Las Vegas Raiders general manager Mike Mayock finds himself in an impossible situation ahead of the 2021–22 offseason.
Before joining the Silver and Black, Mayock was known as a “draft guru,” a man who knew how to make draft picks. Pairing him with Jon Gruden seemed like a good idea initially, though it was obvious that Gruden had the final say. Since Mayock’s arrival, the Raiders have operated in a grayish area. What exactly did the general manager have say in? Did Gruden control the top picks while Mayock controlled the mid and later rounds of the draft? Either way, Mayock was recently ranked near the bottom of NFL general managers by The Athletic.
Mayock Hasn’t Gotten A Fair Shot
Mayock inherited a team whose biggest claim to fame under Gruden, as far as the draft, had been Kolton Miller’s selection. At the same time, he fell heir to Derek Carr, one of the most accurate and precise quarterbacks in the NFL. The largest issue with the Raiders was the defense, luckily, Mayock also inherited a plethora of picks. Again though, we don’t know exactly which ones he presided over.
Fast forward to 2021, following Gruden’s disgrace and resignation, Mayock is receiving blame for the current administration’s shortcomings. No, it’s not fair, mostly because Mayock didn’t have 100 percent control of the team’s draft picks. By the same token, Gruden’s gone and there’s no one else left to shoulder the blame. Fact is, the team missed on so many picks, most notably, selecting Clelin Ferrell with the fourth overall pick. Give credit where it’s due though, Mayock did admit that another terrible draft choice, Damon Arnette, was chosen despite concerns. Accountability has to count for something, specially when you consider we didn’t see much of that with Gruden.
Playoffs?
As far as what Mike Sando had to say in his rankings, he kept it short and sweet regarding Mayock.
“Jon Gruden drove the Raiders’ personnel moves until his recent resignation. There could be much change in Las Vegas following the season.”
Raiders beat writer Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal also weighed in on Mayock the other day. He, too, didn’t sound too optimistic.
“…the future of Mayock is likely tied into what happens during the next six games. The sense is, the Raiders are going to let things play out before deciding what direction to take about their football staff. Mayock hasn’t been perfect on his roster-building decisions, but he has done a good job building a competitive team and one that is in the thick of the AFC playoff hunt.”
Essentially, if the Raiders make the playoffs, he’ll likely get a shot at picking the next head coach. By doing so, he would be in charge of deciding the direction that the Raiders head in for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately for Mayock, the playoffs are quickly alluding the Silver and Black following Sunday’s loss to the Washington Football Team. A hard reset might be in store for the Raiders at the current rate the team is going.
[pickup_prop id=”16690″]
*Top Photo: Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group