Tag: Oakland Raiders

“No, Josh is a great coach. I’m sure he feels like it’s a great opportunity; that’s why he took it. Other than against us, I hope he does well. I’m sure he will do well. He’s an outstanding coach. Some of the people that are with him are very good, too. It all worked out well. It’s an opportunity we couldn’t provide.” — New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, when asked if he had any issues with new Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels pilfering any of his coaches and players.

HENDERSON, Nev. — On the surface, it looks like Josh McDaniels simply pillaged the Patriots’ front office and coaching staff, bringing with him to Las Vegas a general manager (Dave Ziegler), offensive coordinator (Mick Lombardi), offensive line coach (Carmen Bricillo) and quarterbacks coach (Bo Hardegree).

But, as expected, McDaniels also brought in a gaggle of players he knew from New England.

And the effect — in real life and the fantasy sports realm — will be felt mostly in the Raiders’ running back room.

Because while Las Vegas returns Josh Jacobs, who rushed for a career-low 872 yards in 2021 after authoring a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his first two years, and Kenyan Drake, who is returning from a broken right ankle, the Raiders brought in a pair of ex-Patriots in Brandon Bolden and fullback Jakob Johnson in addition to former Carolina Panthers running back Ameer Abdullah.

“That’s a position that’s hard to stay healthy, it just is,” McDaniels said at the recent NFL owners meetings. “They touch the ball more than everybody but the quarterback, and they get hit more than anybody.”

McDaniels referenced two backs who were “rehabbing” at the moment.

“To have depth in that room is important because if you don’t have quality depth in the running back room today in the NFL, a lot of times you’re going to run into some issues and some injuries, you know, and then you get caught in trying to make a quick transaction during the middle of the season,” McDaniels said. “So we’ve always tried to have as much depth in that room as we can.

“It’s a position that it’s really critical to have good players, but it’s also really good to have good depth that you can plug in there and they can serve a lot of roles.”

Here, in Week 1 of Phase 1 of the Raiders’ offseason training program, it’s safe to pencil in Jacobs as the starting running back, even if he is new to McDaniels’ system.

Even quarterback Derek Carr, in his news conference announcing his contract extension, said the benefit from the offense would be felt most by the lead back.

“Right now, we’ve only had two days of [classroom] work,” Carr said, “but the happiest person in the building should be Josh Jacobs. I know that.”

The versatile Drake, meanwhile, was rounding into form when he went down with 63 carries and 30 catches for a combined 545 yards and three touchdowns. He remains a wild card as he rehabs and learns the offense.

Trey Ragas returns after spending most of last season on the practice squad (he did have one regular-season carry, for 9 yards, and two catches for 6 yards).

Abdullah, a seven-year veteran, caught a combined 38 passes for 289 yards and a TD and rushed 51 times for 166 yards for the Panthers and Minnesota Vikings last season.

It was Bolden, though, who made his name as a pass-catching back in New England, catching 41 passes for 405 yards and two touchdowns last season, while rushing for 226 yards and a score on 44 carries.

Johnson? He’s a seldom-used fullback in McDaniels’ system, who, nonetheless, knows the system well.

“Look, the opportunities that we had to add a few players that you have some familiarity with, that never hurts,” McDaniels said.

Same thing with the coaching staff. Because as McDaniels said, the last time he was hired as a head coach, by the Denver Broncos in 2009, he did not know nearly enough people to bring with him.

“I had only been in the league for eight years, so I didn’t have as much experience and as many connections as I do at this point,” he said. “It’s a blessing that we have an opportunity to work together, some of us that have had those relationships. You just hit the ground running a little quicker when you have the opportunity to do that, and those guys have done a great job. I’m really pleased with our staff, the way they’re working, their mindset, their attitude, their work ethic has been tremendous so far this spring.

“I give them a lot of credit for the time they’re spending at the facility. It’s tireless. Most of our families aren’t out there yet. We go from the end of one season and it’s work all day and all night now. Really enjoy being around this group of guys.”

