Here's how I feel.
Last year was a total dumpster fire in every aspect and in every way for the Raiders, starting with the Mack trade. Not just the trade itself, but how it went down and the overall bad look of how it happened and the apparent total lack of communication between Gruden and Mack and Gruden and the players about what was happening. The whole season was a bad look for the Raiders. Period, no argument.
But last year is over. I've been a Raiders fan for nearly 40 freaking years. It hurt my heart not wanting to watch my team play last year. I liked the Gruden signing when it first happened and I'm not going to let last year make me throw in the proverbial towel on him and the Raiders. There is so much negative energy around this team and Raiders fan lamenting about last year and how it will spill over to this year, yada yada yada. And people aren't necessarily wrong. I'm just sick of the negativity.
Despite how we got here, Oakland is in a very good posture heading into this season and our imminent move to Vegas. We have lots of draft stock and lots of cap room. I am focusing on looking forward and putting out as much positive energy as I can for the Raiders. No doom and gloom, but positive. Come on fellas, they need us, now more than ever. Let's not continue to kick the dog, let's rally and think positive, or at the very least, not be so freaking negative.
Which leads me to Antonio Brown. Yes, he's a diva and a possible headache. But the dude can ball and is, in my opinion, the best WR in the league. I'd happily take him onto our team because we need his talent, his skills. Maybe people will start talking about us in a positive note since we will have the best WR in the league. Maybe his presence will help Carr be the best he can be and closer to how he looked before breaking his leg. Maybe his signing will help bring in other free agents so by the time we get to Vegas, we will be steadily on the rise and not spiraling towards the abyss.
I can't wait for the freaking draft!
Great post S&B! I actually felt the same way about the Gruden hire. I thought the 2016 12-4 record was a little fluky. They had an atrocious defense and were razor thin across the board on the depth chart. The ball bounced their way a few times (which us Raider fans are not used to seeing recently) and Carr caught lightning in a bottle. It was evident after Carr went down things needed to change. The team was never the same.
To Reggie's credit, he did draft a potential core in Mack, Carr and Cooper. But the rest of the team, save the interior Oline, was (is) devoid of talent. In comes Gruden, and he knows the team needs an infusion of talent so he dismantles the whole team from the inside out.
This is where I personally start to question things:
1. The Bryant trade made absolutely no sense.
2a. They passed up on impact defensive players like James, Leonard and Vander Esch only to draft the next Nate Solder. To be fair, I think Miller will turn out to be a solid starter, and LT was a need. But to pass on those defensive players for him is questionable.
2b. Forcing Carr to play with two rookie tackles. That's pretty messed up in my mind. I don't think Carr gets enough credit for even surviving the season, let alone playing well in spurts.
3. Last season was a throwaway year. It wasn't fair to the fanbase. Gruden wanted to trade away 2/3 of the young core to start over and collect draft capital. They tell us, "be patient, just wait, we're going to turn this around." My response to that, is we have been patient for 18 years! They've amassed one of the worst records of the 21st century, pretty bad for an organization that was once the" team of the decades". We've stood by and watched the likes of JaMarcus Russell get drafted, McFadden, DHB, Mike Mitchell and countless coaching changes.
Here we all are again, looking forward to the offseason more than the actual football season. I'm just getting ready to get disappointed once again.
Here's what I hope:
FA targets like CJ Moseley and Landon Collins. Impact defensive players they need so badly! What we will probably get. A couple back up Olinemen and some aging veterans on defense.
Draft the 3 best defensive players possible. Keep it simple. No trading unless it's an offer they can't pass up. Maybe take that Metcalf kid at 24 or 27, I can live with that too. What will probably happen: trade back and draft a bunch of linemen, some we've barely heard of from directional colleges. Try to mine for RBs and WRs deep in the draft.
My only hope is that Mayock will be under so much pressure hes not going to draft anyone off the radar. Just stick to the draft board and draft the BPAs as much as possible, don't reach for need because we got needs everywhere!