Raiders end preseason without naming a starting quarterback, Week 1 looming

The Las Vegas Raiders finished their preseason schedule with a familiar uncertainty under center. After an 18-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in their final exhibition, the Raiders’ coaching staff is still not prepared to name a starting quarterback for the regular season, a decision that is normally settled well before the league opener.

The closing preseason effort came with a scoreboard reminder that preparations continue beyond starters and backups. Kirk Cousins, playing for the 49ers, recorded points on the board in all three of his preseason drives, putting consistent pressure on an opponent’s defensive second and third units even late in the evaluation cycle. For the Raiders, the broader takeaway is that preseason work is still being tested against live game plans, not just scripted reps.

For Las Vegas, the practical timeline now compresses sharply. With the preseason over, the staff can shift its weekly routine toward opener-specific game preparation. Week 1 is described as just two weeks away, leaving limited room for a quarterback decision that typically shapes practice tempo, situational reps, and the first-week identity the coaching staff wants to project.

Coach Klint Kubiak and his staff can now focus on installation, protection schemes, and the order of operations that come with designating a starter. But the unresolved quarterback label changes how those practices may be conducted. If multiple options remain in play, the team has to maintain sharp execution from the first-team offense while still allowing meaningful evaluation of the alternatives, especially in two-minute, red-zone, and third-down looks that often become the difference between scoring drives and stalled drives.

The Raiders’ situation also highlights a long-running NFL reality: quarterback competitions do not always resolve smoothly through preseason games, even when individual drives show encouraging signs. A quarterback can drive efficiently in a particular series and still leave open questions about consistency across a full game flow, decision-making under different coverage looks, or the ability to lead the offense at the pace the offensive coordinator wants. When a team waits until late in the preseason, it usually means the staff sees enough to keep evaluating, not enough to feel comfortable ending the process.

What to watch next is the Raiders’ first stretch of regular-season preparation. The team’s practice reports and depth-chart decisions will reveal whether the staff narrows to one option quickly or keeps a more public-or-transparent competition longer than usual. In particular, watch how the Raiders handle “starter-only” reps and whether the quarterback who runs with the first unit becomes the clear focal point during situational periods.

As the Raiders approach Week 1, the decision carries more than just game-week logistics. It impacts offensive chemistry, tempo, and how quickly the offense builds a repeatable pattern against a real opponent’s game plan. Until a starting quarterback is officially named, Las Vegas will be preparing for multiple versions of its offensive identity, all while trying to keep its evaluation process from becoming an obstacle to execution when the games count.