Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast Justin Fields, Michael Penix, Joe Flaco, Hunter Renfrow and so much more
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00:00 Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whenever you're watching Raider Nation.
00:07 Thank you for tuning in to another edition of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:12 I'm Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, your Las Vegas Raiders beat writer.
00:17 It's always fun.
00:18 I appreciate you joining, Uncle Hondo, and we're going to have a good time today.
00:22 We're going to read a bunch of your emails and answer a bunch of your questions.
00:27 Now some people, I get a lot, I would say 85% of the questions that I get emailed to
00:39 me that say in the subject line Raiders Q&A don't even have a question.
00:45 It's just making a statement.
00:46 So I don't respond because it wasn't a question.
00:49 It's just a statement.
00:50 So we read them, but thank you for sending them in.
00:54 But look forward to reading those.
00:56 Now, let me, I also want to address one other thing.
00:59 Yesterday's podcast got the biggest response of any that I've ever done.
01:07 Got more emails than anyone I've ever done.
01:10 And including when I gave away, when I do giveaways, it's phenomenal.
01:15 I just want to say to all of you, both critics and fans alike, thank you for your response.
01:21 I appreciated hearing from all of you.
01:23 I literally, I'm just being honest.
01:26 I can't respond to every email, but I want you to know everyone gets read.
01:32 The first thing we open an email, somebody's name's not on it.
01:36 We delete it.
01:37 Good or bad.
01:38 We delete it because we don't know if it's good or bad.
01:40 Somebody's not willing to put their name on it.
01:41 We're not going to read it, but appreciate all of you.
01:44 Appreciate your response and hope that you're doing well.
01:47 So let's get right into the email tonight.
01:50 Let's get our today, whatever, whenever you're watching, I am taping this late, late, late
01:56 Monday night.
01:58 In fact, some places it's already Tuesday, but let's get right on it.
02:03 The first email comes to us from B. Allen, initial B. Allen says, you have mentioned
02:11 in the past podcasts to the price of Justin Fields seem to be dropping.
02:18 Seem that the Raiders are looking for a veteran quarterback to add to the roster and Justin
02:23 Fields fits the mobility and ability that the team could find enticing.
02:30 Do you think it's a possible scenario where the Raiders could offer a fifth or seven round
02:34 pick as well as a player that they are rumored to be moving on from such as Hunter Renfro
02:40 and mutually beneficial arrangement for both teams, but the Raiders are also killing two
02:45 birds with one stone.
02:47 I want to say this to B. Allen.
02:51 It never ceases to amaze me when fans are ready to get rid of somebody.
02:56 I'm not saying you are, you said the team was, but they expect everyone else to take
03:00 a high price.
03:02 Hunter is a wonderful man, good man, but his productivity, even after Josh Jacobs was gone,
03:09 was not there.
03:10 I shared with you and I like Hunter, but I shared with you and talking to executives
03:17 and around the league and scouts that it just appeared he just had lost a step.
03:22 He wasn't running as crisp of routes and he wasn't as fast as he had been.
03:29 Not saying he was a burner, he's not a hundred rugs, but it's one thing to have speed.
03:36 It's another to have to be fast.
03:40 There's a difference.
03:41 For example, you teach your running backs, be slow to the hole and fast through it.
03:45 Wait, wait, wait, wait.
03:47 Okay.
03:48 Hunter is not, does not have speed, but he's fast.
03:55 Now before you say, well, look at you, fatty, calling him not being that in speed.
04:00 I get my 40 time done with a sundial.
04:03 I admit there's nothing close to speed for me or fast.
04:08 So I'm not attacking his character.
04:11 I'm just addressing the reality.
04:14 Sure you can offer a five or seven.
04:16 You're not getting Justin Fields for that.
04:20 I said before, I think a three is fair.
04:24 It may cost a two.
04:26 Now the bears wanted a lot more than that, but they put themselves in a dilemma.
04:35 They put themselves in a dilemma.
04:39 So I think a three is fair, but you may have to pay a two to get up to Justin.
04:44 And all of a sudden done.
04:46 Next one comes from Cameron Pedro.
04:49 Cameron, one of my favorite card games is Pedro.
