JBB Staff Roundtable: Oakland Raiders 2016 Season
Keeping Ken Norton Jr. and letting Bill Musgrave walk. Which decisions do you agree/disagree with, and why?
Brazy
I thought the offense seemed timid, predictable and not very creative. Same with the defense. No doubt, there is room for improvements, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I trust Jack to know if Bill was able to take them to where they wanted to be.
I also, like the homie Blackhanside, am now putting this success of the defense squarely on the shoulders of Del Rio. By keeping Norton Jr., he acknowledges the D’s output is his doing. So, I’m okay keeping Ken.
Daniel Carrigy
I only agree with letting Bill Musgrave walk because of the in-house promotion of Todd Downing. Musgrave’s departure is more of a reflection of the organization’s faith in Downing, than it is an indictment of Musgrave. The offense under Downing will be tailor made for Derek Carr and that’s incredibly exciting.
The defense annoys the heck out of me. But one moment earlier this year makes me want to give Norton a chance with a unit that has Aldon Smith back, a healthy MEJ and hopefully a few young early round picks. Week 1 against the Saints, he benched Sean Smith for letting Cooks burn him for a 90-yard touchdown. Smith was a prize of free agency on defense for us. To me, that showed Norton can make tough decisions, that his defense is a meritocracy and that he is aware of its shortcomings. One more chance for the first six games of 2017, I say.
Evan Ball
I do think that Norton got too much flack this season for two reasons. The first is that the Oakland defense had a high personnel turnover rate from a year ago, especially in key roles. Specifically, I think people are underestimating the importance of Charles Woodson’s presence on the field.
Woodson was a coach on the field and the backbone of not just the secondary, but the entire defense. He consistently led or ranked at the top of the defense in tackles, was responsible for a huge chunk of their interceptions, and was a field general who made sure everyone else was in the right place.
With Woodson gone, the highest ranking member in the Oakland starting secondary for most of the season was David Amerson — a player signed halfway through the season. Much of the leadership role shifted to Khalil Mack with help from Bruce Irvin, but it’s hard for them to make sure everyone is in place behind them at edge rushers.
Secondly, let’s not forget that Del Rio is a defensive guy and had his fingerprints all over the defense. Given those facts, I’m cool with Norton staying at least another year as they try to get the defense working better together as a unit with some experience playing together.
On Musgrave: This truly came out of nowhere. I haven’t always been Musgrave’s biggest fan, but he largely delivered this year. Gone were the days of dink, dink, screen, punt. Musgrave’s offense was MUCH more aggressive. Attacking all areas of the field, mixing up the run game when necessary, and forcing opposing secondaries to respect the deep ball in the middle of the field as much as the sidelines.
Well, let me backtrack for a second. The offense was like that at times, most often in the opening and closing of the game. The middle of games was largely uncreative, though time-proven, standard scheme work. Getting rid of him was likely a call for more creativity in the offense, but the offense was mostly not the problem this season. This one left me scratching my head for sure.
Gagan Aujla
Keeping Ken Norton Jr. I disagreed with. His tenure as DC has been anemic and he really had no excuse this year considering the Raiders invested HEAVILY on that side of the ball.
This defense took a step back as opposed to moving forward.
Justin Smith
The rationale behind letting Musgrave walk, now that Todd Downing has been promoted, is sound. I agree with that decision. JDR has been with the man twice — he knows when things aren’t working. Musgrave did Connor Cook no favors in the Wild Card game and too often tried to get cute and go counter to what was working to try and confuse the defense.
Carr and Downing have a symbiotic relationship and Carr credits Downing heavily for his rapid development as a QB. He was a hot commodity this offseason and JDR rightfully kept him in house by making him happy. Though the Raiders had an explosive offense, Musgrave never endeared himself to Raider Nation and was routinely criticized for a conservative game plan. Some of the deep passes Carr hit this season were his own checks at the line, overriding more conservative calls. This wasn’t really a surprise.
Honestly, neither was the return of KNJ to me despite the defensive struggles. The reason is that the players absolutely love the man and will run through a wall for him. They are stand-up guys on D, Mack, Irvin and the boys. They never criticize the scheme or coaching. They always take accountability for their own play.
This defense does have some good things to it — leading the NFL in turnover margin is a pretty important stat. However, the defense needs to be less boom or bust, either giving up chunk plays or taking the ball away. Consistency is key, but here’s something to consider: prior to Carr being injured, the Raiders defense had been absolutely stifling in the second half during the previous four games.
