The absence of QB1 as the Las Vegas Raiders embarked on OTAs was, without question, attention-grabbing. Jimmy Garoppolo, after all, was signed to be the new lead man at the game’s all-important quarterback position, so where was he?
Raiders head honcho Josh McDaniels shared little, but then The Athletic dropped the bombshell that Garoppolo not only had surgery to fix his bum foot, but the Raiders made the signal caller sign a waiver that nixes the deal and has no financial repercussions for the Silver and Black if certain parameters aren’t met.
And, unsurprisingly, the mockery arrived as quickly as the news did. The jokes surely wrote themselves, didn’t they?
“Raiders, Jimmy Garoppolo union gets off on the wrong foot” was one of many headlines spewed across the media spectrum. Doom and gloom, or more fittingly, “Silver and Bleak,” filled the Twitter Verse as social media went aflame over the Raiders’ Jimmy G debacle.
What can you expect from a moribund franchise prone to blunders? After all, this was a team that stuck with a p******** quarterback for nine seasons. So stumbling out of the gate with their new QB1 is just the Raiders’ modus operandi at this point.
It will be water under the bridge for the Raiders and Jimmy Garoppolo
That all said, I am still of the opinion that this whole debacle will be water under the bridge.
“I have no anxiety. You guys may have anxiety,” McDaniels said during a post-OTA media session earlier this month regarding Garoppolo. “I have no anxiety.”
While I have reservations about Joshy Poo’s tenure, I’m in the same boat as the Raiders’ boss man.
By all accounts, Garoppolo is progressing well and will be ready for the upcoming season. While no definitive timetable is set for his on-field debut this offseason (McDaniels noted it may be until training camp in mid-July), I’m not bullish on the “lost season” notion that proliferated late last month.
And I’ll tell you why:
- There’s ample time for Garoppolo to get back into the fray and acclimate to McDaniels’ ways.
- Expectations for the Raiders were tempered long before general manager Dave Ziegler inked Garoppolo to a deal.
Here we are nearing the tail end of June, when OTA and minicamp notes are all the rage. Hanging on every word of updates—highlights and lowlights from performances at practices—and reading into every social media post made by players—franchise-tagged running back Josh Jacobs’ in particular—this is the time of year where news grinds to a trickle, and like the severely parched, we desperately seek that droplet of information like it’s life-sustaining water. Hence, I’m of the mindset of much ado about nothing.
The Garoppolo news wasn’t ideal…
Now, don’t get me wrong. The Garoppolo news wasn’t ideal. And a debacle it certainly smells of. But the Raiders decided their new quarterback needed to go under the knife to fix a foot injury he sustained in his final year as a San Francisco 49ers player—an ailment that the team deemed didn’t require surgery. After all, as a player, you trust your squad’s medical team. I mean, just ask Trent Brown about the debacle he suffered getting a shot from Raiders medical personnel.
#Raiders OT Trent Brown was hospitalized today after a mishap with his pre-game IV that caused air to enter his bloodstream and required immediate medical attention, per me and @TomPelissero. Brown will stay overnight for further tests.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 1, 2020
Garoppolo is steeped in the ways of a coach who is my way or the highway-type — first with McDaniels (New England Patriots), then with Kyle Shanahan (49ers), and now he’s back with Joshy Poo. That gives the veteran quarterback the proper mindset as he reunites with McDaniels as the pair try to steer the Silver and Black offense to prominence.
Jimmy Garoppolo, by nature, is a steward and game manager by trade…
But that journey is likely to be arduous with rough seas—getting back to expectations tempered. Garoppolo, by nature, is a steward and game manager by trade. And while that may be ideal for McDaniels, things will get very intriguing this season when the absence of the long bomb becomes more and more apparent. Garoppolo feasts on short and intermediate throws, while the Al Davis-preferred deep bombs aren’t part of his repertoire. It’s not that Garoppolo doesn’t have the arm strength; it’s his accuracy on those long passes that isn’t up to snuff.
I’m not keen on McDaniels and Garoppolo adjusting to the defense’s muddying the waters on short and intermediate passes, knowing going deep isn’t the quarterback’s forte. And this with or without Jacobs in the offense, too.
Now, you’re welcome to disagree with my opinion. The discussion about Garoppolo will be plentiful this coming season. I’m of the notion that the Raiders new quarterback is going to be back in action sometime in training camp, so my honest opinion of the debacle is one of water under the bridge—inconsequential, if you will (please tell me you read that in Dusty Rhodes voice).
