‘4 Downs’ with Rich: The Las Vegas Raiders’ Biggest Questions Heading into the 2026 NFL Season

With the confetti long since fallen on the Seattle Seahawks and the football calendar in its dead zone, the show reached back for an old staple to pass the time. Four Downs, one of the first repeatable segments the program ever built, is back, and the plan is to run it for all 32 teams in draft order until the season kicks off. The format is simple. Rich offers four opinions on a team, each one a down, with the fourth being the hottest of the bunch. First up, presented by Hyundai, the Las Vegas Raiders.

First down is Ashton Jeanty's sophomore season. TJ admitted he has no idea what it will look like. If you had Jeanty in fantasy last year, he said, you called him a total flop, and then you looked closer at the numbers and they were pretty decent. He is hoping the offensive line does better and that the pre-snap issues that hung over last season are gone.

Second down raises the bigger question. Is Klint Kubiak head coaching material? Kubiak comes from a coaching family and just ran the offense for the now defending champion Seahawks, but running a program is different from coordinating one. TJ pointed to the Hall of Fame names surrounding him at his introductory press conference, from Howie Long on down, and wondered aloud whether Kubiak is ready for a job that will demand a ton of big-time decisions.

Third down flows right out of that. How long until Fernando Mendoza is QB1? Kirk Cousins is on the roster, which TJ called a brilliant signing, because if Mendoza is not ready, Cousins is the guy, and if he is ready, nobody is better positioned to help bring along a first overall pick. All the Step Brothers memes are fun, TJ said, but when it is time to actually play football games, the timeline on Mendoza becomes a real quarterback-room puzzle for Kubiak to manage. Brock Bowers should have a healthier, better season, and a strong center up front only helps the young quarterback and the run game.

Fourth down, the hottest of them all, is Max Crosby. Is there still a deal or no deal at all? The trade that was rescinded and brought Crosby back to Vegas may not have settled whatever needed settling, and now the question is less about contract than about injury. How healthy will he be for training camp? If he shows up running around like a deer, TJ suggested, the situation could still be simmering the way Micah Parsons' was a year ago. That, more than anything, is about to be front and center for the Raiders.