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Oakland Raiders: Shrewd Move In Signing Michael Dyer

By Khaled Abdallah

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, the Oakland Raiders take a flyer on a talented player with some serious character issues. The Raiders announced today that they have signed former Auburn and Louisville running back Michael Dyer as an undrafted free-agent.

Dyer is most known for nearly scoring the winning touchdown for the Auburn Tigers in the 2011 Tostitos BCS National Championship game. That game ended in controversial fashion as Dyer appeared to be tackled on the final drive after rushing for a short gain but his knee never touched the ground and he was actually tackled just short of the goal line.

The controversy in that play was because despite his knee not touching the ground Dyer’s forward progress had been clearly stopped and the play should have been blown dead.

In addition to essentially winning the title for Auburn on that last play, Dyer was voted the offensive MVP of the game. He had 22 carries for 143 yards and averaged over 6.5 yards per carry. He built on the momentum of that title-winning season where he was named to the freshman All-American team and Freshman All-SEC team in 2010 by having an excellent sophomore season as well.

Oct 30, 2014; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals running back Michael Dyer (5) runs the ball against Florida State Seminoles linebacker Reggie Northrup (5) during the second half at Papa John

The following season Dyer was suspended indefinitely from Auburn for an undisclosed violation of team rules. He requested a transfer and was granted a conditional release and transferred to Arkansas State University. His troubles continued at Arkansas State as he had a run-in with the law and was dismissed from the team.

After a brief stint at Arkansas Baptist college where Dyer did not play football he transferred to Louisville and had two years left on his eligibility. Dyer disappointed once again at Louisville and was academically ineligible to play in Louisville’s bowl game in his second season with the Cardinals.

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Even if Dyer has a great deal of baggage, he is talented enough to get a chance in the NFL. Dyer represents a low risk, high reward move for the Raiders. If Dyer can return to being the player he was in his first two seasons with the Tigers this could go down as a very shrewd move for general manager Reggie McKenzie. If it does not work out then Dyer will be back on the street and the Raiders will find another undrafted back to sign.

The fact that Dyer has had such a light workload in his final two seasons at Louisville, just over 150 carries, could actually work out in his favor. Despite being 24 years old, the Little Rock native does not have much mileage on his body as say another four year starter at the college level.

At 5’9″ and 215 pounds, Dyer is more of a change of pace running back then any of the other backs on the Raiders roster but can also pack a punch. It looks as if he will be given a shot during training camp and in the preseason to prove himself but he is unlikely to break through to the top three running back slots.

Unless he is able to contribute on special teams at first then it is hard to imagine Dyer making the team at all. The Raiders have plenty of unanswered questions at running back but they have no shortage of bodies at the position and Dyer is another addition to an already-talented group.

Next: Oakland Raiders: 2015 NFL Draft Grades

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