Six games into his $100m reign, Jon Gruden looks a disaster for the Raiders

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Gruden arrived in Oakland espousing all of the Grudenisms that made him in one instance entertaining, in another a caricature. He promised to Make Football Great Again, restoring the 1990s tough, physical style that eludes the self-entitled young pups these days. “I’m trying to throw the game back to 1998,” he told reporters in February, shortly after his appointment to the Raiders job.

Indeed, Gruden went on a media blitz prior to the start of the season. He wasn’t out of touch, he said. A decade away from coaching was nothing. If anything, his time away was an advantage, Gruden’s defenders would have you believe. He had spent all that free-time cycling through the league cherry-picking the best components from everyone else’s program. What could go wrong?

As it turns out, pretty much everything.

The Raiders have sunk to 1-5 this season, and are bottom of the AFC West. Gruden traded the team’s star, Khalil Mack, a future Hall of Fame edge-rusher at the peak of his athletic powers, in part because his owner didn’t have the cash on hand to put the guaranteed portion of any Mack extension into escrow (as is mandated by NFL rules). Gruden shipped the brilliant pass-rusher to Chicago … then grumbled about the difficulties of finding a brilliant pass-rusher.

The situation looks ever worse when you consider that there was a genuine debate not that long ago about which team had the most potential in the league: Jacksonville or Oakland. The Jaguars were deeper, but the Raiders had Mack and quarterback Derek Carr, two building blocks that would get any coach excited.

Six weeks into the 2018 season, all that hope has evaporated. Mack is gone and the Raiders must do their best without him. That leaves Carr, who has hit a worrying slump. Part of Gruden’s appeal was that he could elevate Carr’s game. In Carr’s first three seasons in the league, he tossed 81 touchdowns to 31 interceptions. He completed 60% of his throws, averaging 6.5 yards per attempt, both fine figures. He was even a fringe MVP candidate in 2016.

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