Jack Del Rio hired Ken Norton Jr. as his defensive coordinator soon after he became the Raiders head coach in 2015. Less than three seasons later, Norton Jr. was fired. Current Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther is in his third season with the team and struggling every bit as much as Norton Jr. was by
Paul Guenther’s Raiders career trending much like the one carved out by Ken Norton Jr.
You went all neutral on us with this one, Cork! We know what Gruden and Guenther think. So what do YOU think? Lack of execution or scheme?
I’m building to what I think. Four games are too few to make a snap judgment about this season, especially the teams the Raiders have faced. However, overall during Guenther’s tenure, things aren’t looking good. Soon, if this continues, I will post a piece on who is to blame and just how much — teaser: Jon Gruden, Mike Mayock, Rod Marinelli and Rich Bisaccia, to name a few.
👍!
Opponents averaging 2.5 punts/game
Missed Tackles
Lack of sacks
Lack of QB pressure
Lack of interceptions
None of this paints a rosy picture.
Yes don’t tell us what we know give us information we don’t have.
What I am hearing from Gruden and Guenther is the same thing I heard from Del Rio and Norton Jr. “sight violations” and “lack of lane discipline.” A coach should be able to get his players to improve on these issues in three years. Something is definitely off, especially when you see Raiders cast offs contributing with other teams.
Unfortunately it’s shaping up to be the same old, same old for the Raiders. I honestly felt they would push for a playoff spot this year but that is already looking far fetched. They look exactly the same as last year, an offence that can move the ball but not score, and a defence that’s just….well…lousy. Linebacker was supposed to be upgraded this year but they are just as bad as previous years. Ferrell continues to be a wasted pick who adds absolutely nothing to the defence. I have to think that Gunther’s scheme isn’t working with the players. In other words, he is asking them to do things that they are not suited for.
Offensively, Carr is simply not a winner and he doesn’t elevate the team. He isn’t horrible but he also isn’t the type of guy who can lead a struggling team out of the basement. I’m honestly tired of him and while he has been missing a few receivers and o-lineman, he should be better than he is. The excuse train has left the station.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the team drops to 2-4. I’m sure the 100 million dollar man will give us the no training camp excuse.
Things could be so much worse….you could be a Broncos or Chargers fan! 😂
I don’t believe a healthy Raiders lineup is any better than a healthy Broncos lineup. All things being equal I bet the Raiders would finish behind them in the standings.
I realize the Raiders have had a tough 4 game stretch against good opponents but it is pretty easy to see where they are trending…back to the basement. Especially when it reaches 2-4.
A few thoughts;
No way can Gruden hire from the outside during the season and bring in a new DC. Marinelli? His DL has underachieved. Why is he the logical choice?
Guenther isn’t going to be let go during the season. If it happens, it occurs once the season ends. In addition, Guenther and Gruden are buddies. Going to be very difficult for Gruden to fire his friend. I’m not saying its right but that’s the situation.
Agree. Guenther’s been given a very long piece of rope. I expect he’s got all season to see whether he can get his players to gel in the system. Only caveat could be Mayock, but I’m guessing he’ll defer to Gruden. Any mid-season change is very disruptive.
If Guenther stays, we will finish with a worse record than last year. The scheme is just not working based on the evidence of good players coming in and looking bad and players that looked bad heading out and succeeding elsewhere (at least relative to what our D is doing).
Marinelli is the obvious man in waiting… his guys have to play within Guenther’s scheme right now and might look very different if he’s given the reins. How could it be worse?
KC will shred the D this week, then it’s a bye and hopefully bye, bye Guenther. It’s what the team needs to have any chance of a decent season.
Agree with you except o Guenther being fired – I just don’t see Gruden doing it.
Hey, let’s look at it from the bright side – perhaps we’ll be among the first six teams to pick in 2021 draft, which would put us in a position to draft a real franchise QB.
While I understand that Guenther’s D has been bad all three years he’s been here, this is the first year that he was supposed to have enough talent to improve. I wonder if there are some issues between Guenther and Marinelli? Maybe Guenther understands that Marinelli is the DC in waiting? Or, maybe Marinelli is chomping at the bit to become the DC? Pure speculation on my part, obviously.
Also, against the Bills, it looked like the defense was giving the receivers a ton of cushion which appears to be a shift in scheme from the prior two games. Was that a precursor to facing the Chiefs? Is that Guenther trying not to mess up as bad for fear of losing his job?