HENDERSON, Nev. -- For Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll, the team's offseason program was a learning experience.
Throughout organized team activity practices and mandatory minicamp, Carroll said his staff went to great depths in trying to understand the players and how to help them reach their potential.
"We learned a lot," Carroll said. "The whole purpose here is to figure them out. It's a relationship that we're building [and] we need to know who we're teaching and how they operate."
There's only so much the Raiders can do in padless practices. However, on the days that were open to reporters, it was clear that quarterback Geno Smith had already established himself as a strong leader in the locker room.