Oakland Raiders: Keeping Marshawn Lynch is a huge mistake
By Randy Gurzi
New Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said he needed a ‘full-time’ Marshawn Lynch, but what he really needs is a Lynch-free roster in 2018
Let’s just get this out in the open, the move to hire Jon Gruden as head coach is a mistake. That’s just one opinion, but the Oakland Raiders turning back the clock doesn’t look like the brightest move.
First, we all know Gruden won a Super Bowl with a team assembled by Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay. From then on, he made them worse and was fired shortly after signing an extension. Then for some reason after not coaching for 10 years, he became the highest paid coach in the league.
That move made no sense, and Gruden is already making blunders. Recently he discussed what his team needed in order to improve, and he went all-in on running back Marshawn Lynch.
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"“I need Marshawn Lynch. I don’t need this part-time Lynch. I need full-time Lynch,” Gruden said via Chris Wesseling of NFL.com. “We need the real deal, if you’re going to put those letters on the back of your jersey, man, you’ve got to back it up, Marshawn — right? We don’t need another back, we need a feature back.”"
Lynch used to be a star player, but isn’t anymore. He retired in 2015 after an injury-plagued season, but then finagled his way to his hometown team. The results were decent in terms of production, but Lynch was more of a distraction than an actual help on the field.
He was suspended at one point for running onto the field to get involved in a brawl, but don’t worry he had no intention of helping the guys he shared a locker room with. Instead, he was helping Marcus Peters, the cornerback who plays for one of their biggest rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lynch also drew criticism for his dancing on the sidelines during Oakland’s rare blow out wins. He drew the ire of opponents, which painted a bigger target on the back of the team.
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The facts are simple, Lynch is more trouble than he’s worth at this point in his career and with him turning 32 years old soon, the production will only drop more. So no Gruden, the team doesn’t need a full-time Lynch. What they need is a running back in their 20s that can carry it more than ten times a game and won’t disrespect opponents with the sideline dancing.