At the height of last season's turmoil, it was debated whether or not former Coach Josh McDaniels had lost the locker room. The players insisted McDaniels had not lost the locker room, and other than their play on the field, there were no overly apparent signs that he had done so.
When asked, the players often gave the politically correct answer, saying they fully supported the coach. However, when requested by the National Football League Players Association, where they ranked everything from their training facility to their head coach, the Raiders players who were polled were brutally honest.
The NFLPA recently released each team's report card, which the players on each specific team anonymously give. There are not many ways to better understand the quality of a team's inner workings than this. With the ability to freely express themselves without fear of retaliation, the players did not hold back.
According to the NFLPA, "the players gave former head coach Josh McDaniels the lowest head coaching score in the league. Only 39% of players feel that Josh McDaniels was efficient with their time (32nd overall). He was also ranked least likely to listen to his locker room of any NFL head coach."
McDaniels' abysmal ranking by the players inside the Raiders locker room singlehandedly dropped what was otherwise a favorable overall ranking for the Raiders across the board. McDaniels' grades from his former player dropped the Raiders from one of the top five teams in the rankings to ninth.
"To provide some context for their dip in ranking from last year, if Josh McDaniels received an average score compared to the other head coaches in the league, the Raiders would have ranked in the top five overall in this year’s rankings."
While it may be true McDaniels didn't lose the locker room, being ranked last by his players in the annual report card given by players says pretty loud and clear what the players weren't willing to speak out loud.
The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the No. 13 overall pick.
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