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Former Las Vegas Raiders QB Desmond Ridder.
It’s early in the 2025 regular season, but there are already serious quarterback injuries starting to pile up. The Minnesota Vikings moved on from Sam Darnold last offseason despite having a huge season in 2024 for the team.
That was because they wanted to pivot to former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. The young quarterback looked shaky in two starts and is now going to miss some time. McCarthy is likely to miss two to four weeks with an ankle injury.
Carson Wentz is the logical player to take over as the starter, but the Vikings are ensuring they have more depth at the position. According to the NFL Network, Minnesota has signed quarterback Desmond Ridder to the active roster.
Ridder was a free agent, but he was most recently with the Cincinnati Bengals in training camp. Last season, he was with the Las Vegas Raiders and even had to start a game. Ridder was once a promising prospect when he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons, but he hasn’t been able to find a consistent team. Perhaps the Vikings could finally give him a long-term home, but that will be difficult once McCarthy is healthy again. That said, the fact that they signed him to the active roster and not the practice squad is a good sign for him.
Raiders May Have QB Issue
The Raiders were feeling great about the quarterback situation after Week 1. Geno Smith looked solid against the New England Patriots, and the team won.
However, he came crashing back to earth in Week 2. Smith threw three interceptions and didn’t score a touchdown. He took the blame for the loss.
“Anything that didn’t look right out there, you put that at my feet,” Smith told reporters on Monday. “You put that on my shoulders. I feel like I gotta be a lot better for our guys. I know I have to, and I will be.”
The Chargers do have a really tough defense, so the Raiders didn’t have room for error.
“The way that they play, the way that teams have been playing as of recently, there’s gonna be a lot of two-high shells, there are going to be a lot of zone coverages,” he said. “They’re going to force offenses to be disciplined. If you don’t run the ball consistently, if you don’t pass the ball efficiently, you’re going to have a tough day.”
The Raiders are paying Smith a lot of money, but they can’t keep him on the field if he’s going to play like that.
Raiders Offense Needs to Get Going
The Raiders’ offense was decent in Week 1, but they only scored 20 points. Against the Chargers, they didn’t score a single touchdown. Two touchdowns in two games isn’t a winning strategy.
The good news for the Raiders is that the defense looks better than expected. The offense has the pieces to be very good. They had to go against two solid defenses through the first two weeks, but should have a chance to put up better numbers in the coming games.
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
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