Tag: Mike Mayock

Is the Raiders’ 2019 first round the worst round in pro football history?

The 2019 Raiders had three first-round picks, and none of them panned out. That is a historically bad haul.

It is highly unusual for a team to have three first-round picks in a single draft. In 2019, it happened twice. The then-Oakland Raiders had that particular haul that season as the result of trades that sent pass-rusher Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper packing, and the New York Giants had three first-round picks primarily as the result of a trade involving Odell Beckham Jr.

Neither of those classes really worked out, though the Giants’ three first-round picks (quarterback Daniel Jones, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, and cornerback Deandre Baker) did produce on player in Lawrence who the Giants deemed worthy of a fifth-year option. That Jones was not, and was taken with the sixth overall pick, is a damning indictment of former general manager Dave Gettleman. The Baker pick was no better — Baker proved to be a major liability in coverage on the field, and a problem off the field, and he was waived in September, 2020.

Still, Gentleman’s mistakes pale in comparison to the whiffs made by the Raiders. This was the first season in which head coach Jon Gruden had full organizational control after a 2018 season in which Reggie McKenzie was still the general manager. McKenzie, one of the more astute personnel guys around, was shoved out in favor of former NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock, and with that and a bunch of first-round picks, the Raiders went impulse shopping.

Oakland took Clemson pass-rusher Clelin Farrell with the fourth overall pick, Alabama running back Josh Jacobs with the 24th pick, and Mississippi State safety Johnathan Abram with the 27th pick.

How has that turned out? On Friday, the Raiders announced that they would not be picking up the fifth-year options for any of those three players.

One of the primary reasons to take players in the first round is the potential of the fifth-year option; to waste three picks on guys that a new regime deems unworthy of that particular honor is just spectacularly bad strategy. And it started with the picks themselves. Gruden and Mayock (mostly Gruden) had a tendency to get too cute with their picks, thinking that they saw things other teams didn’t. Ferrell wasn’t an impact pass-rusher in college, and that’s worked its way to the NFL. Abram has been more of a box safety than a coverage enforcer, which isn’t a great way to spend a first-round pick, no matter what. And though Jacobs has shown potential as an every-down back, Gruden himself never seemed to know how to best use his talents.

Interestingly enough, Oakland’s strategies worked a lot better in the later rounds — they absolutely stole Eastern Michigan edge defender Maxx Crosby in the fourth round, and recently gave Crosby a four-year, $95 million extension with $53 million guaranteed. Tight end Foster Moreau also came out of the fourth round (from LSU), and Clemson receiver Hunter Renfrow was selected in the fifth round. Not bad for one of the NFL’s better red-zone route-runners.

So, that’s three later picks that almost make up for the first-day misses. Had the Raiders of the time taken Crosby, Moreau, and Renfrow in the first round of the 2019 draft, they would have been bashed all over the place as idiots at the time, and hailed as geniuses now that we know what we know.

As Mike McDermott (played by Matt Damon) said in the movie Rounders: 

If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half-hour at the table, then you are the sucker. Guys around here will tell ya, you play for a living, it’s like any other job. You don’t gamble, you grind it out. Your goal is to win one big bet an hour, that’s it.

The art and science of the draft isn’t much different. If you’re guessing and gambling with your money, you’ll eventually get booted right off the table. It is indeed about winning one big bet an hour, especially in the first round.

Former GM Mike Mayock donated his Raiders gear to Las Vegas Fire Dept

Watch: Mike Mayock tells the story of how he donated his Raiders gear to the Las Vegas Fire Dept

To be the GM, coach, or player of an NFL team means wearing their gear pretty much every day. Or at least every day you’re at the facility or at any franchise related function. The club offers its employees pretty much free access to Raiders merchandise so they can fill out their wardrobe with it. But what happens with all that stuff when they move on?

Former Raiders GM Mike Mayock appeared on the Dan Patrick Show this weekend where Patrick asked him if he could have all his Raiders gear. But Mayock laughed because he doesn’t have most of it. He donated it. And to a pretty worthy cause.

“I took about 90% of it, before we left Vegas, and I drove down to the local fire station, and I knocked on the door,” said Mayock. “And I didn’t know anybody, I just knocked on the door, and this fireman answered the door, and I said ‘Listen, it might sound silly, but I just got fired as the Raiders GM.’ And I had two huge bags with me, like trash bags, and I said ‘I got all this brand new gear and I think some of you guys might like it, or you can give it to the community, but I don’t need it anymore.’ And the guy looked at me like I was crazy, and he said ‘Well, I think you better meet the chief’. He took me into the chief. And I’m dragging these two big bags of crap in to meet the chief. That’s what I did with my Raider gear.”

