General Manager Mike Mayock of the Las Vegas Raiders has overseen the last three NFL Drafts, along with Coach Joh Gruden, and he is pleased with the players the Silver and Black have added there and in free agency.
However, Mayock understands what that means, not only to Raider Nation but to anyone who follows the NFL.
“We’ve assembled 53 players and we think we’re going to be a pretty good football team,” Mayock told the media after the Raiders made their final cuts. “We’re not hiding from expectations. I think Jon and I will both tell you that we feel like we need to be a playoff team this year, and I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.
“You guys are all going to put that in your headlines, and I understand it. That’s what the expectation is. We think we’ve done the infrastructure work necessary to put us in position, and we got to take care of business.”
Quarterback Derek Carr is one of only three players left from the 2017 Raiders, who were coached by Jack Del Rio, fired by owner Mark Davis after the season. General Manager Reggie McKenzie was fired a year later and replaced by Mayock.
There are only 10 Raiders remaining from that 2018 team, while 19 of the 23 players drafted by Mayock and Gruden in the last three years are still wearing Silver and Black.
“The first year I was here, I think I was excited because you bring a group of kids in and you’re kind of nervous about it,” Mayock recalled. “We started out 6-3 that year I think, or 6-4, and the kids played pretty well. We just didn’t play well going down the stretch.
“I was really excited headed into that season. The young guys played pretty well; it was fun to watch. Last year, I kind of had mixed emotions. I was very excited, but the lack of training camp (because of the Coronavirus pandemic), I’m not sure if people really understand it. All 32 teams deal with it, so I’m not complaining, please don’t take it that way. But it’s just a different developmental path for the young guys.
“Last year, for me, was little different. I was frustrated because I felt like in our system on both sides of the ball, it’s tough on young guys. Managing Covid-19 was hard. This year, back to kind of normal, and I’m fired up. It’s part of A, being back to normal and B, just more the accumulation of three years.”
Mayock spent nearly 20 years as a draft analyst for the NFL Network before Gruden convinced Davis to bring him aboard and it looked like the move was paying off last season with the players drafted in the previous two years when the Raiders started 6-3 before finishing with a disappointing 8-8 record to miss the playoffs.
However, Mayock remains excited about the players the Raiders have drafted.
“So, I’ve been here three years now and it’s kind of been fun for me to watch the evolution of both the draft picks and the college free agents, and what you’re trying to do with free agency,” Mayock said. “I think from a draft pick perspective, it’s kind of been fun, for year three, for me to kind of look back at 2019 and see who’s become leaders on this team.
“And to see some of those guys, like even on the third day of the 2019 draft, guys like Maxx Crosby, Foster Moreau, Hunter Renfrow. All three of them are leaders now, along with Cle (Ferrell), along with Josh (Jacobs). John (Abram) has been really good. Trayvon (Mullen) has had his moments. So, that class is kind of growing up and for me that’s fun. See them in year three, they’re growing into men now.
“Last year’s group took a little bit of a step up I think this year in camp with the two first-round picks. (Henry) Ruggs came in a little bit different guy. You can feel his speed more than last year. (Damon) Arnette, I like the way he’s approached this camp, and I think Casey Hayward has been a really steady influence on him. Bryan Edwards, everybody is excited about. John Simpson is playing his tail off. I think one of the cool stories of this camp is Amik (Robertson). Amik looks like the guy we saw back two years ago in college, both inside and outside.
“And then from this year’s group, Jimmy Morrissey goes to the practice squad but everybody else is on the team, and there’s been some pretty good stories there from top to bottom. So, that’s a long way to say that it’s like a jigsaw puzzle. It’s kind of cool to see some of these guys grow up. It was fun watching this year’s draft picks. I think they kind of are who we hoped they
would be, but we’ll have to see.”
Raider Nation, and the rest of the NFL, will start finding out on Sept. 13 against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football.
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