The Raiders' Gruden Problem

[Clipper Nation]

Giving full roster control—and $100 million—to an average-at-best coach who hasn't been behind an NFL sideline in a literal decade seems like a reckless misstep for a team that looked like it was finally onto something after making the playoffs in 2016. But here we are, living in Gruden's warped football dystopia, where long-snappers and converted fullbacks reign supreme.

The problem isn't King—it's Gruden's outdated, ego-driven approach to team building. You can make the argument, as many Gruden supporters already have, that King's release was a cap-saving move (it freed up $2.9 million). Those same sheep will argue that King's four personal fouls over the last two seasons were a detriment to the team. But if Tafur and Williamson's reporting is accurate, the real reason the Raiders cut King was because of his colorful personality and the threat it posed to Gruden's hardnosed, no-nonsense style of coaching. King isn't a disruptive player—he's good at his job and likes to have some fun. But Gruden wouldn't know the difference.

Gruden said at the NFL Combine that he wants to bring the Raiders back to 1998 by playing a throwback brand of football. That's almost as cringe-worthy as Bill Polian saying Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson should switch positions because he's too small (6'3"/211) to play quarterback. Wake up, guys. This isn't 1998. It's 2018. Gruden can scoff at analytics all he wants but the reality is, forward-thinking teams like the Patriots and Eagles are the ones having success while members of the cocoon, as Evan Silva calls it, are being left behind.

Is it any wonder the Browns went 0-16 last year with defensive coordinator Gregg Williams trotting out the same ineffective defense week after week, regardless of opponent? The Patriots and Eagles were chameleons, routinely exposing their opponents' weaknesses with exhaustive game-planning. We're not even three months into the Gruden Era in Oakland—the second Gruden Era, I should say—and the man in charge has already admitted he's not willing to play ball. Rather than adapt to an ever-changing analytics-driven landscape, Gruden is going to do things his way, which apparently means dumping a pair of All-Pro special teamers and a proven touchdown scorer in favor of a backup QB he coached 10 years ago, a running back who can't play anymore and the worst tackle in football by a landslide, according to PFF.

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/78986/472/the-gruden-problem

[Avante]

Will this guy ever learn?

Dude, now what happens if the Raiders make the playoffs and win a playoff game in 2018?

Why do you always jump on this shit that hasn't been proven out?

[Clipper Nation]

Will this guy ever learn?

Dude, now what happens if the Raiders make the playoffs and win a playoff game in 2018?

Why do you always jump on this shit that hasn't been proven out?
Translation: :madrun "How dare you divert attention away from my track-and-field almanac lists with an actual football thread!" :madrun

[spurraider21]

a lot of hyperbole in there (implying crabtree/king were cut so that they can sign josh johnson and doug martin) but yes some of gruden's moves have been eye opening. and i do think people are reading way too much into comments he made mostly in gest at the combine

i dont like the cutting of marquette king, breno giacomini is awful, tom cable as OL coach seems really odd

[Avante]

Translation: :madrun "How dare you divert attention away from my track-and-field almanac lists with an actual football thread!" :madrun

translation

Ok, ok, ok, I was 100% wrong about Tom Savage, Tyreek Hill, and when Russell Wilson is ranked in the top 15 players for 2017, I'll be wrong there also. I can't do the smart thing, which is wait and see, give things some time, that makes way too much sense. Remember I have Derek Anderson over Cam Newton, need I say more?

[Avante]

a lot of hyperbole in there (implying crabtree/king were cut so that they can sign josh johnson and doug martin) but yes some of gruden's moves have been eye opening. and i do think people are reading way too much into comments he made mostly in gest at the combine

i dont like the cutting of marquette king, breno giacomini is awful, tom cable as OL coach seems really odd

It was better to dump King now than to have Gruden..."dude, cut that out, ok?"...and have the cat pouting.

Look at Jimmy Johnson, Belichick, hell...Lou Saban, yep...tuff...yep..huge success.

[Clipper Nation]

It was better to dump King now than to have Gruden..."dude, cut that out, ok?"...and have the cat pouting.

Look at Jimmy Johnson, Belichick, hell...Lou Saban, yep...tuff...yep..huge success.
Or Gruden could have removed the stick from his ass and not cut a good punter because :cry he has a personality and likes to have fun with the game. :cry

[Avante]

Or Gruden could have removed the stick from his ass and not cut a good punter because :cry he has a personality and likes to have fun with the game. :cry

Nobody cares what a punter likes to do. It's about doing what your coach wants.

I guess it could have went.

Gruden,....have a seat son, ah....how about we cool the antics, ok? Not a fan of that kind of behavior, we ok with that?
King....sure,ok, got it.
Gruden...great, ok, see ya.

[Avante]

Never have understood why we read/hear about fun and pro football. Talking the players. Who reading this goes to work to have fun, work isn't suppose to be a good time, fun, that is what the weekend is for. Ah.....ok your off time and pro footballers have how many months to have fun, I never had Feb to June to just have fun did you? Hell. if ya don't make the playoffs look at all that time off to have fun.

Football at the ...PRO...level is a job.