Honestly, that’s a pretty brilliant place to go to donate your unwanted gear. Like he said, either the firefighters themselves can use it, or they can donate it to the community. And hopefully, Mayock posed for some pics and signed some autographs for the firefighters while he was there.

Good looking out, Mike, for those who look out for us.

Las Vegas Raiders fire GM Mike Mayock

The Raiders have fired GM Mike Mayock after three seasons

The Las Vegas Raiders saw Jon Gruden exit as head coach amid scandal in October. The team’s GM, Mike Mayock, is out, too, days after their playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

“We have relieved Mike Mayock of his duties as General Manager of the Las Vegas Raiders,” the Raiders said in a statement Monday. “We thank Mike for his contributions over the last three years in helping to form the foundation for the franchise to build upon in its future.”

Mayock left NFL Network to take the job as Raiders GM three years ago. He also did color commentary for NBC on Notre Dame and NFL games.

Mayock’s tenure ends with a 25-24 record.

The 2019 draft saw the Raiders have three first-round picks. However, the best of that lot was EDGE rusher Maxx Crosby (fourth) and fifth-round WR Hunter Renfrow.

Per Raiderswire:

Among those high pick duds have included fourth overall pick DE Clelin Ferrell and CB Damon Arnette. Top pick Henry Ruggs III is in jail awaiting trial for a fatal DUI crash and last year’s first round pick Alex Leatherwood had a rough rookie season as well.

One 2020 first-round pick Arnette (18th overall) was cut after a video showed him threatening to kill someone while holding a gun. Another 2020 first-rounder, Alabama WR Ruggs (12th), was cut the day after he was arrested and charged in an auto accident that cost a woman her life.

Word broke Monday the team was interviewing GM candidates, which no doubt expedited parting ways with Mayock.

Interim Raiders coach Rich Bisaccia will be considered for the permanent job. The team will look at other candidates, too.

 

Mike Mayock out as Raiders General Manager

Breaking: Mike Mayock out as Raiders GM

Minutes after reports came out that the Raiders had requested several interviews with General Manager candidates, it was followed by somewhat expected announcment; that Mike Mayock will not be returning as Raiders GM.

The team said in a statement:

“We have relieved Mike Mayock of his duties as General Manager of the Las Vegas Raiders. We thank Mike for his contributions over the last three years in helping to form the foundation for the franchise to build upon in its future.”

Mayock spent the past three years as Raiders GM, presiding over the 2019, 20, and 21 drafts.

The former longtime NFL Network resident draft guru was a celebrated hire to team up with then head coach Jon Gruden heading into his second season on the job.

Gruden was forced to resign following the leak of several offensive emails. Questions surrounded whether Mayock would stay on as GM. That question was answered just two days following the team’s Wild Card playoff exit.

Debacles like the Antonio Brown trade and first round picks such as DE Clelin Ferrell, WR Henry Ruggs III, DB Damon Arnette, and OL Alex Leatherwood.

He is credited, however, with late round finds like DE Maxx Crosby, WR Hunter Renfrow, and CB Nate Hobbs.

Raiders interviewing potential General Manager candidates

Could Mike Mayock be on his way out? Raiders interviewing potential GM candidates suggests he could be

There could be some major turnover in the Raiders organization this offseason very soon. The immediate discussion has been with regard to whether the Raiders will bring back Interim Head Coach Rich Bisaccia or hire someone from outside the organization. But it may not stop at head coach.

While the team is interviewing head coach candidates, they are also seeking interviews with General Manager candidates as well according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The current GM in Las Vegas is Mike Mayock. He was brought in three years ago as former head coach Jon Gruden’s choice for the job.

The draft guru’s tenure has been known for poor selections in the top two rounds, but some great finds in the later rounds.

Among those high pick duds have included fourth overall pick DE Clelin Ferrell and CB Damon Arnette. Top pick Henry Ruggs III is in jail awaiting trial for a fatal DUI crash and last year’s first round pick Alex Leatherwood had a rough rookie season as well.

Those duds have been offset somewhat by finds like CB Nate Hobbs (Round five), WR Hunter Renfrow (Round five), and DE Maxx Crosby (Round four).

Then again a GM’s job is about a lot more than just he draft. The Raiders will get a look at these GM candidates to see if they have the requisite experience for the job.

