Oakland Raiders made the correct decision to pass on Josh Gordon
By Justin Fried
The Oakland Raiders opted not to place a claim on former New England Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon. This was ultimately the correct move for the organization.
The Oakland Raiders need some help at wide receiver, there’s no question about that. And with former Pro Bowl wideout Josh Gordon entering the waiver wire on Friday, it seemed like an obvious pairing.
But the Raiders opted to do the same as 31 other NFL franchises and not place a claim on the former 1,000-yard receiver. And they ultimately made the correct decision.
At one time, Gordon was among the brightest, up-and-coming receivers in the game. The man they call “Flash” ran into some off-field issues in college but was still selected in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns based on sheer talent alone.
Everyone knows what happened next.
Gordon excelled in his rookie season finishing with 50 grabs for 805 yards, some of the best numbers among all rookie receivers. But his true breakout came in the 2013 season.
Despite facing a two-game suspension to start the season, and despite being saddled with the likes of Jason Campbell, Brandon Weeden, and Brian Hoyer at quarterback, Gordon hauled in 87 catches for a whopping 1,646 yards.
In 14 games nonetheless.
It appeared as though Gordon was the next superstar receiver in the NFL, but unfortunately, his past demons came back and forced everything to come crashing down.
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The Baylor product played in just five games the following season battling suspensions before multiple arrests, failed drug tests, and subsequent suspensions forced him to miss the entirety of the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
It was one of the more significant falls from graces we’ve seen in the NFL in recent memory and it was such a shame for a player as talented as Gordon.
He would make his dramatic return in Week 13 of the 2017 season and play in six more games with the Browns before being sen to New England one game into the 2018 season.
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To his credit, Gordon did appear to have turned his life around with the Patriots and he went on to win a ring with the team that season. But unfortunately, this isn’t a fairytale ending — at least not yet anyway.
In December of 2018, Gordon received yet another “indefinite ban” from the NFL for violating the terms of his initial reinstatement. And although he would return to New England this season, his 2019 campaign was marred by injury trouble and more off-field drama.
Rumors began to emerge that Gordon was late to numerous team meetings and staff members would oftentimes have a difficult time locating his whereabouts. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape his past demons.
But even despite these continued off-field mishaps, some might still make an argument that his talent is worth the risk — especially for a measly waiver wire pickup given the state of the Raiders wide receiver corps.
Unfortunately, that just isn’t true anymore.
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While his off-field drama is still present, Gordon is no longer the dynamic playmaker that he once was.
His route tree has been limited to primarily slants and streaks — partially why he’s a great fit with his new team in Seattle — and he just isn’t quite as dynamic as he used to be. Perhaps age has taken its toll or perhaps it’s simply a product of his on-again/off-again career.
Either way, Gordon isn’t the game-changing talent that he was at a point in his career. At this stage, you’ll be lucky to receive No. 2 wide receiver production from him.
Gordon was once one of the most talented, electrifying players in all of football. But in 2019, he not only comes with a ton of off-field baggage, but he’s a shell of his former self.
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The Raiders did the right thing by passing on him.