The Raiders, my favorite team, get their own post for what I believe is yet another bust of a draft. Jon Gruden came back to the NFL supposedly a scouting wizard. PFF had Alex Leatherwood the 9th best
tackle in this draft, and the Raiders took him with the 17th pick. It was mentioned more than once that Leatherwood played with great players around him, in a great program at Alabama, bloating his apparent value, but the Raiders didn't seem to notice that. The Raiders also seem to have a real memory problem. Last year they took Ruggs with their top pick, a "star" from Alabama. Last year he caught a paltry 26 passes for the team. I can't seem to recall a single impressive catch he made or game he had.
Let's not also forget in that same draft the Raiders took Ruggs, they took Bryan Edwards, another WR hyped by Gruden... who caught a total of 11 passes last season in 12 games. Both were outplayed by Lynn Bowden, taken in the 3rd round as a receiving RB the year before, then traded to Miami, where he's played quite well in the slot, backfield, or motion.
Going back to 2019, if you type in Clelin Ferrell, the Raiders top pick (which again puzzled experts when he was taken), Google's next word it auto-fills in for your search after his name is "bust". An Edge rusher taken with the 4th overall pick, in 2019 he had 4.5 sacks, and last year, a measly 2. And it's not like he morphed into a great tackling machine. Last year he could muster only 27 tackles. An "afterthought" 4th round pick from that season, Maxx Crosby has completely outplayed him, so it's not just a bad Raiders defense to blame.
Last year they took Damon Arnette, a pick that baffled experts at the time. He was repeatedly injured, was either terribly coached or just made some really bad plays, and a minimal stat sheet, including getting burned on maybe the worst play of the season.
Good read on Arnette's bust rookie year. How significant was it that the Raiders took Arnette? He was the top pick resulting from the trade to get rid of Kahlil Mack.
Leatherwood is yet another in a long line of Raider picks that make me believe Gruden and Maycock arrogantly think they are the smartest guys in the room, but outside of Josh Jacobs, with all the draft capital they've had, who else can anyone name really stands out? Crosby has over-performed, sure. Jonathan Abram, when healthy, has shown value, Trayvon Mullen has done well. And...who else? From the great evaluator of talent, Gruden?
The Raiders look like they headed for another 7-9 season. Starting out with a good wins, but then fading away and losing games they had chances to win where a collective dearth of talent, and coaching are exposed. When he came back Gruden said he'd leave if he couldn't get it done. Well, with his second career looking a lot like results Jeff Fisher would be happy with, if the Raiders don't somehow, some way, pull something off this season, he should be good on his word and leave. And take Maycock with him.
Is it too late to apologize to Oakland native Jack Del Rio?
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