The draft isn’t even here yet and it’s already been a wild offseason for the Raiders. Judging by all the action on social media, it could be a while before the Raiders return to not being one of the league’s hottest talking points.
The rumors around Derek Carr haven’t gone anywhere and they won’t be going anywhere until after the draft. Everyone seems to think that Jon Gruden is in love with Kyler Murray and maybe that’s exactly what Gruden wants. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller was on the Rich Eisen Show this week and he thinks the Raiders are begging for a team to trade ahead of them and take a quarterback.
Why is #RaiderNation Jon Gruden and @MikeMayock meeting with @TheKylerMurray and @dh_simba7 before #NFLDraft?@BR_NFL @nfldraftscout speculated: pic.twitter.com/n5gZUWdOYA
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) April 9, 2019
Gruden, you’ll remember, left most of his counterparts at the scouting combine squawking about how he couldn’t hide his love for a certain short-statured quarterback all but certain to go first in the draft.
"Someone in Indianapolis told me Jon Gruden is the worst poker player in the NFL. He and Mike Mayock can talk all they want about Derek Carr … but I'll tell you Jon Gruden is very interested in Kyler Murray." – Peter King on @dpshow
— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) March 4, 2019
Soon we’ll know who did, and who didn’t, have the best poker face in Indianapolis.
And what about the Twitter feud between Antonio Brown and his former teammate in Pittsburgh?
For now, fans, coaches, and teammates are going to be patient, but the AB experiment has the potential to be a real disaster. The Raiders had no choice but to add a playmaker at wide receiver and no one should be looking for the panic button, but Brown is offering us glimpse into his psyche and it’s not particularly encouraging.
To be clear, none of AB’s social media antics are an issue now, but what happens if things go sideways at any point in the season and AB isn’t happy about something or someone? Hopefully, that’s a scenario Jon Gruden would be prepared to handle a little better than Mike Tomlin did in Pittsburgh.
If there is good news, though, you can bet that AB will be playing with an asteroid-sized chip on his shoulder – even if he’s mostly creating the space rock on his own at this point.
As for the draft, the Raiders will be in an interesting position if the first three picks are Kyler Murray, Nick Bosa, and Quinnen Williams. In that situation, would anyone be willing to trade up to the fourth pick?
Ed Oliver might be a home run with the fourth pick and so could Josh Allen… but opinions on those two seem to differ greatly among analysts. What would be fine is if a team would fall in love with Dwayne Haskins and be anxious to trade up to get him.
It was reported from the combine (and since) that the Raiders were sniffing around the idea of trading up to draft Bosa. It will be interesting to see what the 49ers are willing to do if the Raiders try to trade up to the second pick. And if the Raiders are considering a trade up, does that mean they really like Bosa or would it have something to do with the uncertainty over who will be available with the fourth pick?
Furthermore, would it be worth losing a late first-round pick to add a player like Bosa? In a roundabout way that would be like trading a 28 year-old Khalil Mack for a 21 year-old Nick Bosa.
Maybe something to keep an eye on.
twitter: @raidersbeat
