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The Raiders will pick first next May ... without GM Reggie McKenzie
While the Jets' struggles promise to be more spectacular, the Oakland Raiders look to me like the worst team in football. And if Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville's dynamic young quarterback, and/or Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina's ferocious defensive end, decide to declare for the 2014 NFL Draft, I see one of them standing onstage next May in a silver-and-black cap.
What I don't envision is McKenzie making the selection. Though the current general manager seems to be behaving as though he's all but guaranteed a third year of rebuilding by owner Mark Davis, I think he's on shakier ground than he realizes, and that coach Dennis Allen likely wouldn't be the only casualty of another atrocious campaign, let alone one that yields the No. 1 overall pick.
Though offensive coordinator Greg Olson is a vast improvement from last year's Greg Knapp-directed debacle, right now the Raiders' best offensive strategy seems to be shaping up thusly: Snap the ball to Terrelle Pryor and hope he can run around and make something happen.
Good times.
The fact that I predicted all of this in the wake of Davis' decision to fire coach Hue Jackson following the 2011 season has not endeared me to Raiders fans, but they might want to stop writing me off as a "hater" and start regarding me as a "realist."