In many ways, we are entering a brand-new era in Raiders football.
Sure, the organization is now in Las Vegas, but they’re still the Raiders – which means they are still one of the biggest brands in all of sports.
With a talented roster led by Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams, head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco have a solid core to build from.
Luckily, they may have come away with the single-best player in the entire draft last week.
While all of the hype and hoopla surrounded the top quarterbacks, All-World tight end Brock Bowers fell right into the Raiders lap with the #13 overall pick.
Bowers checks all the boxes and has endless potential. To say the sky is the limit for him would be an understatement. It’s hard to argue that he is the “safest” pick in the draft based on how he projects to the NFL-level.
It would be shocking if he doesn’t go on to have a long, successful career filled with many Pro Bowl appearances.
Having said that, the Raiders still need a long-term solution at quarterback.
While Aidan O’Connell flashed in limited action last year, Gardner Minshew figures to be the starting quarterback for the upcoming season … And needless to say, Vegas can do a whole lot worse than that.
Minshew may have a shorter ceiling than some of the elite quarterbacks around the league, but all he seems to do everywhere he’s been is win – all while being the most popular player in the locker room.
Needless to say, Las Vegas could be quite fun this season with Minshew at the helm.
Getting back to the draft … It was the Raiders 112th overall pick which caused a stir in the football world.
After selecting Mississippi State cornerback Decameron Richardson with that fourth-round pick, the Raiders official X account posted a clip of Richardson running his lightning fast 4.34-second 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine.
So far so good right???
Well, the Raiders decided to caption the video with a reckless “speed kills” tag…
Of course, this was an innocent mistake made by some low-level employee anxious to pump out content.
However, the post left many fans cringing. After all, “speed kills” wasn’t the best of captions to use considering former Raider star Henry Ruggs III tragically killed an innocent woman and her dog by speeding back in 2021.
Ruggs, drafted by the Raiders with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, initially showed promise as a dynamic wide receiver.
However, his fatal DUI incident a year later claimed the life of 23-year-old Tina Tintor and effectively ruined his NFL career.
Ruggs’ blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit as he reportedly reached speeds of up to 156 MPH before colliding with and killing Tintor and her dog.
The aftermath of Ruggs’ actions reverberated throughout the Raiders organization and the entire NFL.
He was swiftly released from the team as he dealt with legal proceedings. He ended up being sentenced to 3-to-10 years in a Nevada prison camp.
It’s a sad and tragic story all the way around.
Again, the Raiders certainly didn’t mean any harm with their social media post. That goes without saying.
While a lot of people found it insensitive, the fact of the matter is they had zero ill-intent.
The team ended up deleting the post and that’s that. We move on…