Oakland Raiders’ Coordinators Dictating Personnel

The Oakland Raiders have made some good hirings, draft picks and acquisition of late. But they also made some mistakes, the coordinators being two of them. And one of those mistakes lead to the big mistake the Raiders made today.

When you look at every move the Oakland Raiders make, you shouldn’t always blame GM Reggie McKenzie for it. The offensive and defensive coordinators have a lot of pull when it comes to personnel. The GM tries to bring in players that fit the scheme.

And since the coordinators are the ones behind the schemes, they have a lot to do with personnel. Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. brought Malcolm Smith and Bruce Irvin from the Seattle Seahawks. And we’re still waiting to see the returns on that.

Monday morning, the Raiders cut Marcel Reece a move that smells like Bill Musgrave. Musgrave has a smash-mouth style of offense, one that doesn’t fit the talents of Reece. Reece is more of a matchup nightmare, going deep on linebackers.

But Musgrave fell in love with Jamize Olawale, who’s a better blocker and can run a little and catch. For years, Reece was the only Raider worth the price of admission so I hate to see him go. It wouldn’t surprise me if Reece won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots.

Bill Belichick is the kind of head coach that knows how use players like Reece. But you could see from the day Musgrave became the Raiders’ offensive coordinator, he had not use for him. He actually started phasing him out of the offense last year.

The Raiders are No. 2 in the NFL in offense so you can’t fault Musgrave for who he uses. I just think Reece is still the kind of player the Raiders could get something for. The Raiders need to take a lot of the play out of defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr.’s hands.

Things aren’t working out there so Del Rio, a defensive guy himself, needs to get more involved.