Oakland Raiders: Jon Gruden Is Perfect For Christian Hackenberg
By Erik Lambert
The Oakland Raiders made headlines for one of their boldest and most unusual moves yet. One that doesn’t look like much on the surface.
Everybody knows that new head coach Jon Gruden was hired with the overall task of ensuring Derek Carr returns to the MVP-caliber player he was in 2016. Carr is the man in Oakland and nothing is likely to change that. However, he’s had injury concerns in the past the Raiders were caught flatfooted the last time he went down. That makes finding an adequate backup quarterback a higher priority than people care to admit.
Though they already had Connor Cook and E.J. Manuel in place, it appears Gruden wasn’t satisfied. He at least wanted to get more competition on the roster. So the Raiders decided to make a bold move. Instead of simply signing a veteran off the open market, they placed a call to the New York Jets to acquire their former 2nd round pick Christian Hackenberg for a conditional 7th round choice. While the price itself was cheap, the implications are fascinating.
Tidbits on the Christian Hackenberg trade to Oakland: 1. The #Raiders won’t release another QB in the short-term. 2. The pick conditions are tied to him being on the roster a certain number of games. 3. His comments did not lead to the trade. Had nothing to do with it.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 22, 2018
Gruden may have the coaching style that can save Hackenberg’s career
Hackenberg may end up becoming one of the biggest disappointments in recent memory. When he first started at Penn State, many felt he was destined to become a #1 overall pick whenever he declared for the NFL. Instead, his play steadily declined following his standout freshman season until he fell to the 2nd round in 2016, and many felt even then that the Jets had overdrafted him. Hackenberg did next to nothing in his time as a backup for them, hence why he was traded for pennies.
Many felt that the departure of former Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien, now with the Houston Texans, was a catalyst for Hackenberg’s decline. It was apparent the QB responded to O’Brien’s smart but disciplined and demanding coaching style. As a freshman, he threw 20 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions with a 58% completion rate. It was by far the best season of his college career. After O’Brien left, the completion rate and TDs declined and the interceptions went up.
This is why the trade to Oakland is so interesting. Gruden, though he hasn’t coached in years, always has had a reputation for coaching the quarterback position hard. Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp once said of him, “This guy had a full-fledged bite. A venomous bite. You just couldn’t sit still.”
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One can’t argue with the style. As a head coach Gruden helped three different veteran quarterbacks reach the pinnacle of their NFL careers. Jeff Garcia reached the Pro Bowl. Rich Gannon won league MVP. Brad Johnson won the Super Bowl. This might be the sort of dedicated, merciless coaching needed to wake Hackenberg out of what looks to be an eternal funk.