The 2021 season is obviously a big one for the Las Vegas Raiders. The team is entering the fourth year of Jon Gruden’s tenure and the team has reached the playoffs just once since 2003. If they fail to make the tournament again, things could get real interesting for everyone involved.
So who is on the hot seat for the Raiders entering the year? In a recent article by Bleacher Report, they named the person who is on the hot seat for every team this season.
For the Raiders, it’s none other than general manager Mike Mayock. Here is a snippet of what the site had to say about Mayock entering the 2021 season:
“The team made five first-round draft picks in his first two offseasons. Clelin Ferrell, Josh Jacobs, Johnathan Abram, Henry Ruggs III and Damon Arnette became the selections. It’s still early, but the return, except Jacobs, hasn’t been promising.
Then, Mayock and Co. chose Alex Leatherwood with this year’s 17th overall pick. Leatherwood is a solid prospect coming out of college football’s best program as the reigning Outland Trophy winner. But his selection has been viewed as a bit of a reach, which is an ongoing stigma of Mayock’s first-round picks.”
While Mayock certainly gets the blame for some of their first-round failures, it’s unclear who actually had the final say when it comes to these picks. The belief is that Gruden actually picked many of these players and it’s important to remember that it was him who hired Mayock, not the other way around.
The Raiders certainly could move on from Mayock if the 2021 season doesn’t go as planned. But it seems unfair to put all of the blame just on him. But that’s the way the NFL works. And Mayock might need his team to make the playoffs for him to have a job next year.
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