The Las Vegas Raiders are no strangers to internal restructuring. Since the franchise moved from Oakland in time for the 2020 season, there have been six different head coaches, both intentionally hired and interim — Jon Gruden, Rich Bisaccia, Josh McDaniels, Antonio Pierce, Pete Carroll, and now, Klint Kubiak.
Kubiak is coming off the high of winning Super Bowl LX as the Seattle Seahawks‘ offensive coordinator, which is nice, but McDaniels has several Super Bowl rings as an OC with the New England Patriots, so… you never know how a guy is going to be as a head coach until he’s a head coach.
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“The main thing is, this is no ordinary job,” Kubiak said in his introductory presser on February 10. “This is the Silver and Black. This is the Raiders. This is a historic franchise. So, when the opportunity came up to stay in Seattle and continue there or to have a chance to come here and compete with this organization, it was a no brainer. I grew up, obviously, watching a lot of Broncos football (Kubiak’s father Gary was John Elway’s backup from 1983-1991, Denver’s offensive coordinator from 1995-2005, and the head coach in 2015-2016), going against the Raiders twice a year, and the grit of this franchise sticks out.
“When you hear ‘The Autumn Wind is a Raider,’ I can hear that in my mind growing up watching NFL Films, and seeing these guys next to me play. Seeing Howie Long and Jim Plunkett, it’s pretty powerful to be sitting up here with you guys, and I just want you to know that those values that you guys played with, that’s what we’re going to play with. It’s really important to me that we’re a gritty team the way that they were back in the old days. And how do we do that? Well, it’s our silent tape. It’s nothing that we say. It’s what we do on the field, and it’s what the silent tape speaks about our team, how physical we are, our effort, all the little things that win that have nothing to do with scheme.
“So, really excited to get to work with your players, go turn your tape on, see what you guys are about right now, and then go see how we can get better together.”
Well, the new guy appears to get it. Kubiak has what looks to be a future franchise quarterback in Fernando Mendoza, and a coaching staff that seems miles ahead of what Pete Carroll put together in 2025. Now, it’s about getting these Raiders past last season’s 3-14 embarrassment, and finding the right path forward. Grit and history are cool and all, but talent will win out.
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These Raiders need a new version of this:
The Autumn Wind is a Raider,
Pillaging just for fun.
He’ll knock you ’round and upside down,
And laugh when he’s conquered and won.”
Guys who will growl as they storm the country. Villains big and bold. The trees should shake and quiver and quake, as these new Raiders rob opponents of their gold.
To that end, I’ve identified three Hidden Gems for Kubiak’s 2026 team — one underrated veteran, one underrated free-agent signing, and one underrated draft pick.
Underrated veteran: WR Tre Tucker
HOUSTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 21: Tre Tucker #1 of the Las Vegas Raiders runs with the ball during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on December 21, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Whatever it was that alleged offensive coordinators Chip Kelly and Greg Olson put on the field in 2025, it wasn’t exactly conducive to a high-energy passing game. So, it was all the more impressive that Tre Tucker, the 2023 third-round pick out of Cincinnati, had his best season to date in all that mess.
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Somehow, Tucker caught 57 passes on 90 targets for 696 yards and five touchdowns, and he did so in some unconventional ways for a player his size. You don’t expect 5’9″, 185-pound receivers to have the toughness and route acumen to excel on the outside, but Tucker took 505 of his 618 offensive snaps on the outside last season, and that’s where most of his explosive plays came from.
“Really no surprise there from what you’ve seen previously,” Kubiak said of Tucker on May 20. “He can run all day. He’s a quiet leader, a guy that we’re going to put in a leadership role. He’s got to be a playmaker for us, and he has been. And now, let’s go see what else we can get out of him.
“When you’ve got a guy who’s that size, and that competitive, and works that hard, there’s not a whole lot of humans on the planet who can put as many yards on the field at that high of a speed, so he’s been really impressive.”
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Last season, Tucker was running posts, overs, digs, and corner routes as you’d expect from a guy about four inches taller and 20 pounds heavier. Now, it’s about getting some targets around him, so it’s not just the Brock Bowers Show With Special Guest Tre Tucker.
Which is where we go next.
