Reggie McKenzie is Building the Oakland Raiders

Jun 11, 2013; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie (left), former players George Atkinson and Willie Brown and owner Mark Davis (right) at minicamp at the Raiders Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Inner Al Davis

McKenzie allowed Allen to bring in his own coaching staff but channeled his inner Al Davis after the first year. Instead of watching offensive coordinator Greg Knapp continue to destroy the offense, he fired him. Then he had Allen, who was trying to keep Knapp, look for a coordinator with a power-blocking scheme and in comes Greg Olson.

Now, Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew have a scheme and a offensive line they can thrive under. That’s because McKenzie brought in some big, nasty road-graders to go with that power-blocking scheme. McKenzie decided to go with what his vision of a good football team was instead of Allen’s which probably wasn’t established yet.

When building his team, the highest priority for McKenzie is toughness and that starts on the line of scrimmage. That’s why he brought in some guys on the defensive side of the ball that are nasty and want to make the quarterback go down hard. For the last few years, the Raiders have had all kinds of fast skill position players with without the ability to control the line of scrimmage.