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Rotoworld Ranks Reggie McKenzie as 12th Best GM in the NFL

By Jake Hamilton

Feb 2, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie speaks during the Microsoft future of football press conference at Moscone Center in advance of Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 2, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie speaks during the Microsoft future of football press conference at Moscone Center in advance of Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /
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Rotoworld put together a ranking for the GM’s in the NFL, and Reggie McKenzie is listed lower than what most might expect.

Rotoworld’s Pat Daugherty recently published an article that ranks all 32 General Manager’s in the NFL, including the reigning Executive of the Year, Reggie McKenzie of the Oakland Raiders.

McKenzie checks in at no. 12 on the list, moving up four spots from last year. Some of the notable GM’s ranked ahead of McKenzie included John Dorsey (Chiefs, no. 8), Davie Gettleman (Panthers, no. 7), Ted Thompson (Packers, no. 4) and Bill Belichick (Patriots, no. 1).

Here is what Dagherty had to say about McKenzie’s ranking:

"Reggie McKenzie’s rosters have produced just 30 wins in five years, but the trajectory is clear: Up. McKenzie almost didn’t survive his necessary teardown of Al Davis’ roster. His drafts were abysmal and his free agent signings even worse. Then Khalil Mack and Derek Carr happened. April 2014 forever changed the course of Raiders football, and reminded of the virtues of patience. I certainly didn’t have it, declaring McKenzie done multiple times. McKenzie turned his corner. Now he needs to get over the hump. 2016 could have been the year, but Carr’s broken ankle derailed the Raiders’ AFC West title aspirations and playoff hopes. This is also still a flawed roster. McKenzie has yet to find the right surrounding talent for Mack on defense. Jack Del Rio is an uninspiring fit as coach. His ceiling has been hard-capped through 11 NFL seasons. These are problems for McKenzie. What they are not is crises. McKenzie survived his. It’s onward and upward until further notice."

I believe this to be quite a fair assessment. Although McKenzie has found multiple franchise players in recent drafts in Derek Carr, Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper, he still only has one winning season under his belt. He has been the GM since 2012.

McKenzie has done a phenomenal job in bringing the Raiders back to relevancy. There have been ups and there have been downs.

But they’re back.

Taking a look at his first two drafts in 2012 and 2013, he was taking on an abysmal roster with limited draft picks and was dealt with an atrocious cap space situation. There are zero players currently on the roster from both of those drafts.

In 2012, his first draft as GM, he selected Tony Bergstrom, Miles Burris, Jack Crawford, Juron Criner, Christo Bilukidi and Nathan Stupar. He didn’t have a first or second round pick to work with.

In 2013, McKenzie selected D.J. Hayden, Menelik Watson, Sio Moore, Tyler Wilson, Nick Kasa, Latavius Murray, Mychal Rivera, Stacy McGee, Brice Butler and David Bass.

This draft was better. Murray, Rivera, Watson, McGee and even Hayden at points were all contributors to the 12-4 season this past year. But they have all also moved on to new teams.

Daugherty states in the article “These are problems for McKenzie. What they are not is crises”.

That is something I agree with. The roster is not perfect and there are holes, but that is common in NFL teams. It is quite difficult to put together a “complete” roster. It’s safe to say there are areas on every team that need improvement.

What McKenzie does next will help determine his and the Raiders legacy forever. How he deals with these situations is something to keep an eye on, as it will be a test to see if he can bring the Raiders to that next step — a Super Bowl championship.

Daugherty does a good job of giving credit to McKenzie on how well the 2014 draft went for them. Landing franchise players is hard enough these days, but Reggie was able to grab two in the same draft.

There is also a piece of the article that I did not exactly agree with. Daugherty states “Jack Del Rio is an uninspiring fit as a coach. His ceiling has been hard-capped through 11 NFL seasons”.

I think that is just unfair. Del Rio was hired in 2015 just after the Raiders went 3-13 the year before with Dennis Allen and Tony Sparano filling in as the interim coach. Del Rio’s first season saw an improvement to 7-9 and then a big leap to 12-4 in just his second season at the helm.

Even during his tenure as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars (2003-2011), he never had the cornerstone pieces like a Derek Carr or a Khalil Mack. Plus coaches, just like players, learn and adapt to the game. They get better.

Del Rio brought a certain class and mindset to this organization. One that they had been missing for a while. He brought the Raiders leadership and he has helped all the pieces mold together. I am looking forward to how JDR moves forward and continues to put them in position to win.

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Back to the article. I think No.12 overall for McKenzie is a solid evaluation at this point in time. I do also believe that he will keep moving up this list in given time.

As we head into the 2017 NFL draft coming up next week, let’s see if McKenzie can draft a few valuable players to help bring the Raiders to the promise land.

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