It’s been four years since the Raiders drafted Derek Carr, but if Jon Gruden would have had his way at the time, Reggie McKenzie would have drafted Johnny Manziel instead of Khalil Mack.
In fact, Gruden was such a big a fan of Manziel in 2014 that an NFL Network report at the time said that Gruden was actually “imploring” the Raiders to take Manziel during the draft.
According to three sources, Jon Gruden spent round 1 of the draft imploring the #Raiders: Draft Johnny Manziel. Just imagine #whatif
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 26, 2014
Gruden would have known Reggie McKenzie in 2014, but more than likely it was owner Mark Davis that Gruden was so aggressively lobbying. Davis and Gruden have remained close over the years (obviously) and it seems very unlikely that McKenzie and Gruden would have been texting during the draft.
But Gruden and Davis? That makes perfect sense.
Nevertheless, if a report was accurate, the quarterback Davis was most enamored with at the time was actually Carr.
I heard earlier today that Raiders owner Mark Davis wants QB Derek Carr. Stay tuned.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 9, 2014
For what it’s worth, another report placed Blake Bortles as the top-rated quarterback on the Raiders draft board in 2014, with Carr as their no. 2 rated quarterback.
#Raiders had Carr rated as a 1st rounder. He was the 2nd rated QB on their draft board behind Bortles
— John Middlekauff (@JohnMiddlekauff) May 10, 2014
Who knows where Manziel settled in on McKenzie’s draft board, but it would be great to know.
In the end, the Raiders were fortunate to avoid all the quarterbacks not named Carr, but if it had to be another, Teddy Bridgewater probably would have been the best way to go.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Johnny Football landed with the Browns. Who knows, might have been a different story if he had landed elsewhere with a good coach.
We didn’t have a good coach either!
I’m pretty sure looking back on that, Gruden is glad Davis didn’t take his advice. Otherwise, Jon’s top priority as the head coach would have been trying to find a retread signal caller to run his offense in 2018.
Keep in mind, we traded up to take Cook over Dakky…if we had taken Manziel, and then Dakky, I must say the Raiders would have been a totally different team.