04:54 It says, obviously with his injury history, Panic should, should be ruled out as a first
05:02 round quarterback, especially at 13 overall.
05:06 However, do you think the Raiders would be interested in taking Panic by either trading
05:11 back or taking him late in the first or just taking him in the second round?
05:18 God bless Cameron Pedro.
05:20 Okay.
05:21 I want to say this, Cameron, I mean, Michael had great interviews at the combine.
05:28 He looked great slinging the football and he's a great kid.
05:33 None of that is a concern, but the injury history, multiple injuries at multiple different
05:40 things.
05:41 For example, a guy can hurt a knee and then maybe the surgeon didn't do a great job.
05:45 So he's got to go back and then he's got to go back for a third surgery, get scar tissue
05:48 cleaned up.
05:51 Multiple injuries in one spot can certainly be investigated and, and, and excuse, but
05:57 in multiple spots, here's the problem, Cameron, too many teams, you see them every year in
06:04 the top half of the draft for a reason.
06:06 They don't know how to draft.
06:08 They, Ooh, this guy looks good.
06:11 All right.
06:13 I would say this to all the ladies.
06:18 If you see a guy, man, he looks great.
06:23 He's handsome, but he has a history of cheating on women.
06:32 Is he really that attractive?
06:34 So I'm not accusing Panics of any of that, but it's a fair analysis of something can
06:41 look great.
06:43 And a lot of people fall in love with the last shiny object.
06:47 You've seen that with the Raiders a lot.
06:49 They fall in love with something and it doesn't work out.
06:53 Why doesn't it work out?
06:55 It doesn't work out because there are warning flags.
07:00 It's just like Caleb Williams.
07:01 He's going to go one.
07:04 He's the most talented guy in this draft.
07:08 It's not even close.
07:11 But he's got more red flags than anybody in the draft.
07:18 And so somebody's going to say, Ooh, but he'll work with us.
07:21 And he might, I hope he does.
07:23 I'm not rooting against it.
07:25 I laugh because somebody called me an ass and some other names because of reference
07:30 things that I've given you from NFL executives and scouts.
07:35 I'm sorry if you don't like it, that's certainly go buy a team and pick whoever you want.
07:43 Ron Wolf did that with the Packers when Brett Favre failed his physical.
07:47 He says, I don't care.
07:48 Sign them.
07:49 I get it.
07:51 But the good drafting teams understand you just can't miss.
07:57 You can't afford to miss.
08:02 Can't afford it.
08:05 And I think Penix is great.
08:08 If I'm sitting there with the Raiders second pick, and Michael Penix is there, I'm probably
08:16 making that pick.
08:18 I think he's a terrific kid.
08:21 Now I don't think he's going to be there.
08:23 Why?
08:24 Because there are enough bad drafting teams that will take a risk.
08:29 But great question, Cameron.
08:34 Appreciate it very, very much.
08:36 Next, Hi, Hondo.
08:38 I think Joe Flacco would be a good veteran fit for the Raiders.
08:42 I've always felt that all of his best years, the scheme in Baltimore and Cleveland last
08:48 year was run the ball.
08:49 And then when the defense crowded the line, go deep.
08:53 What do you think about Flacco as a veteran edition?
08:56 Doug from Colorado.
08:59 Love it.
09:00 You go pick a rookie, go get a vet.
09:04 AP's already said it, Aiden's the man.
09:07 Gotta beat him out.
09:10 I love that.
09:11 I have no issues with that.
09:13 Problem is, Flacco's going to come, he's going to be expensive because of what he did in
09:18 Cleveland.
09:20 So if he's not going to be your starter, it's all going to depend on the cost.
09:29 All going to depend on the cost.
09:33 But I have no problem with that.
09:35 I like Joe Flacco.
09:36 Personally, I like him a lot, and I like him as a player.
09:39 Next, Nolan C. Nolan from Zuni, New Mexico.
09:48 Thank you for all of your diligent work for the Raiders fans and as always being the truth
09:53 to us.
09:55 Do you believe the stigma on left-handed quarterbacks being harder for an OC to scheme and call
10:03 plays for is true?
10:05 I know that was a small concern previously with Tua, but do you think that will have
10:12 an impact on Michael Pennix's potential fit with the Raiders?
