The Raiders have a rich history of taking abuse from NFL referees – some deserved and some not so much.
During Jack Del Rio’s tenure, the Raiders finished with the third-most penalties (8.7 PPG) in 2015 and led the league in penalties (9.1 PPG) in 2016. In 2017, the penalties declined a little (7.1 PPG), but ironically, so did the team’s play on the field.
Recently, the website SportFacts.org documented every position in the NFL in terms of penalties assessed. The Raiders led the league in penalties from a kicker with one – which is irrelevant – but they also had the league leader (by position) in penalties at another position – and that player is a bit of a surprise.
Johnny Holton only played 230 offensive snaps (187 special teams) for the Raiders in 2017, but led the league in penalties by a wide receiver (7, tied with the Dolphins’ Kenny Stills).
Holton’s portfolio of penalties was rather diverse. They included illegal motion, offensive pass interference, offensive holding (2), unsportsmanlike conduct, illegal block above the waist, and a player out of bounds on a punt.
Many of you probably remember this one…
Raiders WR Johnny Holton fined $12,154 this week for unsportsmanlike conduct, per league source. Smacked Patriots CB Jonathan Jones on helmet. pic.twitter.com/FET097yj5o
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) November 24, 2017
Right behind Holton in penalties was Seth Roberts, who racked up six penalties in 2017. Roberts’ penalties all came on offense (no special teams) and included an offensive holding, an illegal shift, two false starts, and two illegal blocks above the waist.
For what it’s worth, the Raiders offensive line wasn’t a lot better when it came to penalties. With 28 offensive holding penalties called against them, they were tied for the league lead in holds with the Cowboys.
The Raiders ended up having the second most-penalized offensive unit in the league in 2017 (62), but their defense was third least-penalized group in the league (33).
Most undisciplined offensive unit in the league, you think?
This was the final count for each player on the Raider offense with 2+ penalties:
7 (Johnny Holton), 6 (Donald Penn, Gabe Jackson, Seth Roberts, Jared Cook), 5 (Lee Smith), 4 (Michael Crabtree, Marshall Newhouse, Kelechi Osemele), 3 (Rodney Hudson, Jon Feliciano), 2 (Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Marshawn Lynch, Jalen Richard).
twitter: @raidersbeat
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