Carr’s injury clearly rattled the entire team and the defense greatly regressed, but there was some serious progress being made before that toward a shut-down D. I think that had to be in JDR’s mind when making this decision, as well as the players love for KNJ.
Maliik Obee
I understand continuity, and I’m not in the locker room to get an assessment of player’s sentiments towards KNJ. But, after the best season since 2002, expectations are high. There is no room to regress, especially with everything going on off the field. I just don’t see how keeping KNJ at defensive coordinator works.
Musgrave was bound to leave eventually, even if we won a Super Bowl. It’s a business, and Musgrave has built his name up through improving this offense. If Oakland was starting from scratch, I’d be a lot more concerned, but I think Todd Downing will do a great job.
Mario Tovar
Letting Musgrave go was a mistake just because he tailored the offense for Carr, giving him freedom right from the start, and yes, his play calling was conservative but never did I feel did Musgrave “cost” us a game. Connor Cook hadn’t practiced with the first team all season — what did people expect?
As far as Norton, that’s a double-edge sword. His schemes and play-calling were not the best but I think many people overstated the talent on the defense, and I agree with that. Inside linebacker, defensive line, and defensive backs were glaring weaknesses, and teams exploited those groups all season long.
Wade Phillips? Man, that would’ve been nice.
Nick Hjeltness
Musgrave wasn’t nearly as bad as some people want you to think. The Raiders had a top 6 offense that was dynamic, effective and efficient. People just freak out over three and outs and screen plays, where the Raiders are actually middle of the pack in terms of how often both those occur.
And if the Raiders don’t throw a bomb down field every other play like people do when they are playing Madden on rookie difficulty, they get upset and complain about conservativeness. But if you really think the Raiders offense dink and dunked their way to 373 yards of total offense and 26 points per game, we weren’t watching the same games.
As for Norton — he continuously misused players and does next to nothing from an adjustments standpoint. The problems with the defense go far beyond the secondary — where Marcus Robertson took the fall. What about the team being dead last in sacks?
In my mind, deciding to keep Norton further puts accountability on the shoulders of Del Rio.
Robert Pfeifer
Oakland had a top 7 offense in yards and points scored and saw their third-year QB come this close to winning an MVP. But their offense too frequently relied on Carr’s ability to make difficult throws (behind an elite offensive line) to one of only four pass-catching duos to each go over the 1,000-yard receiving mark.
The rushing offense was elite thanks to a great push up front, but 49.8% of their production was gained by rookies (credit to Reggie McKenzie) and Latavius Murray only averaged 4.0 YPC, which ranked in the bottom-third of the league (23rd). Oakland averaged 10 PPG in the two games after Carr broke his leg. Letting Musgrave walk was the correct decision.
Oakland added several prized free agents to multiple levels of the defense this offseason and spent their first three draft picks on that side of the ball. Several pre-season prognosticators had them projected as a top 10 defense for the 2016 season. They were historically bad to begin the year and still finished with a defense ranked in the bottom-half of the league. KNJ needs to be fired.
RYNE
The full extent of my opinions on this matter are on record here, so I’ll be brief. On offense, we want better situational playcalling — being conservative reduces mistakes, but it also leaves opportunities on the board. I trust in Del Rio’s trust in Derek Carr and Todd Downing to be smarter and more aggressive while still managing to take care of the football. So Musgrave can kick rocks.
On defense, we need better talent at key positions (*cough* inside linebacker *cough*) — whether it’s KNJ’s defense or JDR’s defense, it starts and ends with the linebacker position. I expect Reggie McKenzie, one way or another, to finally invest some legitimate stock in the position (either via free agency or a high draft pick. So I’m fine giving Norton (who’s still learning on his own merit) another shot to get it right.
Segun Giwa
I don’t mind Musgrave being out because 1) I felt his offense was too conservative and 2) I trust the decision making of Reggie McKenzie and the front office. If they believe Downing can take Carr and this offense to the next level, so do I.
Seth Murphy
I think the opposite of what happened is what should have happened. Norton’s defense was awful. It wasn’t just about talent. There was some serious scheme issues and more than anything, discipline issues. Maybe with better talent it’ll improve.
As far as Musgrave goes, he designed some great plays, playing off past success and tendency, making use of the talent, etc. It was a dynamic, versatile offense and I wish he stayed, but the team apparently valued Downing more than Musgrave. I’m not in the facility everyday and I’ve never met Musgrave or Downing so I’m trusting in the staff.
Tyler Dickson
Since the Raiders are keeping Downing, I’m okay with Musgrave being let go.
Norton Jr. being kept was a let down, though. The scheme was to blame for a lot of the big plays allowed by the defense.