10:16 Great, great question.
10:17 Now, I know what my opinion was, but I called a couple of offensive coordinators to get
10:22 their opinion.
10:25 And here's what I would say to you.
10:29 The natural flow of game planning, like your left tackle, is always your most in tackle
10:36 because most quarterbacks are right-handed.
10:39 So you have to fix blocking schemes and make adjustments.
10:43 Both told me, for the right quarterback, no, it's not that big a deal.
10:48 Here's the problem.
10:49 The problem is if they're not the starter and somebody gets hurt and they come in.
10:56 Or if your starter's right-handed, get injured and then they come in, then you got to make
11:00 some adjustments.
11:01 That's the problem with it is the adjustments on the fly.
11:05 Because you want your team, most people don't know this.
11:09 And I want to remember Nolan, most people don't understand this.
11:14 Mondays no work.
11:17 Tuesdays that come in, treatment, whatever.
11:20 They only really work three days.
11:23 They install the game plan, work on third down and red zone, and then some other ancillary
11:30 things.
11:31 Once the season gets started, there is not very much time to change anything.
11:36 That is why last year I kept saying to people, you do not understand the depth of what Aiden
11:41 O'Connell did and what AP did.
11:45 No OTAs, no mini camps, no training camp.
11:49 And they come in in the middle of the season where they have to cut a bunch of the playbook
11:52 out and they don't have time to really institute a lot.
11:57 So that's the difficulty.
12:00 If that's your guy, no.
12:01 You just game plan for him.
12:02 I think it was Steve Young was 11.
12:05 And you just change your play and your flow.
12:09 But again, both these guys said it's not a difficult thing at all unless you have to
12:14 go to your backup and they're opposite throwing hands.
12:18 So great question there, Nolan.
12:20 Thank you for asking.
12:21 Next comes to us from Brian T. in West Bygaud, Virginia.
12:31 Brian T. says, how many quarterbacks in the draft could you see Aiden beating out in camp?
12:37 I feel like this kid doesn't get the respect he deserves.
12:41 I think he could beat them all out.
12:44 I think there's a couple who could beat him.
12:50 I think he could beat them all.
12:53 Look at last year's draft class and he had the second best job.
12:57 And if he had played all year, he could have beat CJ Stroup.
13:07 I know there is a certain fragment of Raider Nation that has just totally turned their
13:11 back on Aiden.
13:14 That's fine.
13:16 You're certainly welcome to do it.
13:20 I don't understand that mentality.
13:24 Your motto is just win and going down the stretch, last nine games, nine touchdowns,
13:31 one interception, went three and one in your conference, including beating Patrick Mahomes
13:36 and Travis Kelsey on Christmas Day in front of the nation, the entire nation, and Arrowhead.
13:45 I'm telling you, fans can do whatever they want, but nobody in that building who is a
13:54 coach or a player has given up on Aiden.
14:00 And he is in that building busting his rear.
14:05 He went right back there after the season and he's been humping it, just going at it.
14:11 And a lot of people are very impressed with how far he's come.
14:17 A lot of people very impressed with how he's doing.
14:23 Now let's keep moving.
14:28 After hiring Luke Getzey as the new Raiders OC, what makes the Raiders think this combination
14:34 of Getzey and Fields will work in Las Vegas?
14:42 It seems like this pairing experiment was already tried and utterly failed in Chicago.
14:49 The one and a half years that it was in existence was a disaster with the Bears' last in passing
14:55 in '27, in '22, in '27 when Getzey got canned.
15:02 Mid-season from the Bucs, I mean from the Bears.
15:05 The data seems pretty damning.
15:07 Do you see anything that could account to such a dramatic and miraculous turnaround
15:13 if the Raiders do acquire Fields?
15:15 Sincerely, Chris Park.
15:17 Yeah, I've talked about this at length, Chris.
15:20 I would really recommend that you watch the podcast every day.
15:26 You have to understand, Patrick Graham looked terrible in New York because he had a boss.
15:37 Aiden O'Connell against the Chargers the first time in LA looked terrible because he had
15:42 a boss.
15:45 And I've addressed this at length, so I'm sure you just missed those podcasts, but there
15:50 is so much respect for Getzey and him and Fields have a very good relationship.
