The Las Vegas Raiders offense should get a major boost this season with the new coaching staff. Head coach Klint Kubiak is a significant upgrade over Chip Kelly from last season.
While Kubiak is calling the plays, offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko will also have a big say over the offense. The two most exciting pieces the Raiders have right now, outside of No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, are running back Ashton Jeanty and tight end Brock Bowers.
Janocko has been blown away by the two young playmakers already.
“Two huge competitors,” Janocko told Raiders.com. “Two guys that are pedal-to-the-floor all the time. If we get an hour on the field, that’s an hour of full-speed work. We get 30 minutes on the field, that’s … 30 minutes of all they’ve got.
“So those are two guys that don’t know another gear; they only know how to go and how to work hard, and that kind of sets the pace for what we want to be and where we want to go.”
Janocko Talks Raiders History
The Raiders have fallen on hard times over the past two decades. Prior to that, they were one of the most iconic franchises in the NFL. Though they haven’t been good, Janocko is eager to help return the Raiders to their glory days.
“You just respect the history of football, and part of that is the history of the league,” Janocko said. “And one of the storied franchises in the league is the Silver and Black, is the Raiders, is that shield. And so, that’s something that growing up, and being just a football fan in general, is something that you respect. You respect certain logos, you respect certain organizations, and that’s one.
“Growing up in the ’90s and the 2000s, the Rich Gannon years, a lot of wins there, a lot of storied wins. This is a team that went to the Super Bowl [so that] just kind of puts a real respect on this organization.”
Janocko Still Figuring Out OC Role
Janocko has been coaching with Kubiak for a long time, but he hasn’t been an offensive coordinator before. His job will be less intense than a typical offensive coordinator, so he’s still in the process of trying to figure things out.
“There’s some parts that we’re still figuring out, that we’re feeling out, that we are building together,” Janocko said. “But it all comes down to, how can we support Klint in his role as the play-caller? How can we build around our players? And then, what is each individual person’s role in fulfilling that?
“That’s something that … none of us take lightly – that we all are involved, we all want to pull our weight and that we build something that we put the players in the best situation to be successful. We put Klint in the best situation to be the play-caller, help him, give him any ideas that he would need to be successful. Try to problem-solve for him. That way he can rip the play calls and the guys can go execute.”
New Raiders OC Drops Early Impressions of Ashton Jeanty & Brock Bowers