To this point, the Raiders offseason hasn’t been filled with many (or any) glamorous signings and a pair of NFL Network analysts are conflicted on what direction things are going in Oakland.
Chris Wesseling has always enjoyed poking at Raider fans. He loves to beat the Derek Carr yards-per-pass-attempt drum at every opportunity and once dismissed Khalil Mack as a pass rusher who mostly picked on weaker offensive lines.
On a Monday podcast, Wesseling shifted his attention to Jon Gruden and elaborated on his unflattering thoughts on the Raiders $100 million coach in a separate tweet.
“If I’m a fan of another AFC West team, I like everything I’m hearing coming out of Oakland so far… to me, Jon Gruden is building a Jeff Fisher team.”
Dear Raiders faithful: I like Jon Gruden, a smart man who has forgotten more football than I’ll ever know. It’s ridiculously early in the process. I could be dead-wrong about his ability to mix ’98 football with ’18 trends and strategies. Best wishes on the next decade. Truly. https://t.co/ifBHOgUGZt
— Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) March 20, 2018
Not cool, Chris.
Thankfully, there are a few kinder folks around the Network and Steve Wyche offered a more encouraging synopsis of the process that is playing out under Gruden.
“What Jon Gruden and Reggie McKenzie did in free agency really sets the tone for what the @RAIDERS want to do philosophically.”
📺: @Wyche89 // #NFLFreeAgency pic.twitter.com/hQucOtkuec
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) March 16, 2018
For all the talk about Gruden taking the Raiders back into the 1990’s, it’s worth noting that when he has worked with respectable quarterbacks, Gruden has never been a ground-and-pound type.
Gruden believes Carr is the most talented quarterback he has ever coached and you can bet he didn’t return to the sideline to run fullback whams for four quarters.
He’s been away from the NFL sidelines for a decade, but it’s no secret that Gruden has been preparing his return for years – as evidenced by the fact that he turned his Florida home into a coaching compound.
The real concern right now should have more to do with the roster. From a personnel standpoint, are the Raiders closer to the 12-4 team they were in 2016 or the 6-10 team they were last year?
Right now that isn’t an easy question to answer, but it has nothing to do with whether or not Gruden is the reincarnate of Jeff Fisher.
Come on, Chris.
twitter: @raidersbeat
A little harsh. I believe the talent the Raiders are aquiring will show in the end. Not some comparison to Fisher with the Rams. They have signed several 75-80+ pro football focus rated players. It’s been apparent for a few years that McKenzie mirrors PFF. But, Raiders signed 3 PFF high rated players instead of 1 media rated super star. 16 million for one guy or 16 for two or three? I sometimes miss the Al Davis Raiders but Reggie Raiders are built for longevity and immediacy.
Who the **** cares..Nobody should listen to those fucking geek jews on espn or nfl.com.
They all suck and have no talent because they’ve never played team sports!!
No need to cast aspersions against Jews, buddy. There are good and bad analysts of Jewish descent, just as there are in any other group.
Al Davis was a Jew, genius!
Wow that weaseling dude is merciless. But Gruden is definitely not fisher so even with same personnel, Gruden will get better production. All teams are most successful when they can run and pass. Who says it has to be done from spreads with rpos? Gruden is just getting the personnel down for all run possibilities. Anyone who remembers those raiders teams knows how that offense ripped up and down the field running and passing. I expect some form of that with all formations available so not worried about this nonsense
Chris Wesseling isn’t drinking the kool-aid. I get it. Simple minds usually make simple bets. The Raiders have had one season over 500 since the very early 2000’s. Jon Gruden is a career 500 coach. It’s not like the second coming of Bill Bellachick returning to football. So it’s easy to place your bet on the Raiders falling flat rather than the Raiders being this contending Super Bowl team.
Wesseling doesn’t see what the Raiders are doing in the off-season as a strategic plan for taking the league by storm. He can’t… he said it himself… “Jon Gruden has forgotten more football than Wesseling will ever know.” The problem with that statement is. I doubt John Gruden has forgotten any football, which could only mean Wesseling doesn’t know any football at all. That seems more accurate.
Some people are paid to talk some people are paid to think. Wesselings not a thinker. He’s a talker. The thinkers are the ones out there making these deals and moving money around and making trades, and dealing with the analytics and algorithms concerning player stats and personality fits etc etc…
The NFL world is full of tools like Wesseling. He’s not alone in his thoughts. He’s just not right. Maybe some of the time, but not all of the time, and certainly not this time.
With little cap room the Raiders are moving pieces around the board in what many will see as an Orthodox way. They don’t get it. I do!
After all the training was done the Raiders basically swapped full backs with the Cowboys. The Raiders upgraded the position and was able to get a fifth round pick for a sixth round pick from the Cowboys. Am I the only one who sees the genius in that?
Crabtree is a locker room cancer and Jordy Nelson is a locker room cheerleader. If you want chemistry. It’s hard to do with a “me first” person like Crabtree. Nelson is the ultimate team player and I believe could still play at a high-level. For what it’s worth. Nelson has fewer career receptions and 1000 more receiving yards then Crabtree.
What about Rashaan from the Colts. Steve didn’t even mention him and he was one of the top corners in the league last year. Held Antonio Brown I believe to under 50 yards in a game.
These are clearly genius strokes by the Raiders front office. It’s hard to believe more people don’t see this then do see this. As far as Chris Wesseling goes. I’m not surprised.
Chris, I am a die hard raider fan, you get it and understand football and the raiders , they are on the right track, Reggie is a salary cap genius. Gruden has the juice and will work wonders with the Carr and the offense, if we can work a contract with Suh that doesn’t handcuff the cap and draft wise, I see the Raiders winning the West..!!!
Please don’t mention Fisher name with Gruden. That is disrespectful. What Gruden is doing makes sense to me. We getting the run game strong, we will still draft a beast for next year at running back. Sure up the defense an do with vets. An youth. Rookies don’t win super bowls. They win regular season games
Actually, not much to choose between Fisher and Gruden in terms of their lifetime win-loss records. Fisher is 178-171-1 (.510) while Gruden is 95-81 (.540). Each one a Super Bowl. So, the comparison, in terms of relative success at least, is reasonable.
Chris Wesseling is nothing but a jerk-off….if i had a name like Wesseling i would be an insecure prick too & would **** with people especially Raiders fan because i would be a miserable **** …someone like Chris couldnt wipe the swet off my *** let alone talk about football…he comes off as the idiot who no one wanted on their team when he was a kid so this how he tries to get his revenge…..A TOTAL LOSER….JERK-OFF!!!
The best Raidah fans can hope for this year is 9-7, with an outside shot at 10-6. That means either no playoffs, or a first round exit for the silver and black. More importantly, it means that the team will limp instead of steamroll into Vegas, which will be the beginning of the end for much luckier-than-smart Mark Davis.
In the end, the Vegas Traitors and Davis will get what they deserve!