15:55 Getzey's irritation, I mean Fields' irritation wasn't with Getzey.
16:02 That's why he talked about "Let me be me."
16:05 Was not him at all.
16:06 Getzey was a fall guy.
16:09 Just like San Francisco, firing the defensive coordinator.
16:14 What a stupid panic move.
16:17 I said right after the Super Bowl, if the 49ers don't panic, they'll be back in the
16:21 Super Bowl.
16:22 Nah, they panicked.
16:24 Panic move.
16:27 And people who judge, I mean when I first said that the Raiders were blessed to get
16:32 Patrick Graham, this man should be a head coach.
16:34 You should have seen the voluminous amounts of hate mail I got.
16:39 Then after the first year, and I said man the Raiders are fortunate to have him back.
16:44 Not as much, but I still got a lot of hate mail.
16:47 Now all of a sudden everybody's riding the Patrick Graham train.
16:49 We gotta have him back.
16:55 That's more to football than just stats.
16:59 You gotta look at it, you gotta research it, you gotta dig, you gotta understand why did
17:03 that happen.
17:05 Some people have a boss.
17:07 Okay.
17:09 And they get in bad situations.
17:15 I know of a guy who I really respect, a very good friend of mine.
17:18 We go on hunting and fishing trips almost every year.
17:23 Who took a coordinator's job for a head coach and told him, I'm going to, I want you to
17:30 run your particular side of the ball.
17:33 So the guy left a very good place, because he was assured he could run what he wanted
17:38 to run.
17:41 He got there, started implementing it, some of the players complained and the head coach
17:44 started dictating it.
17:46 It was utter disaster.
17:47 It was fired in, I don't remember now if it was one year or two years, I think it was
17:52 two, but it may have been one year.
17:56 And then he goes to another team, this guy sucks, he's terrible, he's horrible, why'd
17:59 we hire him?
18:00 We suck, we suck again.
18:01 If you don't know what that's from, it's from the movie Waterboy.
18:06 We suck again.
18:09 And all of a sudden now that guy's one of the most popular coaches on that staff.
18:14 Why?
18:15 Because he's got a chance to prove.
18:17 Don't just assume that's the easy way out.
18:20 Well, look at Patrick Graham, he sucks, look what he did in New York.
18:26 Dig deeper, dig deeper.
18:28 All right, let's keep going now.
18:31 Let's talk to Justin in Andale, Kansas.
18:35 Justin, he's a hondo.
18:37 You've mentioned in previous podcasts that someone that you trust that works for an NFL
18:43 team with a great track record of drafting QBs doesn't have a first round grade on Caleb
18:49 Williams and they view J.J. McCarthy as the second best QB in the draft.
18:54 Just curious if you could tell us who they have as the top of the class.
18:58 Okay, so let me say this.
19:00 I said to you they have McCarthy in the top two.
19:07 Just a matter of fact, I don't know one drafting team that has a successful track record, and
19:17 I told you this before the combine, that doesn't have J.J. McCarthy very, very high, very,
19:23 very high.
19:24 In fact, if you go back to my first mock draft, I made a comment in there because I had the
19:36 Raiders taking J.J. McCarthy at their second round pick.
19:43 I said I had one general manager, very successful drafter, tell me if the draft was today, this
19:47 is where you'd get him, but come draft day, he ain't going to be anywhere near there.
19:52 In fact, he told me we've got him at the top.
19:56 I think J.J. McCarthy, obviously Arizona's not going to take him.
20:03 So if there's a team that wants to flip flop with Arizona, and they still think they can
20:11 get Marvin Harrison, great, but J.J.'s going to be up there.
20:17 He's going to be a big factor in this.
20:21 I laughed.
20:22 Somebody sent me something yesterday about, "Oh, J.J. sucked at the combine."
20:26 Okay, clearly you and I didn't watch the same combine, and clearly we're not talking to
20:29 the same people.
20:30 Listen, you go into the draft, and you can't fall in love with a player.
20:43 My dad used to always teach me and my brothers when we negotiate for a car, a house, or whatever,
20:49 never fall in love with it before you buy it, because then you'll make impulsive decisions
20:55 that are stupid.