[leemajors]

Never have understood why we read/hear about fun and pro football. Talking the players. Who reading this goes to work to have fun, work isn't suppose to be a good time, fun, that is what the weekend is for. Ah.....ok your off time and pro footballers have how many months to have fun, I never had Feb to June to just have fun did you? Hell. if ya don't make the playoffs look at all that time off to have fun.

Football at the ...PRO...level is a job.

No one cares about your incessant clucking.

[Avante]

No one cares about your incessant clucking.

Dude, who cares about you at all?

[Clipper Nation]

Nobody cares what a punter likes to do.
Gruden apparently does.

[spurraider21]

Or Gruden could have removed the stick from his ass and not cut a good punter because :cry he has a personality and likes to have fun with the game. :cry
as a disclaimer, cutting King pissed me off, i think it was the wrong move. he's pretty young and has been an elite punter. we've been spoiled by lechler and now king.

that being said, it wasn't mere "having fun" when he started getting 15 yard penalties, if his job is solely to win field position battles

[Clipper Nation]

a lot of hyperbole in there (implying crabtree/king were cut so that they can sign josh johnson and doug martin) but yes some of gruden's moves have been eye opening. and i do think people are reading way too much into comments he made mostly in gest at the combine

i dont like the cutting of marquette king, breno giacomini is awful, tom cable as OL coach seems really odd
For me, even worse than any of his moves was his outright dismissal of analytics. It's the height of stupidity to just dismiss something that can give you an edge over other teams. It's also lazy.

[Avante]

Gruden apparently does.

I'd try to explain it to ya but you wouldn't understand.

[Avante]

I'm with Gruden on football not being all that complex. The team that wins the turnover battle, can run and stuff the run, can pressure the QB while protecting yours....wins.

The Seahawks only won the SB because of a superior defense. Yep, simple.

[spurraider21]

For me, even worse than any of his moves was his outright dismissal of analytics. It's the height of stupidity to just dismiss something that can give you an edge over other teams. It's also lazy.
like i said in the post you quoted, i think people are reading a bit too much into comments that he made mostly in jest

https://www.blackholebanter.com/another-jon-gruden-quote-is-spiraling-out-of-control/

but yes i made that same criticism here on the day of that interview

[spurraider21]

the raiders roster did need a lot of work... the team basically peaked in 2016, in a year where they had like 6 fourth quarter comebacks to get a wildcard spot. the defense has been a mess forever. in the last 11 years they've had an above average defense exactly one time (were #11 in 2010)

and in the last 5 or so years, their drafting on defense hasn't given any results so far outside of khalil mack. you can only sign so many free agents until cap room dries up, all the great teams have guys on rookie contracts who are contributing. the team is going through a low-key rebuild... but hopefully the offense can get back on track enough to carry them while experiencing growing pains

[Clipper Nation]

The Seahawks only won the SB because of a superior defense. Yep, simple.
Avante finally admitting the truth about Struggle :wow

[Avante]

Avante finally admitting the truth about Struggle :wow

It's all about defense, that Seahawk team could have had anyone at QB, it wouldn't have mattered.

[Clipper Nation]

It's all about defense, that Seahawk team could have had anyone at QB, it wouldn't have mattered.
Wow, two solid football takes from Avante in a row... has this ever happened before?

[Avante]

Wow, two solid football takes from Avante in a row... has this ever happened before?

Russell Wilson was just lucky to land on a team with an historically great defense and a montrous running back. All he had to do was don't mess things up, yep, just stay out of the way. He did manage to do that but that's not saying much. If he'd been on an average team his weaknesses woud have been exposed.

[Clipper Nation]

Russell Wilson was just lucky to land on a team with an historically great defense and a montrous running back. All he had to do was don't mess things up, yep, just stay out of the way. He did manage to do that but that's not saying much. If he'd been on an average team his weaknesses woud have been exposed.
More facts.

[Avante]

More facts.

When all a QB has to do is score 15 points to win because your D only gives up 14 you are going to win. As we have seen if it's up to Struggle to make the difference. yep, fail.

No doubt he can run around and toss up a throw and hope for the best but that is not a legit NFL QB. The great QB's make all those around them better, that cannot be said about Russell Wilson.

[DeadlyDynasty]

King signs with Denver...that's a fuck you if I've ever seen one

[Avante]

Old school mentality, hmmmm? Football means everything....hmmmm?

These guys today don't have a clue about Vince Lombardi, Win One For The Gipper, The Four Horsemen, Knute Rockne. A whole different world now. If Gruden thinks he can sell....FOOTBALL IS LIFE...he's going to be in for a rude awakening, that will not work with these kids today. If he wants things to work he'll need to cool all that rah rah rah FOOTBALL RULES bulleshit, what actually rules is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Make it very clear the more success, the more $$$$$$$$$$$$$. that is the bottom line, that is what gets everyones attention.

And, if he hassles these guys because they did their retarded monkey routine after scoring, he's going to have problems.

[Avante]

ok who hacked raZon?

Put Russell Wilson on a team without a running game, a so so defense and he will "struggle". While the true elite QB's don;t need all that, they still win because of their greatness. This could never be Russell Wilson, he can handoff, and make it work if surrounded by real talent. If left up to himself....fail.