Five Oakland Raiders Facing a Make Or Break Season
By Kevin Saito
Sep 30, 2014; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie at a press conference to introduce Tony Sparano (not pictured) as Raiders interim coach at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Reggie McKenzie
Players aren’t the only ones with skin in the game here.
We are now entering year four of the Reggie McKenzie Experience in Oakland, and the results so far have been – mixed. To say the least. While he’s had some tremendous successes that should be celebrated, he’s also made some mind bogglingly poor decisions – Dennis Allen, anyone???
Fair or not, coaches, teams, players, and even general managers are judged by wins. And thus far, there have been very few wins to judge him by – just 11 in three seasons at the helm, and an overall record of 11-37 during his tenure.
The one thing that can be said about Mckenzie though is that he learns from his mistakes. Or at least seems to. Though he gets precious little credit, he seems to be getting better and stronger in his role as the general manager as time goes by. His free agent targets and signings have gotten better, as have his draft picks. Not to mention the fact that he has very deftly managed Oakland’s salary cap, guiding them out of the mess left by Al Davis, laying a solid foundation, and rebuilding the once proud franchise.
The roster McKenzie has assembled for this season is filled with solid veteran – though still young – free agent pick ups, as well as some budding superstars selected in the last two drafts. On paper, this is the most talented team the Raiders have fielded in quite some time – a roster that will get an infusion of more good, young talent with the upcoming draft.
Unfortunately for McKenzie and the Raiders though, football is not played on paper. Though he’s done a good job of stocking the roster with explosive, young talent, if this team cannot get, for whatever reason, and fails to meet even the most modest of expectations this year, changes will be coming.
If the Raiders don’t improve drastically this season, or show any forward movement at all, Davis may decide that he’s had enough, and we won’t see a fifth year of the Reggie Mckenzie Experience in Oakland.