The Las Vegas Raiders are openly tanking for the #1 overall pick. In broad daylight.
The 1.01 matters a ton. There is a clear #1 QB, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. The Raiders and Jets will desperately want that pick. Even if you are the Giants and you do not need a QB (they don’t, Dart is a franchise QB), there will be a bidding war for the pick and you can get a KING’s RANSOM. So I do not want to hear about there being no real difference between picking 1 and 3, or between 1 and 5. There is a CR*P TON of difference; if the Giants (dare we think it) are able to get a credible GM/HC with a slew of picks, they can easily become contenders with Dart on his rookie contract. So this 1.01 pick is very real for any team that has the pick. Hell, for all I know, a new GM/HC wants Mendoza over Dart. I do not, but merely state this for further evidence that the Giants can benefit just as much as the Raiders or anyone else.
Jordan Raanan of ESPN noted that 3 of the Raiders players, Maxx Crosby, Jeremy Chinn and Brock Bowers, finished their game last week without incident. Crosby, the dominant EDGE pass rusher, is a 5x pro bowler and 3x 2nd team All Pro. He’s played every game this season, and one observer said that Crosby had his best game of the year this past week vs playoff-bound Houston. Similarly, Bowers, the star TE, has played the last 8 weeks. He was All Pro last year as a rookie and is a 2x Pro Bowler in 2 seasons. PFF grades him as the 6th best out of 76 NFL TEs.
Let’s follow this timeline. It starts this past Tuesday, with Crosby focused on winning on Sunday, uninterested in talk about the Raiders getting the #1 pick.
Q: Does it really irritate you when you hear talk about the #1 pick (vs the Giants) being on the line?
“Yah, I don’t give a sh*t about the pick, to be honest. I don’t play for that. My job is to be the best defensive end in the world. That is what I focus on every day… My job is to be the best in the world at what I do, and that is wrecking the game.”
– Maxx Crosby, Tuesday December 23 media session
On Wednesday December 24th, the Raiders announced that two of their best players, Brock Bowers and Jeremy Chinn would be shut down the rest of the season and placed on season-ending IR. And then, Friday…
“Maxx Crosby won’t play this Sunday, and he’s not that thrilled about it. The Raiders star wanted to stay on the field.”
– NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, Friday December 26
But this is where is gets even clearer. It may be semantics, but understand the sources. First off, Rapoport works for NFL Network, which essentially means he works for the NFL. That he would report Crosby’s color (“not that thrilled”) is already eye-opening. Then we get this…
“Scoopage: Raiders told Maxx Crosby they want to shut him down last two games. Crosby, who has played with injuries for much of the year, vehemently disagreed and has left the building @nflonfox has learned. This could lead to questions on his future in Vegas.”
– Jay Glazer, NFLonFox
If this is not a tank for the 1.01 Overall draft pick, I do not know what is. Crosby left the building because he was pissed with the organization for not letting him play. He is a warrior. The context of his Tuesday comments are critical to understanding his mindset.
IR is disgusting. The Raiders should lose their Round 1 pick for it. You cannot encourage or tacitly look the other way when a team shuts down at least one and likely three players that would otherwise be competing on Sunday. It makes a mockery of Sunday’s game, the draft rules, and the entire NFL if there are no consequences for what is happening right under everyone’s noses.
What makes this Raider tanking even more clear is that all three players were not just benched for a single game, but they were shut down for the balance of the season. Let’s look at who they play in the final week of the year? OH, the 6-10 KC Chiefs. The 6-10 Mahomes-less Chiefs. The 6-10 Minshew-less Chiefs. Yes, the Chiefs are on their 3rd string QB and could easily lose to a Raider team who has an EDGE defender trying to “wreck the game.”
Logic would dictate that any of these 3 players who were put on season-ending IR would normally just be questionable or doubtful for a single game and then not dress. Here, the motive to keep them out against the Chiefs as well is another tell.
Integrity? This needs to be investigated. Your move Roger Goodell.
My prediction is that an awful Raider team without Bowers, Crosby and Chinn will lose to the Giants. Even if the Raiders were to forfeit their R1 pick (which they should), the Giants would then tie CLE with 3 wins and get the #2 pick because I believe CLE will pick ahead of them on tiebreakers.