Oakland Raiders: A few of the worst moves of the Jon Gruden 2.0 era

Burning Draft Pick For A Punter

Perhaps trying to channel his inner Al Davis, Gruden thought it prudent to burn some draft capital on a punter. Make zero mistake about it though – Johnny Townsend is no Ray Guy. They aren’t even close to being in the same conversation.

To be fair, once you get down to the fifth-round, the cupboards begin to get a little bare. But still, there is talent to be found if you’d done your due diligence. Burning a fifth-round pick on a punter was definitely not the best use of that pick for a team with so many roster holes to fill.

Las Vegas Raiders

Especially for one who’s performed as poorly as Townsend has.

For the season, Townsend average of 43.5 yards per kick ranks dead last in the NFL. His net average of 39.3 ranks slightly higher – twenty-eighth. And his nine punts inside the twenty are thirty-first – only ahead of New Orleans’ Thomas Morestead has attempted a league low 24 points.

Gruden was determined to move on from Marquette King – which is understandable, given that King’s “look at me” personality doesn’t exactly mesh well with Gruden’s coaching style. But, there were plenty of options available on the free agent market, and for all we know, they could have gotten Townsend in as a UDFA rather than burning a pick on him.

Now, it’s entirely possible that with a year of experience under his belt, Townsend can settle in and be the next in a long line of great Raiders punters – Guy, Shane Lechler, and even King. But, spending a fifth-round pick on him was way too much and the return on investment to this point, has been minimal.

It wasn’t a great move, no matter which way you try to slice it.