Oakland Raiders: Was replacing Crabtree with Nelson a mistake?
The Oakland Raiders replaced Michael Crabtree with Jordy Nelson. Bleacher Report sees this as a massive mistake, but is it really? Perhaps not.
The Oakland Raiders offense will look entirely different in 2018, for various reasons. One of these reasons happens to be the fact that the team will be touting an almost entirely new group of wide receivers.
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These new additions at the position are highlighted by the arrival of former Green Bay Packers receiver, Jordy Nelson. At first thought, adding Nelson seems to be a move that should surely make the team better than they were in the previous season, right?
Well that would be the case, if the team didn’t elect to let Michael Crabtree walk and use Nelson as a sort of replacement for him. This decision made many around the league scratch their heads, as it did not make much sense when it initially happened, and to this day still does not make sense to some.
Among those some that are still bewildered by the Raiders’ decision is Bleacher Report’s Zach Kruse. Last friday, June 1st, Kruse put out a piece highlighting each team in the NFL’s biggest offseason mistake.
These mistakes ranged from the Arizona Cardinals letting go of Tyrann Mathieu, to the Cincinatti Bengals giving an extension to their much maligned head coach, Marvin Lewis. In the Oakland Raiders’ case, Kruse thought turning Michael Crabtree into Jordy Nelson was the offseason move the team will live to regret.
His decision is based largely around the fact that Crabtree, only 30 years old, is not only closer to his physical prime than Jordy Nelson, 33 years old with a injury filled history, but also already has a connection with Derek Carr while Nelson has only played with one quarterback for his entire career, that being Aaron Rodgers.
Kruse highlights the fact that when Rodgers was out last season, Nelson produced almost no production whatsoever. This is because he has lost much of athleticism, making him unable to be a go-to-receiver that can succeed with only his pure talent, independent of the level of his quarterback.
At this point of his career, Jordy Nelson seems to be dependent on the aid of a top tier quarterback to succeed in the NFL. Crabtree on the other hand, does not seem to be at that stage of his career as of yet, and if he is then it would not have shown on the Oakland Raiders, as his Nelson to Rodgers type of connection is with Derek Carr.
This is the premise that the Bleacher Report article based their point around. While it is a valid concern, it is leaving out some important context. The point is made that when Rodgers went out last season Nelson failed to register 40 receiving yards in any of the remaining games of the season.
While this is an ugly stat, it leaves the reader with a more negative view of Nelson than they realistically should have. This lack of production in the final half of the season was not just on the part of Jordy Nelson, the whole offense suffered. The Packers don’t have the greatest offensive system, as they usually don’t need one.
The offense is centered around Aaron Rodgers, the best quarterback in the NFL, making miraculous plays consistently. The level of improvisation and IQ that is takes to make the types of plays he makes can not be replicated by a backup quarterback. This is why the entire offense fell apart when Rodgers was replaced by Brett Hundley, following his shoulder injury.
Hundley is not a good NFL quarterback. Place a below average player into a system that relies on the position in which that player plays performing at a level that is the highest anyone has ever seen, and this below average player will surely fail. And as we all know, if the quarterback fails, the entire offense fails.
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This is why it is simply incorrect to write off Jordy Nelson. It may be true that he is past his prime and physically not capable of producing like he once did. But it my also be true that Nelson will come into Oakland with a system that actually assists him and thrives catching passes from Derek Carr.
There is a chance that Bleacher Report will end up being correct on their assessment of Nelson, but there is an equal, if not better chance that they wind up being completely wrong.