Mike Mayock admits Raiders drafted Damon Arnette despite ‘significant concern’ with character

Mike Mayock admits Raiders drafted Damon Arnette despite ‘significant concern’ with character

For the second time in a week, the Raiders saw one of their 2020 first round picks make a terrible lapse in judgement that led to their swift release. Last Tuesday it was Henry Ruggs III who got behind the wheel of a car drunk and slammed into another vehicle, killing a young woman.

Yesterday, while the team was still very much dealing with that situation, which undoubtedly led to their loss to the Giants, Damon Arnette posted a video in which he was threatening to kill someone while brandishing several firearms.

Once again the Raiders hands were tied. As Mike Mayock explained in a statement over conference call Monday morning.

“Today we waived Damon Arnette,” said Mayock. “Very painful decision. We spent significant time, effort, and resources trying to help him in all facets of his life. There have been a series of bad decisions over the last year or so, but we can’t stand, we can not stand the video of Damon with a gun threatening to take a life. The content was unacceptable, contrary to our values, and our owner Mark Davis has been very clear and very consistent that this is not how we will conduct ourselves in this community. The bottom line; the Raiders will not tolerate this type of behavior.

“On a personal note, Ive talked to Damon, his dad, a couple of others in his life. From my perspective he’s a very talented young man with a good heart. [If] he cleans up his life, I know he can make a living in the NFL. But not now with the Raiders.”

Arnette’s actions, coupled with those of Ruggs has a lot of people pointing to the team’s many statements about how important character is to their team and therefore their draft process. But these two situations are different in that there were no signs prior to this that Ruggs would do anything like that. The same cannot be said of Arnette.

I asked Mayock if there had been anything in Arnette’s profile in the draft process that was of concern. He spoke candidly.

“Yeah, there was significant concern. And most of the teams around the league were very aware of it,” Mayock replied. “We spent an awful lot of time trying to understand his behavior. And really what kind of tilted everything in the direction of ‘ok, let’s go ahead and draft him’ was that we knew that coaching staff pretty well, we knew what they had asked him to do his last year at Ohio State, they felt very strongly that they knew who we had on our staff and that we’d be able to work with this young man. And not only help him on the football field, but help him in his life. Obviously in hindsight we weren’t able to do it. I know a lot of people, including myself, we were all concerned about this. But we at the time thought it was an acceptable risk. But obviously it’s painful on all levels.”

One potential red flag may have been this:

Yes, he said four rental car accidents. In a month.

The inevitable question becomes if there were so many red flags, and if teams around the league were also aware of those red flags, why did the team feel like Arnette was worthy of a being selected at 19 overall? I mean, I understand taking a flier on a player on day two and beyond, but it seems highly irresponsible to make that call with such a high pick.

“We found the risk acceptable after doing more homework on Arnette than anybody we’ve done in the years I’ve been here,” Mayock added. “And obviously we missed. And that is 100% on me.”

Despite Mayock falling on the sword here, it’s not fair to blame him for it entirely. He has said many times in the past that the team gets considerable input from coaches when selecting players and we also know that Jon Gruden had final say.

All you can do know is hope Mayock and the Raiders learn from these kinds of mistakes and realize sometimes the risk just isn’t worth it.

[lawrence-newsletter]

Raiders GM has high praise for interim HC, former Clemson assistant

A former Clemson assistant coach met with the media Wednesday after being named the interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this week in the wake of Jon Gruden’s resignation. Rich Bisaccia – Clemson’s running backs coach from the 1993 …

A former Clemson assistant coach met with the media Wednesday after being named the interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this week in the wake of Jon Gruden’s resignation.

Rich Bisaccia — Clemson’s running backs coach from the 1993 Peach Bowl through the 1998 season under Tommy West — is grateful for his first head coaching opportunity in the NFL after being a special teams coach in the league since 2002 with the Buccaneers, Chargers, Cowboys and Raiders.

“This is certainly an exciting moment,” Bisaccia said, via Raiders.com. “It’s an incredible opportunity, certainly, not only for me, but for all of the other coaches that are here to see what we can do in this adversity; see what we can do with this challenge; see what we can do with the next day, and the same thing for our players.

“Am I excited? I’m certainly excited. … I’ve been doing a lot of different things in this football world for a long time, so with the help of all of those other assistants that are up there, we’re going to do the best job we can.”

Raiders general manager Mike Mayock, who also spoke with reporters Wednesday, had high praise for Bisaccia and expressed full confidence in him as he takes over the head coaching duties for the franchise.

