Las Vegas Raiders: The Rise and Fall of former head coach Jon Gruden
The final season in Oakland
Year 2 was actually a major jump, and the Raiders were going into the season with another broadcaster turned NFL personnel move with the hiring of Mike Mayock as general manager. The Raiders were entering the season also with three first-round picks from the trades of Mack and Cooper.
The hype train surrounding the Raiders was immense as they added All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown via trade, and also were featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks, a show that highlighted once again the entertaining personality of Gruden, even though it was clear his age was starting to show.
The Antonio Brown experiment would lead to failure though as he never appeared in a game for the Raiders after a camp that showcased bizarre behavior from the player and led to his eventual release, which he seemingly requested. Despite all of the drama and odd things going on in-house, the Raiders record improved in 2019, and at 7-9, it was a three-game jump over the previous season, just maybe Gruden was right about the patience thing.