Storyline: The Oakland Raiders have a solid, young core and top-notch free agents. Credit GM Reggie McKenzie, who was given a contract extension last week. But McKenzie has traveled a rough road in Oakland, second-guessed repeatedly along the way.
God dammit, Reggie! Since 2012 I’ve used that phrase a crazy amount of times. That was the year Oakland Raiders’ owner, Mark Davis, hired his first GM in Reggie McKenzie.
Legendary Al Davis (photo, profootballtalk.nbcsports.com)
But a bit of history frames what’s happened since ’12.
Al Davis, the original and one true Raider, had moved on from this world. Finally some new blood would be in control of the Silver & Black roster. Sorry to say, Al’s blood had grown pretty toxic after the Super Bowl season of 2002.
Moving the team from Oakland was Al’s original sin. Then he committed two mortal sins: banishing Marcus Allen and letting Coach Jon Gruden go. The latter sin may have cost Al a fourth Lombardi Trophy.
I’ll always love Mr. Davis for making the Raiders what they are, but the last decade of Raider’s football has been brutal. The organization needed someone fresh to drag the team into the 21st Century. Oakland needed to rebuild from the ground up—a new foundation to address needs on the field through the draft, new team facilities and infrastructure, and a GM with patience and a plan.
Reggie’s first major moves didn’t endear him to the Raider Nation one bit. Head coach Hue Jackson was let go after a competitive 8-8 season, the best Raiders’ campaign since 2002. But Reggie wanted “his guy.”
Oakland GM, Reggie McKenzie (photo, panicbutton.sportsblog.com)
I thought Hue was a brilliant OC, the perfect coach to work with Al. But I didn’t blame Reggie for wanting an upgrade, to make his own pick. So then Reggie brought in Dennis Allen. This one-year DC and former secondary coach was an uninspiring selection. As Raiders’ coach the man was the definition of milk toast.
The ’12 season–the debut of the RMac/DA combo–was largely a waste of time. The team had no 1st and 2nd Round draft picks. DA couldn’t build on the best parts of the ’11 season.
The best thing the Raiders had done under Hue was run the ball with Darren McFadden. But, then, DA installed a zone running system that didn’t fit DMac’s strengths. To make matters worse, the defense gave up the most points in Raiders’ history. So even with Palmer at QB the team finished 4-12.
The upcoming 2013 season was even worse. Reggie intensified his salary dump and the team was left with tons of dead money on the cap and a limited roster. The team’s money situation was in shambles when Reggie took over. Patience was needed but, after a decade worth of losing, Raider Nation was fed up.
Carson Palmer as a Raider (photo, blacksportsonline.com)
Then came some bad moves. Palmer turned down a pay cut and was traded to Arizona for a 7th Round pick. To replace him Reggie went out and traded a 5th Rounder for Matt Flynn. Then Reggie traded down in the NFL Draft—from the 3rd spot to draft D.J. Hayden, a cornerback who had just suffered a life-threatening injury, and Florida State tackle, Menelik Watson from England, who had just one year of real football experience.
Al is finally gone and things have gotten worse?! God dammit, Reggie!
The 2013 season was predictably horrendous. Despite a brief glimpse of Terrelle Pryor excitement (absurd to hear now) the Raiders duplicated their 4-12 efforts. DA was kept on as coach despite showing zilch. Reggie hung on too, even though his record was 8-24 record as GM.
I understood the patience of Mark Davis because a GM needs more than two years to totally rebuild a team. But there weren’t any signs that the RMac/DA combo could do anything to make a football team better. The Nation continued to mourn.
In 2014 Reggie finally held a full set of draft picks. He needed to produce and that he did: his draft was lauded by experts. He nabbed Khalil Mack, who slid to #5. In the second round he grabbed his QB of the future, Derek Carr. Later round picks—Gabe Jackson, Justin Ellis, and T.J. Carrie—looked like keepers as early as training camp.
But those picks were offset by another questionable QB trade: Reggie sent a 6th Rounder to Houston for Matt Schaub. Sure, Schaub had been a solid QB for the Texans, but he had a wobbly arm and a penchant for throwing pick-sixes. It didn’t matter in the end, though. Carr showed enough promise to steal the QB job from Schaub and start the season.
Even with Carr’s potential, he was still a rookie QB in the NFL–and that isn’t a great place to be on a team with so little weaponry. So after a 0-4 start, the Raiders finally cut the cord on the Dennis Allen experiment. The team went 0-10 before its first ‘W.’ Oakland finished winning half of its last six games, but also suffered inexplicable implosions along the way. A 52-0 spanking in St. Louis wasn’t a resume builder for interim coach, Tony Sparano.
Raiders sign HC Jack Del Rio (photo, justblogbaby.com)
The team needed to show something badly in Year Four of the Reggie era. Enter new head coach, Jack Del Rio, and another fine Raiders draft in 2015.
WR Amari Cooper might have been the surest thing in the draft, selected at #4. Mario Edwards Jr., Clive Walford, and Ben Heeney were rookies who produced in 2015. Michael Crabtree, Rodney Hudson, Dan Williams, and Malcolm Smith were top-notch free agents under the age of thirty. Carr and Mack made second year leaps, proving themselves to be franchise cornerstones.
The Raiders went 7-9 during 2015 and—very importantly—were competitive in every game. Just like that, the Raiders had a young core and bright future.
God dammit Reggie, how did you do that?
This past weekend Davis signed McKenzie to a well-earned four-year extension. When I read the news it made me…happy? I use the question mark because I’ve spent the last four years smashing most of Reggie’s moves to bits.
Allen at head coach was an epic failure.
Trades for QB’s Flynn and Schaub were debacles.
His initial 1st Round pick of Hayden was a reach and a failure (at least so far).
Khalil Mack is a defensive force (photo, 9news.com)
Yet here the team–in 2016–with a solid, young core with franchise-building blocks in Mack, Carr, and Cooper, and top-notch free agents who actually want to join this team. Playoff aspirations are legitimate and real for the Raiders in 2016, mainly because of the patience of GM Reggie McKenzie. He stayed the course and built the team for long-term success.
There weren’t any quick fixes early, just fix the Cap and build through the Draft. It was agonizing at times, but Reggie’s patience might have finally won out.
We’ll see.
