2020 NFL Mock Draft: Raiders hit reset at quarterback, Jets get star on edge
By Randy Gurzi
2. Oakland Raiders: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama
Jon Gruden spent 10 years in the broadcast booth calling Monday Night Football games. During that time, he absolutely loved everyone. He was often accused of heaping too much praise on many quarterbacks, and some believed that was due to his desire to get back into coaching — the thought was he didn’t want to take over a team who had a quarterback he had been destroying on television.
No longer calling games, “Chucky” can be himself again and start being more critical of his own signal-callers. Right now, that happens to be Derek Carr, who had a spectacular season back in 2016 but has gone the wrong way since then.
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In his first season with Gruden, Carr improved his accuracy and yardage as he topped 4,000 yards for the first time in his career and completed a personal best 68.9 percent of his passes. However, he had a career-low 19 touchdowns and Oakland was just 4-12 on the year.
They added some decent draft picks this season as well as Antonio Brown but it feels as though they are still a work in progress. If they again finish with a losing record, that could spell the end for Carr as Gruden gets his guy here in Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa. The southpaw is considered the top quarterback by many scouts and could solidify that should he repeat the success he had in 2018 for the Crimson Tide.