Underrated free agent: WR Jalen Nailor
HENDERSON, NEVADA – MAY 28: Jalen Nailor #9 of the Las Vegas Raiders practices during an OTA offseason workout at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Health Performance Center on May 28, 2026 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Raiders didn’t take any receivers in the draft until Oregon’s Malik Benson heard his name called with the 195th pick in the sixth round, but they had already made an estimable (albeit underrated) move by signing former Minnesota Vikings receiver Jalen Nailor to a three-year, $35.03 million contract with $18 million guaranteed.
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The 2022 sixth-round pick out of Michigan State never became a featured part of the Vikings’ passing game, but his 2025 season was worth watching, and clearly, the Raiders were paying attention. Last season, Nailor caught just 29 passes on 49 targets for 444 yards and four touchdowns, but the ratio of big plays to catches should be a precursor to future possibilities — especially since J.J. McCarthy made every receiver on the roster (including and especially Justin Jefferson) struggle to match their usual productivity.
The Raiders’ new mentor for Fernando Mendoza, who played with Nailor in Minnesota in 2022 and 2023, couldn’t be happier about the addition.
“I’m really excited about Jalen, because I was with him in Minnesota, and I could see his ability,” Kirk Cousins said in April. “When you have Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, it’s hard to get the ball as a receiver, because you’re going to target Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, and yet, every time Jalen got opportunities, he showed what he could do. And I think that showed even more there once I left Minnesota. But I think to have him here, and now in a bigger role, I think that’s really exciting, because it allows the player to really fulfill his potential.
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“He knows that, I know that, and I’m excited to get on the grass with him, and routes on air and in team drills, and just start to build that rapport and really allow him to have a much bigger role moving forward, because I think he’s capable of carrying a bigger role.”
We’ll see how Jack Bech, Dont’e Thornton Jr., and the rest of the Raiders’ receivers do behind Tucker as the main man, but there is certainly an open lane for Nailor to show what he can do.
Underrated draft pick: CB Hezekiah Masses
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – FEBRUARY 24: Hezekiah Masses #DB19 of California participates in a drill during the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 27, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With Rob Leonard as the team’s new defensive coordinator, the Raiders made it clear in the draft that the secondary was about to get a lot of new faces in the draft. Arizona safety Treydan Stukes went in the second round, Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy went at the top of the fourth round (obviously, a healthy McCoy would have gone in the top of the first round, based on his 2024 tape), and Dalton Johnson, another Arizona safety, went in the fifth round.
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Then, with the 175th overall pick in the fifth round, the Raiders took Cal cornerback Hezekiah Masses. And that, friends, could be a spicy meatball.
Last season for Cal after three seasons at Florida International, the 6’1″, 185-pound Masses allowed 30 catches on 61 targets for 413 yards, 175 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, five interceptions, an FBS-best 18 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 59.0.
The metrics will tell you that there’s an element of boom-or-bust to Masses’ game, but the tape says that even when he gets a bit out of phase in coverage, he’s rarely epically beat — these are gradations of coverage issues that good coaching can refine. And the good plays are really good, given the NFL’s need for cornerbacks who can match routes all over the field.
“He can cover,” pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach Joe Woods said of Masses on August 8. “I’m all about getting on the body just in terms of being tight whenever we play press. He has that skill set. There’s some guys in the past that he reminds me of in terms of quickness. Denzel Ward had that extreme lateral quickness where he can get on the body. He has that same type of trait. Not saying he’s Denzel, he’s got a long way to go, but there are some really good things that he’s doing.
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“He’s a very instinctive guy, so he sees a lot. And you have to be careful coaching guys like that, because he’ll see something, and the [receiver] will be running free, ‘Hey, you’ve got to cover that guy, but great instinct’. So, I just think him getting comfortable with the speed of the game, [and] the type of quarterbacks that he’s going to play against, but just not taking too many risks.”
With Eric Stokes and Darien Porter as the projected starting outside cornerbacks right now, Masses could make a real push with a strong preseason. He struggled a bit in his NFL debut against the Arizona Cardinals, allowing three catches on three targets — quick comebacks and slants against which he gave a bit too much room — but as Coach Woods said, these things take a bit of time. What’s tough to replicate is a skill set that allows a young cornerback to wipe out opposing receivers at an FBS-best rate.
