This finally was going to be the year that the Raiders got defensive. Head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock had the offensive side of the ball in order. Now it was supposed to be the defense that received the same kind of attention. The process began in 2018, when Gruden was hired.
Grading key players involved in Raiders’ defensive makeover
James is out for the season Mack never talked to Jon. Josh has bad stats this year all this i can get on Tweeter
Kolton Miller was the right pick. We now can say that with certainty. A strong LT in a passing league is a necessity.
Yet, lack of the return of the the rest of the draft picks and Free agents is baffling. If you invest that much, is it truly all on the talent. Ferrell was an absolute whiff. Yet, did Littleton, Collins and Joyner all of sudden forget how to play?
That’s why the eyes then move to Guenther’s scheme. Something is inherently not right when you put in decent parts into an engine and the engine keeps misfiring. Time to look at the mechanic.
You are absolutely right – good FAs suddenly underperform with Raiders, while underperforming former players are suddenly far more successful once they leave the team.
While the rest of Steve’s article is spot on, for the reason above I’d take exception to his claim that ‘Gruden and Mayock are making it near impossible for Guenther to succeed’.
I wouldn’t want to trade for anyone on defense. Those who are on the block are either having a bad season already or their respective teams are looking to stock draft capital. Besides, the Raiders have enough of invisible players on defense.
Poe and Worley both cut by the Cowboys for underperforming. I hope the Raiders have the the good sense not to pick-up either. The Raiders already know about Worley since he couldn’t cover. Dontari Poe hasn’t been the same player he was in KC.
We have been kicking this debate around good defensive players under performing when they join for a while now.
I’d like to damp down all the trade fever, by saying I firmly believe that if all of Aaron Donald, JJ Watt, Devin White, Aaron Ramsey, Tyrann Mathieu and Melvin Ingram or Joey Bosa came to us before the deadline we’d still have no defense if Guenther was left in charge of it.
Sorry, Jalen Ramsey…. but you get my drift…
Unfortunately, that’s the sad state of affairs. All the indications are that no changes of any kind, Guenther or trades, are forthcoming before the season’s end. We are stuck with Gruden’s ‘we are who we are’, so it’s quite likely we’ll end up out of playoffs and out of a chance to acquire a potential franchise QB in the draft.