“I’ve known this guy for a lot of years, and I hope you get to meet him a little bit and see what a special person he is,” Mayock said. “Since he’s a special teams coach, he’s involved with more players on the team than any other coach in our building. He’s involved with the offensive guys. He’s involved with the defensive guys. The irony is I’ve endorsed him for a lot of head coaching jobs over the years, both in college and the NFL, back when I had a different job.

“He’s got as much respect in the locker room, in our locker room, as any coach I’ve ever seen in my life and the reason he does – is he a great coach? Hell yeah. But he’s an even better man and what I’ve always told people when I endorse him is that he’s the most natural leader of men that I have ever been around.”

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Raiders GM Mike Mayock addresses Jon Gruden resignation, Mark Davis still refusing

Raiders GM Mike Mayock addresses Jon Gruden resignation, Mark Davis still refusing

Wednesday — two days after Jon Gruden’s abrupt resignation as Raiders head coach following the leaking of several offensive emails he had sent during his time as an ESPN analyst — Raiders GM Mike Mayock took to the podium to make a statement and answer questions. Something owner Mark Davis has not only yet to do, but has on more than one instance refused to do.

Monday Gruden put out a statement

“I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”

To which Mark Davis said simply:

“I have accepted Jon Gruden’s resignation as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.”

And that was it.

Wednesday, ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez reached out to Davis in the hopes that two days after the fact, the Raiders owner will have had a chance to collect his thoughts and thus have something to say. He did not. In fact, his only response was seemingly worse than saying nothing at all.

“I have no comment,” Davis said. “Ask the NFL. They have all the answers.”

The NFL should be answering some questions as well. But it’s very much on Davis to speak up and say what must be said. If for no other reason than optics and to keep anyone from having to interpret his words in a way he may not like.

One possible interpretation is that the NFL forced Mark’s hand in this and he’s not happy about it. Which, even if that’s true, it wouldn’t excuse the lack of a statement here. Mayock was forced to guess as to what Davis was dealing with.

“Mr. Davis was dealing with that. I think he wanted to be fair to Jon Gruden,” Mayock said, responding to a question about potential league pressure. “And he wanted to be fair to the Raiders organization. He knew ultimately he was going to have to make a decision, but I’m not getting into timelines. You’re going to have to talk to Mr. Davis for any more detail.”

Getting the answer straight from Mr. Davis would be great. But, again, he left it for his GM to come out and speak for him. Something Mayock claimed not to want to do, but was still put in the position to do so. First with regard to the decision for Gruden to coach last Sunday’s game despite the Raiders being in possession of the emails prior to the report on Monday.

“The reality of that is that Mark Davis really is the one that was dealing with that. And I think he felt like — and I don’t want to speak for Mark — but there was an awful lot of due diligence that had to go on inside of this. All I knew was a bombshell had dropped. The players talked about it, we talked about it with the players, Jon dealt with it and then, of course, I didn’t even know… Again, Mark was dealing with all the email stuff. We were trying to prepare for a football game. And then when the rest of it came out, I think Mark was already in the middle of his due diligence. I think he was trying to figure it all out. Again, I know what the guy stands for and I think he was trying to do the right thing.”

Then to defend the organization’s record on matters such as diversity and the like.

“The way I grew up the Raiders always stood for diversity,” Mayock said in his opening statement. “They had the first Latino quarterback Tom Flores who also became the second Latino head coach, the first African American head coach was Art Shell, the first female CEO was Amy Trask. Obviously, all of that was under Al Davis’s watch. Now, this week his son Mark Davis, I think, had a tough time. He had a tough week. He had to gather facts, he had to do his due diligence, and since the day I took this job almost three years ago, what Mr. Davis has preached has been three things; it’s been Diversity, Social Justice, and Domestic Violence.”

At some point Mayock spoke for himself and how he feels. And his answer was short, succinct, and appropriate for the situation.

“I do have emotion. And I am sad. And to be honest with you I’m sad for the whole Gruden family, not just Jon,” Mayock said. “But at the end of the day, we’re all accountable for our actions. And that’s how we have to look at it.”

All of that seemed easy enough to say. And it’s good to hear it from the GM, but he’s not the one who makes the decisions in the organization. That would be the owner. We should be hearing from that person.

