Not long ago, a report surfaced that Jon Gruden has been consistently leaning on his own personnel guys throughout free agency.
One of Gruden’s “new guys” is Dave Razzano, who came to Raiders with 25 years in the scouting and personnel industry.
Officially, the Raiders list Razzano as the “Director of Football Research” which isn’t a position that existed prior to Gruden’s arrival and the team has not clarified his role.
Whatever his purpose, it stands to reason that Razzano has Gruden’s ear.
So what do we know about him?
Over the past 25 years, Razzano has been a part of scouting departments in San Francisco, St. Louis, Arizona, and Indianapolis.
Razzano was out of the NFL for a short time before joining the Colts in 2012. During that time he was a regular on media platforms including twitter, where despite erasing his account, many of his scouting takes can still be found.
In 2006, when the Raiders drafted Michael Huff with their seventh-overall pick, Razzano had Huff graded as a third round pick.
He didn’t like Rolando McClain.
In 2007, Razzano lobbied Arizona to draft either Adrian Peterson or Patrick Willis with the fifth-overall pick, but the Cardinals settled on left tackle Levi Brown.
Among his other career highlights, Razzano had a second-round grade on Priest Holmes (undrafted), a third-round grade on Wes Welker (undrafted), and a late first-round grade on Donald Driver (seventh round).
As for the lowlights…
He really didn’t like Alex Smith and called Jake Locker, not Cam Newton, the best quarterback in the 2011 draft.
This was Razzano’s now ice-cold take on Locker:
“[Brett] Favre went in the second round, right? If you look at their college stats, Favre and Locker are practically identical. Now look at this play: Tell me this guy doesn’t move like Favre, scramble like Favre, throw like Favre. Pretend he has the number four on his jersey. His release is a lot like Favre, too.”
Razzano was not a fan of Von Miller – at all. He compared Miller to former Jets super-bust Vernon Gholston.
He gave Drew Brees a third-round grade, Maurice Jones-Drew a fourth-round grade, and Jared Allen a late-round grade.
And then there was this tweet from 2011…
Former NFL scout @DaveRazzano says he considers Barkley a better prospect than Mark Sanchez. Saw him a Top 10 pick this year.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 22, 2011
Hopefully, he was talking about 14 year-old Saquon Barkley. Otherwise the full landscape of the comparison is unsettling.
To be clear, none of the above is to say Razzano is good or bad at what he does. Luck has a lot to do with the draft and it’s no secret that coaches and scheme play a significant role in player development.
That said, it’s a shame Razzano wasn’t with the Broncos in 2011.
Von Miller would have looked good wearing something other than orange on Sundays.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Scouting is a hit and miss proposition. There’s no guarantee a collegiate blue chipper will turn into an NFL All Pro . With some players you can get a decent gauge and with others , you get no sense until they sit up on Sunday . Tony Manderich was a man among boys in college and everything about his game suggested he would dominate at the pro level . And then …
Suit up on Sunday …
Show me any scout that has batted a thousand. You Can’t. There are so many variables that go into play. That being said; it takes total team effort from the front office, coaching staff and scouting department to minimize the risk in choosing a player that will not fit into your system. I do believe that some scouts have a better knack than others when it come to evaluating players however.
This does not inspire confidence. I felt we already needed change when it came to linebacker scouting, but this is concerning.
Let me tell you something brother….. Say your prayers, believe in your self and its never bad when you are pillaging just for fun….
pWo….