Edge-rusher is the team’s greatest need as the team had a league-worst 13 sacks in 2018. Joey Bosa of Ohio State and Josh Allen of
Kentucky look like good candidates to try to replace Khalil Mack but they may
not be available at No. 4 overall. However
Reggie Nelson Jersey , the Raiders could trade down and get a player who could have more upside than either of them. Michigan defensive end Rashan Gary is
6’5”, 280 pounds and ran a 4.57 40-yard dash at Michigan’s last spring combine.
He also broad jumped 9-6 and ran a 6.70 in the 3-cone drill. The 3-cone drill is
good to measure an edge-rusher’s ability to turn the corner. If those times are
legit, his 3-cone drill time is .01 faster than former Raiders receiver Amari
Cooper and the same as Von Miller. And to put Gary’s 40 time in perspective,
Julius Peppers ran a 4.68 40 at 6’7”, 280 pounds. To go along with all the
physical gifts he has, Gary is a hard worker. Former Baltimore Ravens
edge-rusher Bart Scott has known Gary since he was a kid and swears by him. “He
hasn’t even scratched the surface yet,” Scott told CBS. “He’s a hard worker. I
can remember in eighth grade he started working out with me and we were pushing
him. On tape, that speed shows up from step one in the run game and as a
pass-rusher. He also has a high motor that shows when he runs down quarterbacks,
running backs and sometimes receivers from long distances. In the run game he’s
disruptive with his 1st-step quickness and he will chase the play down when you
run away from him. As a pass-rusher, he bends the edge exceptionally well for a
man his sizeWith his tremendous size he has the strength and power to go with it
as he uses that and his long arms to anchor, stack and shed in the run game. As
a pass-rusher, he can use that power and strength to simply bull-rush or use his
length for a 1-arm stab like Mack does. With just that, Gary should have had at
least 12 sacks in 2018 but he finished with just 3.5. As far as technique goes,
he used his hands well when he did use them last season. But he was hampered by
a sprained AC joint in his shoulder that caused him to miss three games and play
limited snaps in others before missing the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Gary was a
top-3 pick coming into last season so his coming back tells you a lot about his
character. One negative is there were times he took too long to disengage from
blocks. His injury could have had something to do with it but some of it is he
needs more moves in his arsenal so he isn’t so predictable. It would have been
nice to see him use the moves he did well like his 1-arm stab more often too.
That’s where defensive line coach Mike Trovac comes in. He has worked with
freaks like Gary as he was Peppers’ position coach and defensive coordinator
from 2002 to 2009. Peppers had his career high 14.5 sacks under him in 2008.
Trovac was his position coach again from 2014 to 2017 and Peppers had two
double-digit sacks seasons over the age of 35 with his last one (11) being in
2017.Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther likes his DE’s extra tall and extra
long too. He had Carlos Dunlap (6’6”) and Michael Johnson (6’7”) while with the
Cincinnati Bengals. Guenther already has extra long Arden Key(6’5”), who could
show improvement in his second season with added strength next year. And Gary
would be a great complement to him while playing on the strong side. Despite his
injury-plagued 2018, his size, length, speed, agility and power have him going
in the top 10 on some draft boards. Teams like the New York Giants (No. 6),
Jacksonville Jaguars, (No. 7) andDenver Broncos at (No. 10) could come calling
to trade up for Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins. The Raiders should only
use the Broncos as leverage to deal with the Giants or Jaguars. Gruden showed
last year when he selected Kolton Miller after a trade down that he loves his
freak athletes. And he believes he has quite a talent in Miller, who actually
showed some promise until he injured his knee in week four.New general manager
Mike Mayock likes freak athletes too so it’s not likely he argues with it.In an
interview on the team’s website, he said what a Mayock-Gruden Raider is.“We can
get into a lot of other things but the core values of toughness, physicality,
high football IQ, speed. and what’s most important to me at every position is do
you compete,” Mayock said. “I don’t care if you’re a corner, a left tackle or a
defensive tackle. I want to know if you compete. How tough are you? Can you
bring it everyday for 16 weeks. That’s what and Oakland Raider is.”Gary has some
things to learn as do all draft picks but it sounds like Mayock just described
him when describing what a Raider is. Last Thursday, the Raiders made Josh
