Oakland Raiders: Jon Gruden’s offseason hits and misses

As various media outlets pick apart Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden’s offseason moves, let’s take a look at hits and misses leading up to the draft.

Oakland Raiders fans knew what would follow after the biggest head-coaching hire in recent memory. Jon Gruden descends from the Monday Night Football booth to lead the organization back to its glory days when he took the job as a 34-year old.

Two decades later, everyone has something to say about his offseason plan to remodel the Raiders roster. Knowing Gruden, he couldn’t care any less. The competitive fire in him sees winning as the only reply to the critics.

Some fans have curbed their expectations for the upcoming season after seeing productive players cut or walk over the past month.

For those who view Gruden’s roster-building approach as outdated, he could do no right. On the other hand, supporters who watched him lead a contender 20 years ago feel he desires the benefit of the doubt.

Without the silver and black-tinted shades or the desire to see someone fall flat on their face, let’s discuss some of the moves Gruden made throughout the offseason.

On a side note, Reggie McKenzie still holds the general manager position, but since we’re talking honesty, owner Mark Davis already told NBCS Bay Area reporter Scott Bair who’s running the show in Oakland:

"At this point in time, the role Reggie plays now is a little different than the role he played with Jack (Del Rio), a little different than his role working with Dennis (Allen). It evolves. He has built the team to where we are now, and we’re in pretty good shape with the cap and everything else. Now he has a head coach who’s going to be running this thing for the next 10 years. His vision is going to be most important building what type of team we’ve got."

With that said, we’re going to assess the offseason transactions through Gruden’s lens as the shot-caller. Where did he swing and miss and in what areas did the Raiders coach strike gold?