“I’m really excited he is here,” McDaniels said. “I feel very good because I have information that tells me we’re going to be fine. Nothing has happened that will change that.”
Here’s what will be the most surprising change with Garoppolo: If he plays a full season with Las Vegas. He only did that once in six seasons with San Francisco.
And that’s the key caveat…
I’m not obtuse in admitting Las Vegas’ quarterback depth is less-than-ideal. Without Garappolo taking snaps, QB1 has been Brian Hoyer (I really wish the veteran went by his given first name, Axel, as Axel Hoyer most definitely sounds like a Raider), with 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell and 2022 undrafted free agent Chase Garber filling out the QB room. That’s a 37-year-old super vet leading the charge, with two youngsters behind him.
"I know what he's capable of, he's just gotta stay on the field…"@Shaquemgriffin on the Raiders with a full season of Jimmy Garoppolo pic.twitter.com/Avq322jHK3
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) June 13, 2023
The lack of financial ramifications if Garoppolo doesn’t meet all the conditions of the addendum to the contract he has with the Raiders is a plus; it gives the team security. The quarterback isn’t a paragon of health, after all. But unless O’Connell accelerates his assimilation to the Raiders brand of football, it’s Hoyer.
Hence, I didn’t raise an eyebrow with this whole Jimmy G situation. He’s brittle. The Raiders knew this. And they’ll have to lie in the bed they made—for better or worse.
*Top Photo: Raiders Official Website
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Stuck with a P******* quarterback for 9 years? What kind of Bull S*** is this? I take extreme offense at your comment and it has ZERO place in professional journalism. Id call you a P**** plain and simple.
Thanks for reading! Have a blessed day.
You calling DC a p***y just shows how little you know. That was a quarterback that led the Raiders in EVERY offensive category BUT interceptions! His last year was an abomination, we all must agree. But the current coaches weren’t able to work with a top 10 quarterback? I thought theses coaches were geniuses? They couldn’t figure out how to make this work so they let him go for NOTHING? Their “Plan B” for quarterback is worse! Their plan for the defense was also horrendous. If they at least had a top 20 defense, they would’ve won about four more games. The defense was at the bottom of every category but they still let their best defender walk away. They are ruining this storied and beloved franchise!
Thanks for reading! Have a blessed day.
The Raiders DNA is to beat teams they shouldn’t and to loose games they should win. The front office and ownership likes to bet on losers, Always have. Not “Misfits” (we won the cup!) but people with problems. Because they see themselves in these players…DC in the big easy will be in the playoffs while we are renting out the Death Star to Taylor Swift.
Interesting read. Fair call on Carr, and for your haters…….tell them to look at the facts about Carr.
Lots of excuses about the team and coaches but the beautiful thing about stats over time is they tell a story. Carr is historically bad in the most important categories, and the ones he isn’t are categories that are meaningless when compared to his “peers”.
First, I love Carr as a person. love love love him. He was my guy, until I started going to games (6) in 2021.. So very bad.
Here are the facts.
I will sprinkle in his career, last season and this year…
Carr turned over the ball nine times in the 4th/OT last season, the most of any QB. He is 16 games under .500 in his career.
Carr ranks 23rd in red zone passer rating of 26 QBs (250 RZ att min) over his career (89.9). Only Blake Bortles, Eli Manning and Ryan Fitzpatrick are worst.
Don’t judge me, but I think Davis and Gruden had a superbowl team two years ago, and Carr stood in the way, and behold rhe Bengals arrived.
Against the Bengals, he went 4-17 in the red zone. That’s the 2nd-most red zone incompletions in a game over the last 20 seasons, regular season or playoffs.
Turnovers have been a career-long issue for Carr. He leads the NFL in fumbles since he entered the NFL in 2014. In the Raiders’ final 11 games last season, Carr had 16 turnovers and accounted for just 12 touchdowns. There has never been a good defense in the NFL when the QB turns the ball over.
I don’t know what p******** is but I am pretty sure it is Carr. Watch what happens in NO….not sure when the excuse from his brother will come, but my guess is they will happen fast.
Thanks for reading and for the informed response; it’s much better than what we normally get—it’s usually emotional with little to no facts. As you said, “cry babies.”