Apparently, Jon Gruden’s opinion on the Las Vegas Raiders still carries weight with some people.
Well, buckle up, Raider Nation. Gruden has spoken from the mountaintop of a Barstool green room, and the verdict is fourth place. Groundbreaking stuff from a man who once got a full-time job coaching this exact team and still left it worse than he found it.
Let’s be fair, though. Gruden’s not wrong, which is somehow more annoying than if he were. Denver’s got continuity; Sean Payton’s got Bo Nix looking like an actual quarterback, and now they’re bolting on Jaylen Waddle like a turbocharger on a car that already has a NASCAR engine under the hood. The Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs rounding out the top three feels less like a prediction and more like someone read last year’s standings off a napkin. Riveting analysis, Chucky.
Meanwhile, the Raiders get the participation trophy. They’re supposed to “improve” without actually climbing the division ladder, kind of like running faster on a treadmill. Rebuilding years are the NFL’s version of telling your parents you’re “finding yourself.” Technically progress, results TBD.
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Is Jon Gruden technically right about the Raiders?
But honestly, the real drama isn’t Gruden’s mock draft of superlatives. It’s Aidan O’Connell, quietly sweating through a Vegas summer stuck in a three-way quarterback room that reads like a bad sitcom pilot. You’ve got the incumbent, the accomplished veteran, and the shiny rookie who cost a first overall pick. O’Connell is stuck playing “prove it” against a guy who ran a Super Bowl offense and a kid who hasn’t taken an NFL hit yet in his life. And yet somewhere in there is a genuinely interesting story: a quarterback who could easily start elsewhere, auditioning for his future in real time, in pads, in July, in front of scouts who almost certainly have his number saved.
So here’s the pitch. Gruden picks Denver, everyone nods along like he just revealed the meaning of life, and the actual suspense in Vegas has nothing to do with the standings. It’s whether O’Connell plays his way into a trade before the ink even dries on Kirk Cousins’ locker nameplate. Somehow that’s more compelling than anything happening in the AFC West race itself.
*Top Photo: Getty Images
Personally I do not think much of Jon Gruden! This team he seems to be criticizing is still recovering from his gross mismanagement.