In 2020, the Raiders planned to go to the playoffs. Instead, it was a season full of lessons.
This includes learning how to run a franchise during a pandemic, as every NFL team has had to do – and still has to do – because, hopefully, COVID-19 continues to dissipate and vaccinations catch on.
On Wednesday, Raiders CEO Mike Mayock expressed regret over his philosophy project in 2020, when the pandemic began to grip society. He mentioned to reporters the general frustration of last year and how he is better prepared this time.
Part of Mayock’s anxiety revolved around Lynn Bowden Jr., one of three teams in the third round a year ago. The Raiders tried to turn the university defender and wide receiver into a backback, a bold perspective in any campaign and a doomed idea during a pandemic, as Mayock explains.
“If you look back at that and think about it, should you choose guys who were probably a projection from one position to another?” Mayock said. “You know, we participated in the third round and we ended up trading it in Miami before the start of the seasons. He was a recipient of college slots and a defender and we tried to move him back in a pandemic year. And to be honest, I don’t think it was right for the baby. We don’t even see him face to face live until the training camp in July “.
The process was not fair for Bowden and not very beneficial for the Raiders, as it turned out.
There were other possible problems around Bowden. Reports suggested that the Kentucky product enjoyed the Las Vegas lifestyle too much and was potentially a bad influence on WR Henry Ruggs III, the first-round team pick.
Mayock insisted that he change Bowden for field reasons. He sent Bowden to the Dolphins along with a sixth-round pick and received a fourth-round pick in return.
So what did Mayock learn? Well, a lot. He highlighted additional issues arising from the pandemic, such as this year’s medical assessments, which he says will be completed late and will not be as “finished” as he would like and the lack of live conversations in the person.
But its baseline in terms of the project seems to be this: get what you can out of the process, rather than make it more complicated than it already is, especially during a pandemic.
“Basically, what I’m saying is that in a COVID year, you have to be agile and learn lessons,” Mayock said. “And you have to try to use the project for everything you can.”
Mayock has to infuse the list with talent, especially in defense, in a hurry and it will not be easy, because he has fewer draft choices and less room for salary to work with than before. In his third draft with Las Vegas, the pressure is, pandemic or not, for his team to reach the playoffs in 2021 and any lesson learned should help.