Jacobs the top back selected in the draft at 24 overall in the first round. They
touted him as the complete package who could stay on the field all three
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StubHub ?Raiders Draft 2019Jon Gruden says Raiders ‘comfortable’ with Doug
Martin as three-down back, rookie first rounder Josh Jacobs has got to beat him
outNew,72commentsPDTShareTweetShareShareJon Gruden says Raiders ‘comfortable’
with Doug Martin as three-down back, rookie first rounder Josh Jacobs has got to
beat him outOakland RaidersLast Thursday
Kolton Miller Jersey , the Raiders made Josh Jacobs the top back selected in the draft at 24 overall in the first round. They touted him as the complete package
who could stay on the field all three downs due to his ability to block and
catch passes out of the backfield as well as be a power runner.True, Jacobs did
display all those skills at Alabama, but he never did so as a workhorse back and
Jon Gruden wasn’t going to go all in and say the young back was ready to take on
a full load or even if he was capable of it due to Jacobs being a part time back
for the Crimson Tide.Already on the Raiders was Isaiah Crowell who is a proven
NFL starter who fell into their laps essentially when he was cast off by the
Jets after they spent big money to sign Le’Veon Bell to a free agent deal. Days
after Jacobs was drafted, Crowell tore his Achilles in offseason workouts and
was lost for the season, ending what could have been a nice one-two punch with
him and Jacobs.“Isiah [Crowell] came in here on a one-year contract and I was
hoping this would be a launching pad for him to really showcase what he can do,”
said Gruden. “And it’s very unfortunate and we wish him the best. I mean the way
he got hurt was amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it. It was a freak
injury.”With Crowell down, predictions for Jacobs’ rookie season shot up.
Fantasy gurus began licking their chops at the possibilities of him being a
workhorse, churning out yards and points. The Raiders had ‘break glass in case
of emergency’ option sitting on his couch though. They simply phoned up last
year’s starter Doug Martin and said come on back in.“Fortunately Doug Martin has
been very interested in coming back,” Gruden continued. “He led out team in
rushing and Doug will be able to I think be a great mentor to Jacobs. He knows
the system, he produced in the system. Doug’s had some real highs and some real
lows in this league. And he’ll be a great resource for our young back and he can
also still play. So, we’re happy to have Doug back and obviously disappointed
for Isaiah.”Mentor, yes. But starting ahead of the back who Gruden was
reportedly so excited to draft at 24 that he supposedly wanted to trade up to
make sure he got him and had to be calmed down several times by Mike Mayock?
Starting over that guy? That’s what Gruden would like us to believe.“Doug Martin
was a three-down back last year,” Gruden said when asked if Jacobs would be the
team’s three-down back right away. “He finished the season quite well. We’re
comfortable with Doug.“We’ll see what happens with [Josh] Jacobs. Jacobs has got
a lot to learn in our system and he’s gotta beat out some good backs.”All right.
So, not handing the youngster anything. Making him feel like he has to work for
it. And asking last year’s starter who averaged 4.3 yards per carry as the
starter to step back into that role may not be the choice you’d expect from a
team that just spent a first round pick on a running back, but it isn’t terribly
far-fetched.But, wait, did he say “Backs”? Plural? As in more than one? Come on
now.“I think Jalen Richard is really exciting. He wants to be a three-down
back,” Gruden added. “We just paid him a lot of money because of his skills. And
I think DeAndre Washington who was hurt most of last year is also going to
contribute.”Uh, yeah. Ok.Oh, and let’s not forget about last year’s preseason
phenom Chris Warren III now. Gruden said he left him out, joking he tries “not
to give Chris any sugar.”“I like Chris Warren,” Gruden said. “He’s 260 pounds,
he can run, he had a very good preseason for us, and he’s learned a lot about
our offense and about this profession and he’s got some pretty good genes. His
dad was one hell of a back for the Seahawks, so we’ll see where he is. We’re
anxious to put him back in circulation as well.”It’s certainly that time of
year. When Gruden keeps his players’ hopes up that they can all be the guy while
trying to keep us guessing about what he will do at certain positions. Hey, who
knows, maybe Marshawn Lynch will be back too? He said he would come back if they
want him. So, why the hell not. Let’s really make this a competition. Follow
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