The Raiders’ season opener comes with a pretty clear defensive assignment: keep Malik Willis from turning the game into a scramble drill.
Las Vegas hosts Miami at Allegiant Stadium a week from today, and the Raiders will be opening at home for the first time since 2021. That alone should make for a lively afternoon for Raider Nation, but the matchup also gives Las Vegas a real shot to start 2026 with a win if it can handle what Miami brings on offense.
The Dolphins went in a new direction this offseason, moving on from Tua Tagovailoa and signing Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million deal after his strong backup run with the Green Bay Packers. He enters the season with a lot less help around him, but the appeal is obvious: Willis can create when plays break down, and his legs are a major part of the threat.
That’s where the Raiders’ front seven has to take over. Maxx Crosby, widely regarded as the best run-defending defensive end in the NFL, will be central to the plan, and athletic linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker should also be key pieces. Their job is simple on paper and tricky in practice: match Willis’ speed and keep him contained when he starts improvising.
Willis has 405 rushing yards and four touchdowns in his career, so this isn’t a quarterback who can be treated like a statue. He can make plays through the air, too, but the ground game is what can really tilt the field if the Raiders lose discipline.
Miami’s passing options don’t exactly jump off the page, either. The Dolphins are leaning on an injury-prone tight end and two rookie wide receivers, Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell, who may turn into good players but remain unproven right now. Malik Washington and Jalen Tolbert are listed as starters as well, though they don’t appear to be the kind of targets that will put much fear into defensive coordinator Rob Leonard.
That matters because Las Vegas is also trying to sort through a young secondary. Even so, veterans like Eric Stokes and Jeremy Chinn should have chances to make life difficult for an inexperienced group on the other side. If Miami can’t get anything going early, Willis could be in for a long day trying to carry the offense himself.
The bottom line for the Raiders is pretty straightforward: Miami’s quarterback has talent, but the situation around him is shaky. Leonard should have room to mix up his looks and force Willis to think fast. How that unfolds will be one of the more interesting parts of next Sunday’s opener.
In Other News...
Raiders Suddenly Face A Real Maxx Crosby Problem They Cant Ignore
The Cowboys have already spent the early part of the season reshaping their roster financially, restructuring three veteran contracts to create more than $33 million in cap space. That kind of move inevitably invites a bigger question, and in this case it has quickly centered on Maxx Crosby, the Raiders star edge rusher, with speculation building that Dallas could be positioning itself for a run at him before the Week 10 deadline.
For the Raiders, the chatter is impossible to ignore because it comes on top of prior trade discussions between the two teams and a very public dismissal of the rumors from owner Mark Davis. Crosby has been one of the defining players on the roster, which is exactly why any renewed push from Dallas would land with real force in Las Vegas, even if no deal has been finalized and nothing suggests the talks are close to reaching that point. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Still Paying For Past Roster Mistakes In One Painful Way
The Raiders have started to come out from under a wave of dead money tied to some of their more recognizable recent departures, clearing off cap hits from former players such as Davante Adams, Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner Minshew and Andre James as they look toward the 2026 NFL season. For a team that has spent plenty of time trying to reset its roster, that is a welcome bit of financial breathing room and a sign that some of the most expensive mistakes of the recent past are finally fading.
Even so, the cap picture is still far from clean. Las Vegas remains on the hook for dead cap obligations involving Tyree Wilson, Jakobi Meyers, Geno Smith and Christian Wilkins, a reminder that the roster churn has not always come with easy exits. Those lingering charges are the kind of back-end burden that can quietly shape how aggressive the Raiders can be in the months ahead, even as the organization keeps trying to build around a more stable core. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Rookie Class Could Force Bigger Roles Faster Than Expected
The Raiders went into the offseason expecting their 2026 draft class to be about long-term development, but the preseason has made that plan look a little more complicated. Several rookies have flashed enough to put themselves in the conversation for real playing time, and Las Vegas has needs that could push younger players onto the field sooner than originally projected.
Fernando Mendoza, Treydan Stukes, Keyron Crawford, Trey Zuhn III, Jermod McCoy and Mike Washington Jr. all entered camp with different paths ahead of them, but the common thread is opportunity. Some are now positioned for starting jobs or meaningful snaps, while others may end up with smaller roles or have their seasons interrupted by injury, leaving the Raiders to sort out just how quickly this class can change the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]