Oakland Raiders: Stopping to reconsider the Jordy Nelson signing

Oakland Raiders HC Jon Gruden touched off a firestorm when he signed the former Packers wideout, but it merits a reconsideration.

Oakland Raiders fans near and far (at least, some of them) were up in arms when HC Jon Gruden essentially swapped out receiver (and Derek Carr security blanket) Michael Crabtree for Packers castoff Jordy Nelson.

Believe us, the Twitter-verse was practically on fire with folks voicing their displeasure in the most colorful of terms, as only the Raider Nation can.

At first blush, swapping out Crabtree for Nelson doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Both are coming off down years production-wise, but Nelson doesn’t have the familiarity and rapport with Carr that Crabtree does, and he’s a couple of years older.

If you were to look at the swap through the prism of just their performances on the field in 2017 – and then factor in the age difference – you’d swear that Gruden had a massive swing and a miss here. As bad as Crabtree’s numbers last year were (58 receptions, 618 yards and eight touchdowns), Nelson’s were worse (53 receptions, 482 yards, six touchdowns).

Any way you slice it, Nelson – like Crabtree – had a very bad season in 2017. It looks, perhaps, even worse when you consider he was coming off of a 2016, in which he hauled in 1,257 yards on 97 receptions (a healthy average of 13 yards per catch), and 14 touchdowns for the year.

His performance in 2016, by the way, earned him the Comeback Player of the Year Award after missing the 2015 season with a blown ACL.

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In the immediate aftermath of a poor showing last season, the whispers about Nelson started as folks wondered whether or not he’d lost a step, whether or not Father Time had finally caught up with him, and whether or not, he was washed up.

Which is, ironically enough, many of those same whispers surrounded Crabtree when he came across the Bay and for three seasons, it seemed to turn out pretty well for Oakland’s offense.

Apparently, the Packers thought Nelson was done though (and have a younger option they’d just invested a ton of money in named Devante Adams) since they unceremoniously kicked him to the curb.

But, let’s just put this out there early – Nelson didn’t really lose a step in 2017. He’s just never been the guy with much of a step to begin with. This is a guy who ran a 4.55 coming out of Kansas State – not exactly blazing speed.

Nelson’s not the guy who’s going to set the turf on fire, blowing by corners on a deep route. He’s never been that guy. What he is though, is a tireless worker, a precise route runner, and a very reliable set of hands that a quarterback can rely on.

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He’s a possession receiver who can help a team move the chains. And he doesn’t leave many catchable balls on the turf – which was one of Crabtree’s biggest shortcomings with the Raiders.

Nor does he come with a lot of baggage and isn’t prone to brawling with players on other teams that not only cost his team yards, they cost him games while on suspension – which further hurts the team. Many believe that Crabtree was one of several cancers that infected the Oakland locker room last season, turning what had been a source of strength for the team in 2016 into a toxic pit.

It’s pretty safe to say that Nelson has never been mixed up in anything sort of locker room drama. He’s a leader, avoids the drama, and goes about his business the right way – which, a couple of years older or not, makes him and not Crabtree, Gruden’s kind of guy.

Next: Crabtree's Release May Be The Best Thing That Happened To Cooper

As for what he can offer the team on the field, the Raiders are getting a guy who, prior to last season’s debacle, but up three straight seasons (excluding 2015) of at least, 1,200 yards. And over that three season span, Nelson notched 35 touchdowns.

There is no denying that his 2017 season was bad. But, if you look into the numbers a little bit deeper, you’ll see that maybe, just maybe, it’s not nearly as bad as it seems at first blush.

His overall stats were terrible, no question. But, once Rodgers was lost with the broken collarbone, Nelson – for whatever reason – became the forgotten man in Green Bay’s offense. Rodgers’ replacement, Brett Hundley, just never tried to incorporate Nelson into the game.

Consider this – 23 of Nelson’s 53 catches (almost half of his season output), 268 of his receiving yards (a little more than half of his total output) came with Rodgers under center – and all six of his touchdowns all came in weeks one through five, with Rodgers throwing the ball.

His 88 total targets last season, was not only third on the team, behind Adams and Randall Cobb, it was roughly half the number of times he’d been targeted his last two full seasons on the field (2014 and 2016), and still just about 40 fewer targets than he got in 2013.

With fewer targets coming his way, Nelson obviously had fewer opportunities to make plays for his team – which is a big factor in his “decline” in 2017.

With Gruden expected to make Amari Cooper the focal point of the passing attack, Nelson isn’t going to be counted on for 100 receptions and 1,000 yards a season.

Being the clear number two option though, will likely give him some opportunities to make plays for this offense – whether it’s moving the chains or being a reliable red zone target, Nelson is going to get some looks and won’t be the forgotten man.

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Gruden is building a specific type of team with specific players in mind. Players who are professionals and handle their business the right way – and can do things on the field his way. In Nelson, he’s getting both.

Crabtree had a great run with Carr and the Raiders. It’s a shame it had to go down the way it did – a wide receiver trio of Cooper, Crabtree, and Nelson could have been something special that could have taken Oakland’s offense to new heights. But, something had to give, and in this case, it was Crabtree.

Nelson’s strengths as a player will benefit Cooper in ways Crabtree didn’t – in ways perhaps we can’t even see yet. And, it will benefit the Raiders offense as a whole. Nelson wasn’t the sexiest or flashiest addition, but if he can get back to what he was doing before Rodgers’ injury helped to derail his own 2017 season, the Raiders are going to have a very, very solid one-two receiving punch on the field.

It was a head-scratching move at the time, but now that we’ve had a little time and distance to absorb and digest the move in all of its nuances, it looks a bit different. As strange as it may sound to say about a soon-to-be 33-year old receiver, he could be just what this offense needs.