(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
After Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis decided to bring in head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler, the storied franchise was headed on a path that led to disaster, with a lot of players seeing their NFL careers head in the wrong direction.
Along with veteran quarterback Derek Carr getting benched and ultimately released by the team last season, leading to him signing with the New Orleans Saints, McDaniels’ decision-making resulted in the team bringing in Jimmy Garoppolo to be the new starter under center.
That experiment didn’t work, as he really struggled while being a turnover machine as the Raiders limped through the beginning of the 2023 campaign.
Apparently, Ziegler had other ideas about the quarterback position heading into the 2023 NFL Draft with the No. 7 overall pick, as he thought C.J. Stroud out of Ohio State was a generational talent and a player the team should aggressively pursue in the draft by trading up.
It appears McDaniels wanted no part of that as he was convinced Garoppolo was the right man for the job and a player the team could get behind in 2023, according to Sports Illustrated via Dov Kleiman.
Report: Ex-#Raiders General Manager Dave Ziegler wanted to move up and draft C.J. Stroud because he believed he was a “Generational” talent, but now fired coach Josh McDaniels overruled him, via @SInow
McDaniels was apparently “Hellbent” on starting veteran Jimmy Garoppolo.… https://t.co/I0A58fv85U pic.twitter.com/eGzansLT0s
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 30, 2023
With Stroud looking like a generational talent as the undisputed leader of the Houston Texans, the Raiders once again missed an opportunity to bring in a player they could build around.
Even though there were three other top prospects in the draft at the quarterback position, with Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis getting a lot of buzz, Stroud has been the cream of the crop thus far, which must be painful for the now-unemployed Ziegler to see.
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