Would Deshaun Watson be worth it?
Watson is a sure bet, as sure as they come. He has already gone on record to express his appreciation for coach Jon Gruden. The pair met when Gruden hosted his quarterback camp series on ESPN before accepting the Raiders position. Further, old tweets surfaced in which Watson commented on how much he loved the look of the Raiders’ uniforms.
The Raiders would still be more than capable of investing in their defense without their first-round selections. They would still have other picks, and would of course have free agency at their disposal. Moreover, it is not like the Raiders defense is a bare cupboard. There is certainly talent there. New coordinator Gus Bradley has an impressive resume of building up young defensive playmakers.
Can the Raiders witness the rise of the Legion of Boom 2.0?
Bradley was the architect of the Legion of Boom in Seattle and enjoyed success with the Chargers in coaching the likes of Joey Bosa, Derwin James, and Casey Hayward to Pro Bowl appearances. The Raiders’ young defensive backs, Trayvon Mullen, Damon Arnette, and Johnathan Abrams, should greatly benefit from Bradley’s tutelage. Consider as well, that a frequent criticism of previous coordinator Paul Guenther’s system was that it was too complex, especially for young players.
A heavy investment of draft capital (even sans first-rounders) and free agency, coupled with a successful coordinator, will no doubt improve the milquetoast Raiders defense. If nothing else, it would probably be more difficult to make the unit worse. At the end of the day, two years without first-round picks to acquire one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL should be an easy decision to make.
[tps_title]Up Next: Al Davis would have done it[/tps_title]
Absolutely and categorically disagree with your rationale. And many Raider fans obsession with discussion regarding Receivers, Carr, and other Offensive options to the continued detriment of the defense is old hat and bordering on ridiculous.
Carr finished in the top ten this year in almost every statistical category. How about see how he performs with a solid line not continually beleaguered by injuries. By a formidable Defense that isn’t hamstrung by a bad Coordinator who can’t/won’t adapt systems to his players, and has had a weak almost non-existent at times back end for well nigh a decade.
Continually trading proven “character” players, e.g. Joseph, Mack, Murray, etc.so we can have more discussions about Receivers and other offensive weapons, when we can’t even coach up the talent we got in house? No Sir!
Maybe he would. But that doesn’t make it a good idea. Al made plenty of bonehead moves as a GM, especially later when it seemed that the NFL had passed him by.
So let’s look at this “deal”: In exchange for a QB that is a little bit better than your current QB, you double the amount of the salary cap allocated to the QB position, trade away your top draft picks for at least the next two seasons, give this 25 year old diva veto power over key hires for your franchise, and deal with his bitching and moaning when the team doesn’t win (because it won’t). Oh, and in four years he is free to leave for the highest bidder. Doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for success, does it?
Al made a Quarterback trade already. The Snake to Houston for Dan Pastrana ( not spelt right)
This is f****** stupid ! Our defense is the worst in the f****** league and you wanna send 2 1st rounders and a 2nd rounder ! Our defense is still gonna be f****** terrible! Wattson went 4-12 with a better defense than the raiders have . We aren’t going no where unless we bulk up that defense