HENDERSON, Nev. — A tried and true, dynamic playcaller to help fix those red zone woes?

Check.

A trusted playmaker who might be the best receiver in the NFL?

No doubt.

A contract extension that makes sure you are paid at market value and gives you comfort and commitment?

You better believe it.

It’s been a wild and, well, fulfilling offseason thus far for Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, who has gained the services of Josh McDaniels as his head coach, Davante Adams at wideout and, yes, that three-year, $121.5 million extension Wednesday. All of which brings up a familiar refrain …

No. More. Excuses.

Not that Carr himself has ever gone public with an excuse, mind you, it’s just … they have always been baked into his Raiders career.

Stop us when we’re lying.

From fractured bones in his pinky, leg and back, to broken relationships with wideouts such as Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper and Antonio Brown, to whatever that was that went down near Washington, D.C., at the height of the protests during the national anthem, to team rebuild after team rebuild, to a leaky offensive line, to an oft-generous defense, to Jon Gruden’s emails, to Henry Ruggs III‘s fatal car crash and subsequent release.

Now? Carr — whose $40.5 million new money average per year in the extension places him fifth among quarterbacks, behind the Green Bay Packers‘ Aaron Rodgers ($50.2 million-plus), the Cleveland Browns‘ Deshaun Watson ($46 million), the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Patrick Mahomes ($45 million) and the Buffalo Bills‘ Josh Allen ($43 million) — has everything he could have ever asked for in this (professional) life.

Right?

And the Raiders, who have privately grumbled about the checkdowns, fourth-down throwaways and turnovers as much as they have celebrated Carr’s 24 comeback wins over his eight-year career, have essentially given themselves a four-year window to win a Super Bowl.

A game they haven’t played in since the 2002 season. One they have not won since 1984, when Ronald Reagan was president.

Carr also reiterated that he only wanted to be a Raider and he was “crazy enough” to be willing to play out the final year of his deal this season sans extension.

“I told my agent, ‘I’m either going to be a Raider, or I’m going to be playing golf. I don’t want to play anywhere else,'” he said. “That’s how much this place means to me.

“I hope people can hear my heart on that, that I was dead serious when I [said] that. I had one year left on my contract; if it was one year, it was going to be one year. Thankfully it will be four more. Hopefully we can build on that, I can finish and just do what I set out to do nine years ago. And that was to win a championship.”

Carr, who turned 31 last month, owns virtually every passing record in franchise history … but has a career record of just 57-70 — the 70 losses are the most by a quarterback in his first eight seasons and is already tied with Jeff George for most by a QB in his first nine — and is 0-1 in the postseason.

The 26-19 loss in the wild-card round at the eventual AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals in January was a microcosm of his career. He led the Raiders to the precipice of a score, kept his team competitive with a first-and-goal at the 9-yard line before he spiked the ball on first down (the Raiders wanted him to run a play with the clock running), never looked tight end Darren Waller‘s way in the series and threw an interception on fourth down short of the end zone with 12 seconds to play.

Then again, Las Vegas would not have been in such a position without Carr’s late-game heroics, as he helped lead the Raiders to an NFL record six walk-off victories in 2021.

Carr reflected on being passed over in the first round eight years ago and landing with the Raiders, who then called Oakland home.

“I don’t know why, but I just wanted to go there,” he said. “I was like, I want to be a part of fixing that. I want to be part of helping get them back to the playoffs and be a winning franchise again.

“We’ve proven it in spurts, but I think it’s time we just do it more consistently … we’re in the middle of what I dreamed of doing. I wanted to be someone, when all was said and done, my name would be at the top of a lot of lists on some stats sheets. And then I wanted to hold trophies. We haven’t done some of those things yet, but I wanted to leave my mark on this organization. I’ve got four more years for that opportunity. That’s exciting for me.”

