Oakland Raiders: A Few Names To Keep, A Few To Dump Ahead Of 2018

Dump: Todd Downing

This move seems like more of a no-brainer than re-signing Khalil Mack, cutting Sean Smith, and sending Reggie Nelson packing. Combined.

To say that Downing has been terrible in the OC’s chair is about one of the biggest, grandest understatements in the history of the known universe. He’s proven himself to be fatally incompetent at the job and has more in common with Jason Tarver than he does with even Bill Musgrave.

What makes the job Downing has done (or not done, actually) with this Raiders offense all the more galling is that he was handed a unit on the rise. He was handed, on a silver platter, one of the most dynamic and exciting offensive units in the game.

Under Musgrave in 2016, the Raiders boasted the league’s sixth-ranked offense and seventh-ranked scoring offense. And they were set to get even better.

Then Downing was elevated to the position and the wheels absolutely fell off that wagon. Now, playing in Downing’s system, Oakland’s offense moves about as well as a corpse in full rigor mortis, and scores about as often as Bill Gates did as a teenager.

Yes, Oakland’s players share in the blame. Despite signing for franchise quarterback money, Carr has clearly regressed in most statistical categories and has looked more like David Carr than the Derek Carr we all know. Amari Cooper has been dropping passes like the ball is covered in razor blades, and the line has been good, but not as dominant as it has been.

Though the players deserve some of the blame, Downing gets the lion’s share of it for changing out of the power blocking scheme that allowed this offense to thrive the past couple of seasons. He took away the team’s identity and that “get off the ball and punch you in the mouth” attitude instilled under Musgrave.

Downing’s system did not play to the strengths of this team and stripped away everything that made it such a special unit last year. Yes, some players regressed, but the biggest regression on this team was at the offensive coordinator position.