20:59 Always be willing to walk away from a deal.
21:02 Sometimes that's the best way to deal, is to walk away from a deal.
21:08 So my point to you is very, very simple.
21:13 I think you go into a draft, and you know what?
21:16 If you say, "This guy, I can't leave this draft without him," then you go to one and
21:21 get him.
21:22 And get him.
21:23 Nothing wrong with that.
21:28 It's your man.
21:30 But if you are not married to somebody, you can't fall in love with a player, because
21:35 then you'll make undisciplined decisions.
21:37 How many times did the Raiders give deals to players because Al Davis loved them, but
21:43 it'd come back to bite the organization?
21:46 How many times did the Raiders make the decision for the shiny silver new thing, and it failed?
21:53 You approach the draft, you put your board in place.
22:02 When it gets time to pick, if somebody's offering you something of more value than what you
22:07 pick, you make the trade.
22:10 If they don't, then you pick that player that you have on your draft board, and you draft
22:16 your draft board by best players, but also by need.
22:22 So if the Raiders' biggest need is an offense alignment, great.
22:31 Then you take them.
22:32 If you've got enough guys, and the Raiders are going to have plenty of great guys to
22:36 pick up at 13.
22:40 Next one.
22:41 "Hondo, I recently saw a report about the Raiders trying to move up.
22:44 Didn't you report this several weeks ago?"
22:46 Yes, I did.
22:48 And told you several weeks ago.
22:50 They were investigating all of the spots, 1 through 12.
22:54 And they are making sure they know the cost, so when they make the decision of what to
22:59 do, let's ride.
23:00 Yep, I did.
23:02 Thank you for that.
23:04 Next, George Titus.
23:08 Do you think losing Coach Kennedy will backslide in the Raider running back room?
23:15 I feel like he's such a good coach, and he has helped several people break out.
23:20 What do you think?
23:21 First of all, Coach Kennedy is not just a good coach.
23:25 He's a terrific man.
23:27 He's a man of integrity.
23:30 He's a man of character.
23:33 He's a good man.
23:35 A good one.
23:38 Anytime you lose good people from an organization, it hurts.
23:42 But I think the Raiders did a terrific job replacing him, and no, I don't think it's
23:47 going to hurt the running back room.
23:48 Next.
23:49 Hi, Hondo.
23:51 My name is Hector Rodriguez.
23:53 Would like to give you a shout out from Chihuahua, Mexico.
23:58 I have faith on our coach AP and Telesco.
24:03 And if you think on the NFL Draft there is a dude, you go get him, no matter what.
24:10 All right?
24:12 I agree with you.
24:15 There's a dude, go get him.
24:18 If you think that guy's a dude, go get him.
24:22 And I'll be talking more about dudes later as we get closer to the draft.
24:26 For those of you that are new to our coverage, because we're growing exponentially, a dude
24:30 is a term in the NFL Draft that guy can't miss.
24:33 So let me give you an example.
24:34 Last year, Jalen Carter, many had him listed as a dude.
24:38 Jim Will Anderson and Tyree Wilson were three guys.
24:43 And the teams that draft well had CJ Stroud in the dude category as well.
24:50 There's only four.
24:53 Now CJ wasn't universal because there were some teams, Josh McDaniels that wanted Bryce
24:59 Young.
25:00 But the people I trust had those four guys as absolute dudes.
25:06 Okay?
25:07 But Jalen dropped off the dude list because even though he had all the talent in the world,
25:13 he had the most red flags of anybody.
25:15 So then there were only three dudes.
25:20 So a dude is a guy you're not worried about off the field.
25:25 You're not worried about any character issues.
25:27 You're not worried about his ability.
25:29 He is what they would call in baseball, a five tool.
25:33 This is a guy that's going to be great in the facility, great in the community.
25:37 He's going to study, he's going to do his part, no issues, work hard.
25:40 He's going to be everything you want.
25:42 That is a dude.
25:44 That's a dude.
25:47 And we'll be talking about dudes coming up later as these people start assimilating now
25:52 all their information in pro days.
25:55 I'll be able to give you some great information on who the dudes in the draft are.
26:00 I know kind of what people are thinking, but I want to wait, give them a little bit time
26:04 for more analysis so I can give you the best information in the world.
