Can Jon Gruden’s scheme survive without a go-to receiving threat?
For years, Gruden has lived off the up-and-down success he had in Oakland during his first tenure and the first year he had with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was extremely lucky to inherit a defense loaded with Pro Bowlers, All Pros, and eventual Hall of Famers. He added a little bit on offense and that was enough to get the job done.
He’s been getting credit for that for years—mostly, because he hasn’t been a head coach in over a decade, spending his time commentating for ESPN on Monday Night Football as well as various other content platforms. You have to give him credit. He is a Super Bowl winning coach and he is entertaining. However, is he really that great of an offensive mind in today’s NFL?
He’s going to have a pretty steep challenge this season to show that he can still construct a good offensive game plan. Last season, the Raiders ranked 22nd in total offense with 336 yards per game. It’s true, they barely had any weapons for Derek Carr to throw the ball too. There’s even a question at this point whether or not Carr is the transcendent quarterback some made him out to be early in his career. He hasn’t shown much the last couple seasons.
The problem is, virtually nothing has changed from last season and might have actually gotten worse. Following the release of Antonio Brown, the Raiders are left with journeymen and no-names at all of their receiver slots.
Tyrell Williams was an undrafted free agent the same year, who’s caught less passes for less yards each of the past two seasons. Darren Waller is a sixth round draft pick from that same season who has 18 receptions for 178 yards in three seasons. Hunter Renfrow is a rookie fifth-round pick who doesn’t exactly possess significant physical prowess.
These comments are not meant as a slight to these players’ careers, and there were a few bright spots in Oakland’s win over the Broncos on Monday. Yet, it’s still pretty obvious. Gruden has absolutely zero proven playmakers as receiving options. It’s also likely Gruden’s entire offseason for the offense was spent game planning with the idea that Antonio Brown would be the linchpin of their offense. The question has to be asked: is it even possible for Carr and this offense to find consistent success in 2019?
Is Josh Jacobs the next bell cow running back?
With the number of good-to-great running backs that teams are now consistently finding in later rounds of the draft, if you draft a back in the first round, he had better make a statement early and often in his NFL career. That’s where the Raiders are with Josh Jacobs.
Jacobs was a three-year player for the Crimson Tide, who finally made a name for himself last season with nearly 1,000 yards from scrimmage. He was considered by most to be the best running back in his class, and he likely had the most heartwarming story of the entire draft.
While his production in college was good, it doesn’t jump off the stat sheet. A big reason for this is that obviously Alabama has a ton of talent, including other running backs. As I mentioned before, the offensive cupboard in Oakland is pretty bare.
Based off game one, Jacobs is going to be relied upon as one of the focal points of the offense this season. Can he consistently showcase the ability in pass protection and the passing game, as well as the durability, to justify the Raiders taking him so high in the draft?
How long will Derek Carr quarterback the Oakland Raiders?
Carr has had a rather bumpy road during his time with the Oakland Raiders. The 36th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Fresno State had some decent fan fare the last couple of years, with some believing he had all the tools to become a Hall of Famer one day and most believing he was one of the best quarterbacks in the AFC West and among the best in the league.
Most of those seasons came under ex-Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, who was unceremoniously shown the door after a debacle of a 2017 season where the club won 6 out of 16 games after nearly stealing the division from the Chiefs the year before. While he still maintained a high completion percentage and broke 4,000 yards passing for the first time in his career in 2018, he had the lowest number of touchdowns of his career with 19.
With serious questions about how much Gruden likes Carr as his quarterback of the future, whether justified or unjustified, it would seem that Carr is on the hot seat with the Raiders. Can he consistently compete, or at least make games respectable, when he plays against the likes of Phillip Rivers and Patrick Mahomes?