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ALAMEDA – Head Coach Jon Gruden has made it clear that his Raiders still have some way to go to stay competitive. He mentioned how recent disappointments in the draft class have hurt the front and depth of the team.
He traded Khalil Mack for some rough choices that will not help the year 2018, and some reports predispose him to send new candidates for subsequent choices.
We did not hear the word "R" so much dreaded. Rebuild.
Not that Gruden cares what the media thinks. He wants the locker room to believe that the Raiders are trying to win now and as many times as possible thereafter. It is more difficult after the decisions of the staff already taken. It will be more difficult with no less than 10 recruits who will contribute to the training of 53 players.
Whether they leave or not after the end of the week, this lineup needs to be fleshed out by the NFL draft and the younger selections of free agents. No matter how you want to call it, Gruden and the Raiders are playing a long game.
There are many reasons why the Raiders are 1-5, but here they are. If the start of the season had improved, the Raiders would have been better placed to continue racing with veterans on short-term contracts. Gruden insists, however, that the Raiders will not accelerate the use of young players if losses continue to accumulate.
"We will continue to try to experience young players, but most importantly we are facing our best players, just so you know," said Gruden. "We do not play just for beginners."
The Raiders play a lot of young players and a lot of old ones. The oldest NFL formation, having signed tons of veterans for short-term contracts, that is to say, it is necessary to repair holes in the list.
Reggie McKenzie did this in 2013 and 2014, trying to heal a list that takes years to get it right. He has managed to use smart bombs in recent years, adding Rodney Hudson, Kelechi Osemele and Michael Crabtree to enhance a young foundation built with the help of the project. It worked. The Raiders improved, but could not stand it.
Gruden entered, put her hand on the list and deemed it worthy of a radical reconstruction. It can improve with quality project choices and an appropriate allocation of the salary cap.
He obviously wanted to execute the grand plan by winning games, but that was not the case.
Now, it seems clear that the Raiders are building for the coming seasons, with no win to ease the process.
It's not easy for veterans who do not have a long-term contract yet. Careers in the NFL do not last and every moment has to be maximized. It's fair to say that many veterans of the Raiders lineup will not be here in 2020 when the team will land in Las Vegas. It's not fun to build a better future that you will not be part of.
Quarterback Derek Carr has already seen a rise. He went 3-13 then 7-9 then 12-4, and he would hate not to go back to base camp.
"It's my fifth year, you want it now," quarterback Derek Carr said. "You want everything now. I know our fans want it now. Our players, our team, our coaches want it now and believe me, we are trying to do it now. But we have to take this week off, look at what we can do to play better this week off. What can we do to win this match, and that is where our state of mind must be. "
This is where the cloakroom character, who is employed to win the next football game, will stay. This comes against Indianapolis after a week off.
"I'm trying to keep things in perspective and focus on today," said Rodney Hudson Center. "My goal is to learn from this game and try to win the following. "
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