[listicle id=84427]

[lawrence-newsletter]

‘We got something’: Mike Mayock tells story behind Raiders discovery of CB Nate Hobbs

‘We got something’: Mike Mayock tells story behind Raiders discovery of CB Nate Hobbs

The standout among the Raiders rookies this year has been fifth round cornerback Nate Hobbs. His quick emergence has made more than a few people wonder how he fell to the fifth round, how they missed him, and how the Raiders got him.

Raiders GM Mike Mayock was asked about Nate Hobbs and he responded by telling a long story of how they discovered and ultimately drafted Hobbs. It offers an inside look into how the longtime draft guru has gone about his draft work since taking over as Raiders GM and how the Raiders organization functions in terms of drafting players.

“I got a call from one of our cross check scouts after the Illinois pro day,” Mayock began his story. “And he said ‘Mike, do me a favor, put your eyes on Nate Hobbs. He just ran 4.45, he jumps 41 inches, he tested better than we thought he would test and I’m not sure if we’ve got the right grade on him. Don’t get me wrong, we had a pretty solid grade on him, but I want to make sure he’s not getting lost in the cornerback shuffle.’

“So, I get off the phone and I literally put his tape on right there. And I’m like, man…he competes, he tackles, he’s tough, he’s a three-year starter in the Big-Ten, he was an outside corner almost predominantly. And he played special teams. And this was a hard-nosed, tough guy. And he just ran 4.45 and jumped 41 inches.

“So, I literally got out of my chair — I spent about two hours watching him — I got out of my chair, sprinted downstairs to the second floor, grabbed Ron Milus the defensive back coach…and, again, every building is different. Trust me, I spent 18 years at NFL Network being in all the buildings and everyone does their jobs differently. We’re a coach-driven building. With our scouts. So, I run downstairs and say ‘Milo, get your eyes on this guy, please. Tell me what you think, today.’ He comes running back up in an hour and a half and says ‘we got something,’ He said ‘I think this kid will compete at nickel.’

“He was an outside guy and the reason we thought he could compete at nickel was how tough he was. His quickness and his toughness. He rarely missed tackles. Very aggressive kid. So, when you talk about moving outside to inside, that’s what you’re looking for. And you got to be a quick processor, which we can’t tell whether he was or not as an outside corner, but you better be quick and you better be tough. And he was those things.

“So, all of the sudden we push him up the board a little bit more. The coaches like him, the scouts like him, we got him on a zoom call. And he knocked it out of the park. And what the coaches do is they challenge him pretty hard. They give him some of our Raider verbiage and they push it out and challenge it back. And he got all the concepts immediately.

“I was on the zoom call, it wasn’t like I heard about it, I was on the call. He got all the concepts, the coaches drilled him, he got an A+ on that drill and we’re sitting back and going ‘what’s wrong with this picture?’ Three-year starter in the Big-Ten, tough, competitive, every one of our scouting grades on him was that he competes and toughness at a high end.

“So, I think the cool part for me is seeing it come together. It started with the trigger from the cross-checker telling me to get my eye on him. It went from there down to Milo and then it went to the zoom call, and then it was the whole group getting together saying we got to get this guy. Where’s he probably going to go league value and at what point do we have to pull the trigger.”

This seems to be the blueprint for uncovering day three gems. Players like Maxx Crosby (4th round), Foster Moreau (4th round), Hunter Renfrow (5th round), and Hobbs (5th round). It’s the primary reason Mayock is here. Teams are built through the draft and primarily finding talent up and down the draft, not just in the first couple rounds.

Hobbs in particular looks like a real find. He had practically won the starting nickel corner job by the end of camp and locked it down in the second preseason game when he earned a game ball. They sat him for the final preseason game while several other rookies drafted ahead of him still played in the game.

Raiders GM Mike Mayock returns after time away following positive COVID test

Raiders GM Mike Mayock returns after time away following positive COVID test

There was a familiar face on the Raiders practice field today. It was GM Mike Mayock, who, unlike some GMs in the league. likes to get out on the field with the players and mix it up.

The long time NFL Draft guru wasn’t able to even be in the building, let alone on the field with his players for the past week because he tested positive for COVID.

The initial report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Mayock noted that “at his age, he is grateful he was vaccinated, knowing this could have been worse” and that he is feeling “very good.”

Mayock still kept in contact with head coach Jon Gruden over Zoom on a daily basis.

“God bless Mike,” said Gruden last week. “When I talked to him, he seems to be doing pretty good. We sure miss him around here, his enthusiasm and his vibe is contagious in the building.”

Currently the Raiders have just one player on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Kicker Daniel Carlson was placed on the list a week ago.

[lawrence-newsletter]