Jon Gruden’s return to the Oakland Raiders is going to be the biggest move of the offseason. His mere presence brings chills to the lumbar regions of his AFC West competition, but the back to back division champions are fortifying their defense.
News broke of the Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins deal in a move that no one saw coming. In addition to trading for Smith who many believed was on the no touching list after a strong 2017 season, the Redskins re-upped him to the tune of 4yrs/$94M. More importantly, the Chiefs were “gifted” Kendall Fuller and the Washington Redskins third-round pick.
CB Kendall Fuller allowed a 55.0 passer rating when covering the slot in 2017. The LOWEST mark in the NFL this season!
(min. 150 snaps in slot coverage)
— PFF (@PFF) January 31, 2018
Fuller, according to Pro Football Focus finished the 2017 season with a 90.0 grade which was the second highest for slot corners in the entire league. He was a virtual vacuum in the middle of the field and is going to be a steal for Bob Sutton and the Chiefs defense.
The long and the short of all the football “mumbo jumbo” is someway somehow Chiefs GM Brett Veach managed to rope a team into trading for what will be a 34-year-old quarterback with a year remaining on his deal for a young premier coveted position. Smith’s 26 TD’s against five INT’s for 4,042 yards and 104.7 QB rating in 2017 were career bests, but let’s face it, like Gillette that’s the best that man can get.
Buy Low, Sell High! What every successful investor will ever tell you. With a young stallion chomping at the bit the timing was never going to be better for the Chiefs to move on from Smith.
Gruden was considered an offensive mastermind before he stepped away and was able to learn more about the game from “LITERALLY EVERY” football coach in America. Knee-jerk reaction, maybe or maybe not, but certainly what feels like the first response to the reality of how much better the Raiders got with “Chucky” coaching.