raiders fans were told it would give the team a true home-field edge in Las Vegas. Instead, Sundays against Kansas City have often turned into a familiar sight, with plenty of red in the stands and visiting fans making the trip well in advance of kickoff. With the Chiefs coming to town again on Sunday, the Raiders are once more bracing for a crowd that will not look especially friendly.
Raider Nation Radio host JT the Brick has been pushing a message Raiders fans have heard before: keep the tickets in Raiders hands and do not let them end up with opposing fans. Projections suggest 64 percent of the crowd will be wearing silver and black, which would make the Chiefs contingent a little smaller than in some previous meetings, but the bigger question for Las Vegas remains the same. At Allegiant, the home crowd has had to fight to sound and feel like one for a while now. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Get A Brock Bowers Twist Right Before Chiefs Game
Brock Bowers popped up on the injury report Friday with an illness, giving the Raiders a late-week wrinkle heading into Sundays matchup with the Chiefs. The rookie tight end has quickly become one of the more important pieces of Las Vegas offense, and the timing of any concern around him is less than ideal with Kansas City on deck.
The good news for the Raiders is that Bowers is still expected to play, even after being listed questionable. He already worked through an early-season absence after a meniscus trim and came back with a strong showing in Week 3, so Las Vegas has reason to believe this latest issue is more of a brief nuisance than a real setback. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Make Intriguing Chiefs Gameday Shakeup With Young Talent Involved
Aidan OConnell is back in the mix for the Raiders on Sunday, and his return to emergency third-quarterback duty was part of a noticeable Week 4 shuffle as Las Vegas adjusted its game-day roster for the trip to face Kansas City. The bigger personnel wrinkle for the Raiders came on the defensive side, where rookie Dalton Johnson was active for the first time and stepped in at safety, giving the coaching staff a fresh look in the secondary.
Las Vegas also turned to JJ Pegues over Jonah Laulu, another sign that the Raiders were willing to make some young-player decisions on a short week of roster management. It all comes against a Chiefs team missing starting left tackle Josh Simmons, a development that could influence how the matchup unfolds up front even before the Raiders get a chance to test their own new combinations on defense. [Read more 🡒]