Oakland Raiders: MMQB offseason grade missing some key components

The Oakland Raiders offseason of change has resulted in a low grade from Sports Illustrated — a grade that fails to take some key factors into account.

Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has made quite the splash upon his return to an NFL sideline. He’s made a flurry of moves in reshaping this roster. Some of them have been solid adds, while some of them have been – questionable.

Gruden’s maneuvering through the offseason has been analyzed and criticized – and occasionally praised – by TV talking head, sports radio show hosts, as well as anybody and everybody with a keyboard and a Twitter account.

Gruden’s latest performance review comes from the MMQB’s Robert Klemko, who gave Oakland less than stellar marks for their efforts, grading them the worst in the AFC West. By far.

Harsh. Way harsh, man.

To be fair though, Oakland’s season is hinging on a lot of “ifs,” “maybes,” and guys needing to play to their true potential.

So, it’s not completely outrageous or unreasonable for Klemko to remain a bit skeptical of the Raiders this season.

However, that’s not to say that Klemko’s “report card” for the Raiders is entirely accurate, or even fair. In fact, there are some very key factors that he’s overlooking – factors you’d think are kind of important when making an overall evaluation.

First, let’s take a look at his list of “crucial veteran losses.”

"Crucial veteran losses: CB David Amerson, DE Denico Autry, CB T.J. Carrie, WR Michael Crabtree, K Sebastian Janikowski, P Marquette King"

It’s hard to say that any of these losses were all that crucial, to be honest. Not to mention the fact that Klemko left Sean Smith off the list, but that’s okay.

In the case of Smith, Amerson, and Marquette King, it’s actually addition by subtraction – Smith and Amerson especially. Oakland’s secondary will be far better off without the pair of them, whose far less than stellar performances the last couple of seasons, really helped cripple this defense.

The loss of Autry, Carrie, and Crabtree, weren’t exactly popular at the time. But, you would have to be a fool to not think each of those position groups aren’t better off today than they were last year.

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Klemko seems to have forgotten entirely about Rashaan Melvin, who isn’t mentioned once anywhere in his rambling screed. Nor is Daryl Worley or Shareece Wright. Sure, they’re not headliner, A-List talent, but they at least deserved a mention.

It’s actually Melvin, not Hall, who will likely be starting opposite Conley. If Conley plays like he has throughout the early portion of the offseason work, and Melvin shows his pretty stellar year with the Colts last season wasn’t a fluke, the Raiders will be fielding two very, very solid corners.

There is some question at the safety spot, sure. But between Marcus Gilchrist, Karl Joseph, Obi Melifonwu, Reggie Nelson, and Shalom Luani – along with defensive coordinator Paul Guenther’s rough explanation of how they’ll be deployed – the uncertainty Klemko speaks of may be a little bit overstated.

Likewise, Klemko’s concern about Oakland’s offensive line is a bit overstated as well. Gabe Jackson and Kelechi Osemele both dealt with nagging injuries that hampered them for much of last season. Add to that, the incompetence of Todd Downing’s, ill-thought out scheme and his taking Oakland’s line away from what they do well, and it’s no surprise that the unit struggled.

But, with Gruden and line coach Tom Cable getting the line back to doing what they do best – which is blowing people off the ball – don’t be surprised to see Oakland’s offensive line back among the best in the league.

Klemko goes on to express his concern about the team picking up Kansas City castoff inside linebacker Derrick Johnson.

"“If the Raiders are expecting much from 35-year-old linebacker Derrick Johnson, they may be disappointed in his twin surgically-repaired achilles tendons.”"

Let’s ignore the fact that an older NaVorro Bowman, who had a significant injury history of his own, still starred for this Raiders defense last season. Let’s instead, focus on the fact that Johnson has missed just four games over the last three seasons.

Let’s also focus on the fact that over that span, he’s been a consistent force in the middle of the Kansas City defense, averaging 92 tackles a season, and has been as solid against the pass as against the run. Sure, he’s in the twilight of his career, but he’s proven to still have some gas left in the tank.

And lastly, Klemko highlights his concern about the development of Carr – or more precisely, the regression in 2017.

"“Who is Derek Carr? Is he the budding star who had a 60-19 TD/INT ratio in his second and third seasons, or is he the game manager whose statline more closely resembled Blake Bortles than Drew Brees in 2017.”"

First of all – ouch. Second of all – it sucks that Klemko isn’t wrong about the statistical comparison between Bortles and Carr last season.

However – what Klemko fails to note is how much damage post-turtle Todd Downing did to Carr and the offense. Downing’s offense lacked any sort of consistency or identity. It seemed clear that he wanted to be the anti-Bill Musgrave. And he was – in the worst way possible.

Musgrave may have been vanilla and unexciting at times, but his offensive philosophies and schemes were very clear. And he made sure his offensive units ran those schemes very well.

Unlike Downing, whose offensive game planning and play calling was, to put it very kindly and very generously, mediocre. At best. But, it fell on former HC Jack Del Rio for not recognizing and correcting the problem, and he paid the price for it.

Now, with an actual innovative offensive mind in Gruden calling the shots, and some actual competence in the coaching staff, there is every reason to believe that Carr will return to the form that led him to be an MVP candidate in 2016.

It’s all of these insights and little nuggets of thought though, that led Klemko to give Gruden and the Raiders a D-plus for their offseason work, as well as pencil them in for a second consecutive 6-10 campaign.

While there certainly are plenty of question marks and some things absolutely need to break right, Klemko’s problem is that he overvalues some things, undervalues others, and completely ignores still others – see Rashaan Melvin.

Next: 5 FA Running Backs Who Could Help

Gruden’s maneuvering this offseason has definitely raised some eyebrows, but Klemko’s grade seems pretty far off the mark. 6-10 for a second consecutive year? Doesn’t seem likely.

But it’s easy to see why somebody might think so, when leaving some very key components out of one’s argument.

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