Questioning the validity of Dave Ziegler as Raiders GM in the early going
Questioning the validity of Dave Ziegler as Raiders GM in the early going
The disaster that was free agency – Dave Ziegler’s first free agency period in Las Vegas and the many mistakes that followed (2/2)
While 25 new faces were added this offseason, Ziegler and his team thought it best to retain an additional four players, totaling 29 [re-]signings this offseason – not including extensions given to non-FA’s. Among these 29 contracts stood a mere three multi-year deals, which leads us to the next stop on Ziegler’s free agency mistake train.
His second mistake: Giving multi-year contracts to the wrong players.
As mentioned above, only three of the 29 total contracts handed out to free agents this offseason were multi-year contracts. The players who scored these deals were DT Bilal Nichols, RB Brandon Bolden, and edge rusher Chandler Jones.
At this point in the season, it’s hard to name three players brought in during free agency that deserve multi-year contracts less.
Nichols was brought in to be the anchor up front on the defensive line. So far, this experiment has been nothing short of a disappointment.
Through eight games, Nichols has recorded 16 combined tackles. These tackles consist of a single tackle behind the line of scrimmage and 11 assisted takedowns. The former Bear has a goose egg in the sack column, although he has hit opposing quarterbacks on six occasions.
When attacking the quarterback, Nichols has yet to record a sack. When defending the run, the 26-year-old has a run defense grade of 47.6.
Brandon Bolden is the next man up with a lowly rushing grade of 48.7. The former Patriot has logged 34 rushing yards on eight attempts (4.3 YPC) with zero broken tackles. Bolden is averaging .5 yards per carry after contact; a number 75% less than Zamir White, who trails Josh Jacobs himself by 1.3 yards per carry.
The silver lining here is Bolden has caught all eight of the throws his way, with one going for six. On the other hand, it’s easy to discredit this ‘silver lining’ upon realizing they’ve all been check downs.
Finally, there’s Chandler Jones, who has .5 sacks this season.
If there’s one good thing about Chandler Jones in silver and black, he’s made some fine plays against the run. As good as Ngakoue was as a Raider, that’s something even he couldn’t say.
That’s the extent of the good, though.
It’s not just that [Chandler] Jones isn’t finishing plays, it’s that he isn’t starting them either. After nine weeks, Jones currently ranks 57th in pressures among edge rushers this season. Jones has been such a disappointment that he ranks second on the list of worst signings this offseason via OvertheCap.
What was once a memorable offseason for the right reasons is quickly turning into one Raider Nation is hoping to forget. Perhaps this is just another sign that Ziegler’s validity as the Raiders’ general manager should be questioned.
Now, it would be wrong of me to ignore the little good that came out of this year’s free agency. Yes, there is good; after all, it’s virtually impossible to strike out 29-of-29 times in one single sitting.
While nearly every signing hasn’t worked out as the team hoped, there’s one pair of players who deserve a flower or two. Here’s to acknowledging the great football being played by Duron Harmon and Mack Hollins.