26:08 Next one comes to us from David L. David L.
26:13 "Hondo, at the end of last season, three of the nine games the Raiders played under interim
26:19 coach Pierce were not televised in Northern California.
26:23 A fourth game was not accessible to the people who don't have Amazon Prime.
26:28 I'm not comfortable pirating the television broadcast off the internet.
26:33 So the radio broadcast must be available in Northern California market, right?"
26:39 Nope.
26:40 After slowly trying to tune into local AM and FM stations, no one is broadcasting the
26:46 game and David wants to know why.
26:48 Okay.
26:49 The television stations want to make money.
26:53 So if they don't think that there's going to be enough eyeballs watching in Northern
26:58 California, they're not putting the Raiders there.
27:02 They're not trying to lose money.
27:03 They're not attacking the Raiders.
27:05 Listen, there's a bunch of California folk who turned their back on the Raiders when
27:10 they went to Vegas and I'm not attacking those people.
27:14 Who won't watch?
27:17 I get it.
27:19 So for them, it's just about money.
27:21 If Raider Nation tunes in, they're going to put the game there.
27:26 But if it doesn't get the eyeballs, now I talked with a friend of mine who works for
27:30 one of the networks that has NFL football.
27:34 And I asked him, I told him, I said, "It's private.
27:36 You can tell me.
27:37 Do you think they ever don't put games on despite a team?"
27:40 And he looked at me and said, "They are not..."
27:45 I want to pick a right way to say this.
27:48 This is not going to be a quote.
27:49 I need to clean it up a little bit.
27:51 He said, "They are not ticky tack like the NFL, all about making money."
27:58 He goes, "We could care less.
28:02 We're going to put the best game on that gets the most eyeballs."
28:05 That's number one.
28:06 Number two, there would be some stations in your city who might carry it if people would
28:13 tune in.
28:14 If you're a member of a black hole chapter, and if you're not, you should be.
28:18 But if you're a member of a black hole chapter in NorCal, just go to a local Raiders station.
28:24 Why don't you carry the Raiders?
28:26 There's a group of us that will listen.
28:30 I understand the frustration.
28:32 Do I think that the NFL does things to go after the Raiders?
28:37 You better believe I do.
28:40 But the networks don't, and they control that.
28:43 Their whole motto is, "Show me the money."
28:46 I know that again because I have a very good friend that works in the networks, and I asked
28:50 him point blank.
28:51 He told me, and he would tell me the truth.
28:55 He would absolutely tell me the truth.
28:57 So there you go.
28:59 There are some emails that get you some great information.
29:02 I hope that answers a lot of your questions.
29:05 I'm going to begin attacking free agency probably on Sunday, maybe a little bit on Saturday,
29:14 but probably Sunday and a lot on Monday.
29:17 And we'll be all free agency next week.
29:21 So excited about free agency.
29:24 So remember, follow me on Instagram @HondoSR.
29:30 Follow me on X, formerly known as Twitter, when you go to @HondoCarpenter.
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29:56 You don't want to miss any of that.
29:58 So do that.
29:59 Additionally, if you don't want to look at me, and I don't blame you.
30:02 I'm not an attractive man.
30:03 That's why I shower with the lights off.
30:07 But thank God my wife thinks I am, or maybe she just thinks I'm a nice guy and she'll
30:15 show me grace on the looks.
30:17 You can listen on Spotify or Apple when you go to Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast with
30:23 Hondo Carpenter.
30:24 Now there I do something special.
30:26 Each day I do a second podcast.
30:28 It's four to six minutes with something exclusive.
30:32 Maybe I talk to a player or an agent.
30:34 Maybe I got a tip.
30:35 It's just something exclusive.
30:37 I want to send your way just a little reward to those who listen on that.
30:41 I love talking to you all there.
30:43 Listen, from all of us to all of you, we're growing exponentially because of you folks.
30:48 You're tremendous people.
30:50 I appreciate you.
30:52 I respect you.
30:53 And I'm grateful for you.
30:54 Thank you for tuning in.
30:55 Thank you for listening.
30:56 God bless y'all.
30:57 We'll see you again tomorrow.
30:59 It's going to be a great day.