If you happen to be a Raiders fan, chances are good that you’ve been following the status of Marshawn Lynch.
For reasons that are as unique as Marshawn himself, everyone seems to have an opinion on where the soon-to-be 32 year-old running back belongs next year.
Considering Lynch already retired once, does he even want to come back for another year?
According to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, there’s a good chance (for now at least) that Lynch is interested in returning.
“Neither Hendrickson nor team sources are revealing what was discussed in the meetings, but it seems safe to assume that Lynch wants back in, especially considering he is close with new (and former Seahawks) offensive line coach Tom Cable.”
Lynch was probably the most consistent player on offense last season and with the exception of Khalil Mack, maybe the most productive player on the team – when he wasn’t suspended, of course.
There’s also the matter of Lynch’s impact on the locker room.
Did the culture of the locker room change when Lynch and others arrived in Oakland?
Or does former head coach Jack Del Rio deserve more of the ‘credit’ for allowing the Raiders’ locker room to stumble into last year’s newfound realm of dysfunction?
That’s probably a lot of what head coach Jon Gruden has been trying to determine for himself.
twitter: @raidersbeat
It falls on the coach first,but the players(leaders) need to step up ! Its a business! Act like it!
Get Lynch out of here. Gruden and staff have more to work on than his distractions. No dancing on the sidelines or outside BS! Only if Gruden sits on him and forces a team player out of him………GOODBYE!!!!
Rite on…the Raiders can’t Least Mode’s childish antics…Team not I…
I don’t trust the guy, but the Raiders coaching staff and mgmt know A LOT More than we do. So, if they bring him back, it’s probably just fine. As a straight-up running back, I love his game. He never takes a play off, even when Todd Downing was calling ridiculous outside zone runs that never, ever worked.
Is there someone better at this time?
The GrudenRaiders would be crazy to not keep Beast Mode for the duration of his 2-year contract! I lost count of how many times I found myself mired in the same stupid argument with friends and foes alike (who it seems every single opponent gleefully labelled a “bust” and a “failed experiment” throughout the 1st half of the season), defending Lynch with essentially the same single-sentence retort, “If that colossal idiot Downing actually gave him the ball….”. I can’t begin to adequately convey the level of unmitigated elation and self-righteous smugness with which I derided these same naysayers, punctuated with a tongue-protruding “I told you so!” once the Raiders’ candidly confused, infuriatingly incompetent and mystifyingly miscast excuse for an offensive coordinator was finally either pressured into or left with no other alternative but to actually utilize Marshawn Lynch on a consistent basis as the team’s early-down bell-cow running back; the role on which he’d established both his reputation and his immensely successful career, widely-acknowledged as one of the greatest players in league history at his position. It was at this point that the Raiders’ offense finally began to show definitive signs of consistent productivity as Lynch proved that not only could he be counted upon to gain at least 5 yards (often considerably more) on 1st and/or 2nd down, he was still capable of playing at the same high level that he had showcased in his last healthy season with the Seahawks. I mean seriously…what’s the sense in employing a running back committee when you have a healthy and clearly productive Beast Mode on your roster, particularly when your only other options are undersized, prototypical 3rd down backs like DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard, both of whom are best-suited as screen pass options out of the backfield in short yardage 3rd down situations? I would literally cringe whenever I saw Washington walk out of the huddle to begin a drive and cultivated a visible indentation in the right side of my head from repeatedly scratching it as the buffoon Downing almost defiantly continued to execute this same dysfunctional “strategy” running the diminutive Washington up the gut that with scant few exceptions yielded no more than a yard or two, frequently resulting in lost yardage which in turn forced Derek Carr into telegraphed passing plays on 3rd & long…while a perfectly healthy (and often visibly frustrated) Marshawn Lynch stood watching helplessly from the Raiders’ sideline.
This is rudimentary playcallling on the most fundamental of levels! I’ve met peripherally-interested 10-year-olds more adept at calling plays than Todd Downing, which begs the question…how did this clearly underqualified waste of perfectly good protoplasm get appointed in the first place to such a critical coaching position with no practical experience whatsoever to replace a predecessor who was just as incredulously fired after coaching up an offensive unit ranked dead last in 2014 on a 3-13 team into the 6th best in the league with a 12-4 record over the course of just two seasons? Furthermore, how did Downing manage to retain his position as coordinator for the entire 2017 season that started with such enormous promise only to deteriorate into a massively disappointing 7-9 campaign that saw one of the league’s best and most feared offences literally fall apart at the seams? The answer to a least the second of these otherwise mind-numbingly disturbing questions is actually fairly simple (yet no less frustrating for the loyal and long-suffering fans of this once revered franchise….Jack Del Rio. (The answer to the former I suspect lies in Derek Carr’s friendship with that now (thankfully) ex-offensive coordinator). However, that’s another matter altogether and I’ve already managed to ramble off-topic somewhat.
I suspect that along with the hiring of Jon Gruden, Raider Nation (the original & only true sports “nation”) will see not only a significant upward shift in the team’s fortunes, but more importantly a return to a common sense approach in both system and personnel management. As such, I fully expect that (barring the free-agent acquisition of LeVeon Bell which would cost the team valuable resources both direly needed and better allocated elsewhere), not only will Marshawn Lynch return next season as the Raiders’ lead back, but that Gruden will decide to retain the services of the team’s leading receiver (and one of the very few truly productive (and clutch) offensive weapons in 2017, Michael Crabtree. While many will scoff at this suggestion, im confident that Gruden will discover and acknowledge that the vast majority of this “dysfunctional personality” and “locker-room cancer” is absolute nonsense! Not only was Crabtree far and away the team’s most reliable and statistically productive wide receiver over the past two seasons, he is also a comparative bargain and a far better player than any of the available prospective free agent options at the position.
Despite the fact that much of the media has Crabs “all but gone”, I’m betting that come opening day 2018 the Raiders will be showcasing #15 just as they have for the past two years and the tandem of Crabtree & (a hopefully more confident & sure-handed) Amari Cooper will literally tear the top off of opposing defenses en route to an AFC West title….
….with Marshawn Lynch emerging as the Fantasy Football darkhorse of the year!
U r on it. I totally agree w u 100
Yeah What he said!^^^^^
Beautiful! Luv you man. You know what you are talking about!!👍🏽😎
100% true
U r on it. I totally agree w u 100
D QUINLAN…ARE YOU AVAILABLE FOR GENERAL MANAGER? YOUR HIRED!!!!!
We can use the chain moving, clock busting, and defense tiring runs of Marshawn Lynch. Plus that does give us time to sign and develop a young running back who can develop into a effective runner. The running game was dismissed in prior years, but it’s effectiveness and it’s ability to open up passing lanes has been put on full display this previous season…. Keep Marshawn Lynch, go “Beast Mode”