Such is the polarizing factor of Carr within Raider Nation, which either loves or loathes him. And that fan base will have another four years to get into and sort through its feelings.

Buckle up.

HENDERSON, Nev. — Take a deep breath …

Kolton Miller at left tackle. John Simpson at left guard. Andre James at center. Alex Leatherwood at right guard. And Brandon Parker at right tackle.

OK, exhale …

Yes, it’s a unit that contributed to Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr getting sacked 40 times in 2021, the second-highest total of his eight-year career. It’s also a unit that, as the team prepares to begin its offseason workout program next week under new coach Josh McDaniels, is in line to return as is.

Wait, what? Are the Raiders really going to run it back with a unit that was a decided weakness a year ago?

Yeah, about that …

“There was an offensive lineman we were interested in and, again, there’s a level of discipline, like I said, that you have to have,” new Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler told three beat reporters at the recent NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida. “Some of those opportunities went a different way, and so we pivoted and we went a different way and strengthened other parts of the team.”

Yeah, the Raiders were looking at fortifying the O-line in the early days of free agency. Instead, they put the band back together and re-signed Parker, a much-decried third-round selection in 2018, to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with $2.662 million guaranteed.

Ziegler referred to the 26-year-old Parker as a still “ascending player” for Las Vegas.

“He has very good size, very good length, which are two important attributes at the offensive tackle position,” Ziegler said of the 6-foot-8, 320-pounder who started the last 13 games at right tackle.

“He’s an athletic guy for his size and he’s a guy that I think can continue to, again, Brandon is not a finished product. … He can continue to get better. He had a good experience of playing a lot of snaps last year … there’s a lot of learning that comes from that. All those things were exciting.”

And, as Associated Press pointed out, while Parker did have the highest Pro Football Focus grade of his career last season, he was still ranked just 52nd out of 55 tackles in the league overall — 47th in run blocking and 48th in pass blocking.

Las Vegas also signed versatile Alex Bars in free agency and re-signed Jermaine Eluemunor, who started three early-season games at right guard. And the Raiders will also regain the services of Denzelle Good, who opened the year as the starting right guard but was lost for the season when he tore the ACL in his left knee in the opener.

So maybe the Raiders aren’t exactly, ahem, running it back, huh?

Not when another $20 million or so comes back to their salary cap after June 1, thanks to the cuts of defensive end Carl Nassib and linebacker Cory Littleton. And not with every player essentially getting a “fresh start” from Ziegler and McDaniels.

And, as McDaniels said, aside from Miller being a foundation piece at left tackle, the O-line will be evolving throughout the offseason heading into training camp.

“They’re not just going to play one spot,” McDaniels said. “When I talk about relative versatility and flexibility, you better be able to play more than one spot or it’s just hard to create extra value for yourself, and for the team, if we have too many players who are just one-position players.”

McDaniels said a lot of different players will be shuffling in and out of both right tackle and right guard.

“Let them compete,” McDaniels said. “The best guys will play. But, in order to do that, we’ve got to let everybody have an opportunity.”

Which brings us back to the key to the right side of the line — last year’s first-round pick.

Is Leatherwood a right tackle, where he began last season as a starter? Or if he a right guard, where he was moved in Week 5? The No. 17 overall pick of the 2021 draft, and one of the most penalized lineman in the NFL, might be the key to the whole line.

“He’s an important part of it,” McDaniels said. “He played a lot of football as a rookie and that counts for something, you know what I mean? And you can say, well it was this or that. I know this, his second year is going to feel like his second year, not his rookie year because he was in there a lot. He played a lot of snaps. He played tackle, he played guard. And we’re going to try to give him an opportunity to earn a role that’s his best fit and that’s the best fit for the Raiders.

“And look, we know what he was drafted for and we’re going to give him an opportunity to do such. But ultimately, what we want to do at the end of the day is we’re going to let the best five guys out there. The best five guys we can put out there to protect the quarterback and run the football and be physical, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Yeah, it’s a work in progress.