Jon Gruden couldn’t wait until his second offseason with the Raiders. That was going to represent the first time he could replenish the roster with free agents that would help transform the team. Gruden and first-year general manager Mike Mayock had plenty of money to throw at high-profile, big-name players, and they wasted little time.
Jon Gruden, Raiders still waiting for return on huge investments in free agency
I agree, but only to a certain extent. Is it the players or the system? Are the Raiders putting the players in the best role to succeed? The FA’s picked by the Raiders played well on former teams. Did they suddenly LOSE their skills? Did they suddenly drop off physically?
There are discarded Raider players in other organizations contributing to their teams:
Denico Autry
Jihad Ward
Karl Joseph
PJ Hall
S. Calhoun
Mario Edwards (see last night’s game)
Is Joyner in the right role on defense? Littleton made a comment a week ago about his role and said “I just do what I’m coached to do” or a comment to that effect.
I’m not convinced it’s a talent issue but primarily a system or coaching issue.
Fair point, but we both overlooked a salient point. That is, Maliek Collins was just another defensive lineman for the Cowboys. The Raiders signed him in hopes of him becoming THE linchpin for the Raiders line. That oftentimes doesn’t pan out as hoped for. That seems to be the case here. Littleton, Collins and Nassib were being counted upon to be impact players instead of just another solid player on a defense with better players than them.
Concur 100 percent with your assessment Ghost. All the high priced free agents were roundly applauded by all the pundits when the Raiders landed them – especially true for the Linebackers. Cork came right out after week 1 and blasted their performance. I thought that was a bit premature and overly negative – I was very, very mistaken. If PG wasn’t a close friend he would most assuredly be gone. No freekin way you spend that amount of money and GET WORSE. You shitcan the D Coordinator and try someone else. So hey John – Your Defense cannot stop the run, cannot stop the pass, cannot rush the passer, cannot get any turnovers. What are you going to do? Enough.