The Raiders have been through their share of head coaches and GMs in the last decade, and most would agree the combination of Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler was one of the most disappointing.
McDaniels and Zielger combined for roughly $90 million in guaranteed salary and lasted only 22 months with the Raiders – one of the shortest and most expensive GM/HC tenures in team history.
McDaniels was never able to sell his vision to the locker room in Las Vegas, and it has been reported that Ziegler many times deferred to McDaniels on major decisions.
Not a lot has been reported on how the drafts played out with McDaniels and Ziegler, but neither of their drafts have gotten better with time.
In 2022, McDaniels and Ziegler gave up first and second round picks for Davante Adams and even though it didn’t work out, that maneuver might have been their best considering they selected Tyree Wilson with the no. 7 pick a year later.
After Wilson, Ziegler and McDaniels drafted Notre Dame tight end Micheal Mayer, who is one of just three of their picks still with the team. Mayer has a unique opportunity coming in the next few weeks with Brock Bowers expected to miss at least a game or two following knee surgery.
Mayer has potential but has yet to show it on the field consistently in his three NFL seasons.
With their third-round pick in 2023, Ziegler and McDaniels drafted Byron Young. Raider Nation Radio Radio host Q Myers said last year he believes they most likely meant to draft the Byron Young who went to the Rams in the same draft (and has a Pro Bowl on his resume).
“This is just me, I don’t know this for a fact, but I definitely believe they selected the wrong Byron Young. I think unintentionally. I think it was just attention to detail,” Myers told ESPN Radio in January of last year.
“I don’t know this, and it could just end up being a funny, but he was selected before Byron Young went to the Rams, and I remember a lot of people said ‘Wait, are you sure it’s the Alabama one that they’re taking?’”
This week on X, Asher Mathews posted a list of all the Raiders’ draft picks in 2022 and 2023, and Mayer or Tre Tucker would be considered by most to be the best picks from those years.
Mayer signed a three-year contract extension with the Raiders on Saturday which means Klint Kubiak sees Mayer as a part of the future.
A few other McDaniels/Telesco picks are still in the league, but nothing about the list (below) would suggest the Raiders missed out on much by hiring Tom Telesco the following year.
And for what it’s worth… among the players drafted in 2023 behind Wilson were Bijan Robinson, Jalen Carter, Jahmyr Gibbs, Christian Gonzalez and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
x: @raidersbeat
Remember that Vinny B has said countless times that we should have let it played out with those 2 idiots. Of course, who hired those 2 idiots? Oh yes, the same owner that JT the Richard will hang up on you if you criticize said owner.
Then again, i suspect Brady was going through back channels to get those 2 idiots hired & since Mark is smitten with Brady he does what Brady tells him to do. They clearly sabotaged Carr their year together