The Las Vegas Raiders failed to acquire their franchise quarterback. Instead, they drafted tight end Brock Bowers in the first round and obtained incredible value.
While they didn't address the biggest need, they did address other needs and walked away with two of the best overall football players in the entire draft. Tom Telesco had an amazing draft as his first one as the Raiders general manager.
The Raiders didn't need a tight end, as they drafted Michael Mayer very high just a season ago, but why not grab another one to have two of the best young talents in the league? The Raiders figured that if they cannot get a quarterback, why not try to improve everything else around the quarterback to make life easier for Aidan O'Connell or Gardner Minshew - whoever it may be?
They also used that strategy after the draft, when they signed another weapon for the two quarterbacks.
According to Raiders PR, the team signed unrestricted free agent wide receiver Jalen Guyton on Monday, who was formerly on the Los Angeles Chargers under Telesco.
Guyton previously met with the Raiders in the offseason and is now being signed. Guyton had 500 receiving yards in 2020 and 400 the year after as a guy who was sometimes the third or fourth option on the Chargers. Last offseason, the Raiders signed former Chargers player DeAndre Carter. While that was a different regime, the same strategy is taking place—get as many weapons around the quarterbacks as possible to try and minimize the mistakes at the position.
Let's hope it works.
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