Bill Musgrave Reportedly Wanted To Draft Derrick Henry Instead Of Jihad Ward

Right after Jon Gruden, there’s no one in Oakland more popular than former Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave.

On Sunday, the legend of Musgrave grew a little more.

Not only did Musgrave preside over two of the best offenses Raider fans have witnessed since Rich Gannon, he also pushed for the team to draft Alabama running back Derrick Henry in 2016.

The Raiders instead drafted Jihad Ward, who has been used sparingly.

One pick later, Henry was drafted by the Titans.

Henry has since emerged as one of the best young running backs in the league and steamrolled through the Chiefs on Saturday to the tune of 156 yards on 23 carries.

Ughh.

Give him 15 years, another few years in a broadcast booth, and maybe Musgrave will one day return to save the franchise…

twitter: @raidersbeat

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13 thoughts on “Bill Musgrave Reportedly Wanted To Draft Derrick Henry Instead Of Jihad Ward

  1. Whomever decided Jihad Ward was a better pick than Henry should be fired . If that was JDR , he definitely deserves what he got . If it was Reggie , he should be forced to let Mark Davis poke him in the eye .

    1. I agree 100 percent n y Reggie wasn’t shown the door with Del Rio is mind boggling as far as job performance goes Reggie is unworthy of paycheck n title. While everyone was singing his praise he has made horrible personnel decisions n that’s being nice. Allowing him 2 remain is a travesty n contradicts any reason used to justify firing Del Rio. Del Rio was incompetent with personnel he had 2 work with n Reggie was incompetent assembling personnel 4 Del Rio to aid him in Sunday battles.

  2. I really thought Henry was going to be the pick, to the point I jumped and started clapping bc I thought there was no way RM or JDR would pass him up what with Murray leaving and Lynch being a stop gap at best. Plus he was a power runner, which fit perfectly with what Raiders were doing (under Musgrave). Little did I know TD had decided to switch to OZ, which made a power runner unnecessary. That hire by JDR set the offense back a full yr, maybe more.

  3. Of course, in hindsight, Henry is a no-brainer, but one thing no one is considering is Henry would have demanded a much higher salary cap hit in signing him. No single signing is in a vacuum, but has an effect on the whole of the financial picture. If $ was no object re: roster, you can bet Reggie would have made many different moves than he has.

  4. And we should have drafted Calvin Johnson, and Larry Fitzgerald, and Aaron Rodgers….

    Does it really matter now….

    1. That’s gold, Ben… The Larry Fitzgerald thing still stings though. And they could have taken anyone besides JaMarcus Russell…

    2. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. The fact that Henry wasn’t even considered is crazy! I was also screaming thinking we had him. Lynch wasn’t a sure bet at the time. STILL weren’t sure he would even play! Reggie is only getting a pass because he got us out of salary cap HELL! I can think of 2 great picks so far and they both fell in his lap! Carr and Mack. If were being honest, Cooper still a question mark! If he doesn’t nail this dtaft it’s time to start looking for a replacement. And please don’t say Gruden! Love him as a coach/offensive coordinator. But just look at Tampa to see that as a GM/ Coach he didn’t fair to well.

  5. Henry sat the bench,then the titans went out and got Murray because they didn’t trust him. Cone on ppl. It’s easy to say that now. But did anyone say that when he wasn’t playin?
    No

  6. Like I said earlier, Reggie is living off the Carr pick. He got the salary cap in great shape and had one good draft but that is it. His hire of coaches, draft picks and letting Veldheer leave was bad. In short, he needs a great draft.

  7. It’s funny how all the arm chair GM’s here talk about firing Reggie. Has everybody forgotten what the Raiders looked like before he got here. It was a travesty how the team was ran before. I will always love Al Davis, but he ran the team into the ground in his later days with bad contracts and bad picks that put the team in salary cap HELL. Reggie has pulled them out and built a solid team. You can’t and won’t hit on every draft pick or free agent signing. Last year (2016) everybody was talking about a Superbowl run,now everybody wants to fire everyone. It seems a lil reactionary to me. Reggie has done a really good job at getting this team fiscally responsible and made some pretty good picks in the draft( Latavius,Mack,Carr,Jackson,Ellis,Cooper,Edwards when healthy,Feliciano,Joseph,Washington,and Alexander). You can’t get it right all the time. People need to relax and remember what it was like before Reggie. What are we YANKEE fans all of a sudden.

    1. I agree with you Luis , even though I’m a Yankee fan too.LOL Looking forward to next year. SO glad Chiefs pissed another game away due to Andy Reid’s and staff’s foolish playcalling. Kareem Hunt , 5 carries after 1st quarter, hello!!!!

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