Stock up, stock down for Raiders after win, including Kirk Cousins’ future

It’s probably not a stretch to say Sunday’s victory over the New York Jets helped chart the course for the rest of the Las Vegas Raiders season.

Most Raiders fans have probably heard the national speculation by now that it’s time for the Raiders to trade starting quarterback Kirk Cousins.

A loss on Sunday would have made those whispers grow very loud.

But, the Raiders found a way to snap their four-game losing streak and get back to .500. Had they fallen to 3-5 with games against San Francisco and Seattle on deck, it would be franchise malpractice not to start listening to offers.

At that point, the Raiders would no longer be playoff relevant and the time would have come to turn the page to the Fernando Mendoza era.

But Klint Kubiak uttered a key phrase last week when discussing his decision to stick with Cousins as the starting quarterback when he said the team was still “in the hunt.”

While this season has always been about building a foundation for the future and letting Mendoza develop at his own pace, circumstances can change. And if there is a chance to make the playoffs there is little reason to not at least give the team a chance.

That doesn’t mean the phones should be turned off. Based on the franchise’s direction and timeline, as well as the structure of Cousins’ contract, a massive haul of draft picks would probably be tempting.

But that won’t happen. Also, one of the team’s mentioned as a possibility is the Baltimore Ravens with all of their quarterback injuries.

Would Raiders general manager John Spytek even take the call after the shenanigans of the summer?

For now, let’s rate Cousins stock as a hold.

Here’s our weekly look at the stock of some other Raiders that have increased or decreased after Sunday’s win over the Jets:

Up

Dylan Laube — The third-year pro has been so close to breaking a long kickoff return into a touchdown.

It finally happened on Sunday and it happened for the Long Island native in front of friends and family. But it wasn’t his only contribution on special teams. Laube made a heads-up play to let a kick go out of bounds and forced the Jets into kicking the ball through the end zone for touchbacks.

Then he made a huge tackle on a kickoff return and nearly blocked a field goal for good measure. He has said his goal is to be the best special teams player in the league and that goal does not seem unattainable at this point.

Spencer Burford — Burford is not the stock to own if you want to treat the market like Jerry on “Seinfeld.” There was an episode where he constantly checked the market to see how a particular stock was doing, allowing the fluctuations to dictate his mood until he finally had to just sell.

Burford’s performances have been an absolute roller coaster this season. He was very good again on Sunday after a couple of his worst efforts of the year. He could really help solidify the line if he could find a way to channel whatever he is doing in the good weeks.

Jalen Nailor — Cousins has been insistent the last few weeks that Nailor has been getting open and it’s on the quarterback to find him. That finally started to happen on Sunday.

Cousins and Nailor started to click in the way the Raiders had hoped when they reunited the pair that had previously played together in Minnesota. It could be a very positive development, although it did seem to come at the expense of Tre Tucker’s involvement in the offense.

Down

Ashton Jeanty — Was it the controversial comments about the Jets that led to his demotion Sunday or the inconsistent production in the run game?

While Kubiak said it was just a matter of getting Mike Washington Jr. more opportunities, time will tell.

Either way and even for just one game, Jeanty losing early-down work and only carrying the ball twice as he became a passing game specialist isn’t great for his stock.

Eric Stokes — One of the most surprising elements of the Jets success on offense was how often they successfully targeted Stokes.

Most opponents tend to attack the rest of the Raiders young secondary, but the Jets went right at Stokes and found some big completions.

Jackson Powers-Johnson — After battling with Caleb Rogers for the starting right guard spot for several weeks, they were both surpassed on the depth chart Sunday by rookie Trey Zuhn III.

But while Rogers was used as the extra offensive lineman in heavy sets, Powers-Johnson was relegated to a special teams role.

He is still a very talented player, but the Raiders just haven’t been able to find a set role for him and now it feels he’s further away from that than ever.

Contact Adam Hill at [email protected]. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.