For all this talk of “unfinished business” in regard to the return of head coach Jon Gruden, the main order of business will be in building a roster that is as talented and deep as the one he left after the 2001 season. The Raiders were a popular pick to win the Super Bowl this
Gruden’s 2001 Raiders team superior to team he inherited from Jack Del Rio
It's easy for people to forget just how talented a team Gruden left behind
Haven’t thought about some of those 2001 names in a long long time. Great article!
Thanks, Casey. Yeah, it’s amazing how some big names fade from our memories with the passage of time. That 2001 Raiders team was pretty darned talented. It was fun watching them play every week, for sure.
It isn’t really fair to compare a team with players Gruden developed and coached for 3 seasons over a team who had a very down season do to very incompetent coaching. Take Gannon for example. Would you have taken Carr after his MVP candidacy campaign, or a journeyman backup QB who never accomplished anything before Gruden? Obviously Carr. It was Gruden who made Gannon what he was, which makes comparing pre-Gruden Carr to post Gruden Gannon incredibly unfair, and inaccurate.
The only way this could be remotely accurate is taking the team Gruden inherited in ’98 and comparing it to the team he inherits now, not using the SB caliber team he developed and comparing it to the 6-10 team he is just now getting his hands on.