C.J. Stroud is having one of the best rookie seasons the NFL has ever witnessed from a quarterback, and if Josh McDaniels had listened to the personnel people around him, Stroud might be dominating the league as a Raider right now.
According to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, the Raiders could have agreed to a deal with the Houston Texans for the 2nd-overall pick, but McDaniels only wanted to do the deal if it involved Bryce Young.
Quoting a source, this was the account from Hondo on how the Raiders ended up passing on Stroud…
“Dave [Ziegler] felt [Stroud] was a generational talent, and Kelly loved him. [Ziegler] had done his research. He knew the cost to move up to No. 1 and even No. 2.
Ziegler felt the cost was cheap, and he was willing to do almost anything that didn’t include Maxx Crosby. He and Josh agreed that the price of No. 1 was too high, but [Ziegler] wanted to move up to No. 2 and grab Stroud.
[Ziegler] could have made the deal. He also knew Stroud would allow McDaniels to show the fans and the owner that an identity would be established. Josh was willing to move up for Bryce Young, but as expected, he went No. 1, and Stroud to the Raiders had long been dead.”
It might be water under the bridge for the fan base, but for interim GM Champ Kelly, it’s no small detail that he wasn’t responsible for the decisions the Raiders made at quarterback in the offseason.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport brought up the idea last week that it could potentially hurt Kelly that he was associated with Ziegler and McDaniels…
”If Champ Kelly was in another organization and had the exact same credentials, that would be the kind of guy you would consider for a GM. He is a good scout, he sounds good, he’s a good face of a franchise, has a great resume, does it the right way. That’s the kind of guy you would definitely consider. I don’t know if the fact that he was brought in by Dave Ziegler will help or not.
The reality is [Mark Davis] probably shouldn’t have fired Ziegler. The guy didn’t even get to choose his own quarterback, only really had one draft class because he did the Davante Adams trade. To me, that seemed odd. I don’t know that it should be held against Champ Kelly because Ziegler didn’t exactly do a bad job. We have no idea… but I imagine he’ll get real consideration. Can he keep it? I don’t know, but I think he’ll get real consideration.”
Ziegler’s job couldn’t survive the personnel blunders made by Josh McDaniels, and we’ll find out in a few weeks if the same will be true of Kelly’s job.
twitter: @raidersbeat
I do not want to hear anything about that dumb dude mcdumbass
Josh did nothing but sabotage this team. I knew from day one this was a horrible hire. Ok lets move on, bring Jon or Rich back and let’s get busy making a great team
No to Jon Gruden!!
WTF would you want Jon back man, he wasted Raiders picks get over that clown. Learn from Dolphins get a young Guru.
I’m not surprised, legend has it “if you wanna see dumb *** parents , just follow a dumb *** kid home, Josh will answer the door.
Ziegler needed to go. He did NOTHING to improve the roster. The contracts he drew up for Carr, Jones, and Renfro speak volumes regarding his inept attempt as GM.His drafts were underwhelming, too. Laughable that now ALL the blame is being placed on MCDaniels. Ziegler talked himself into the job. I don’t think he had any experience as a GM.
This team is always in dysfunction! They can’t get ANYTHING right. It all starts at the top. Sell to the Adelsteins!
Makes sense being as this is the einstein that thought Tim Tebow was the next great QB. ENOUGH SAID!
Of course McDummy wanted the small weak armed qb. However don’t go shedding tears for Zeigler as he should’ve known what was coming. He was just like Mayock, taking up space without a lot of input. Between 65-75 % of the Raider Nation knew McDaniels was a terrible hire. Every move he made weakened the team.