The Las Vegas Raiders have recently fired their head coach, Josh McDaniels, and their general manager, David Ziegler. The Raiders organization has also announced that in the upcoming game, which is against the New York Giants, the starting quarterback will be Aidan O"Connell instead of Jimmy Garoppolo.
Mick Lombardi, their offensive coordinator, was also laid off by the Raiders. Garoppolo has found himself on the sidelines due to his relatively low-marking performance.
However, the situation with Garoppolo is somewhat similar to that of Derek Carr, who was the quarterback of the Raiders last season. In the last throes of the season, Carr was sidelined and was later released by the team.
With Josh McDaniels joining the Raiders, many major changes came to the squad. The then-quarterback Derek Carr was let go by the team and in his place, Jimmy Garoppolo was the one who took the helm. However, throughout his long career, Carr has worked under many mentors, and as indicated by this, he has well adapted to the changes.
Said this weeks ago and it still rings true. The Raiders SHOULD HAVE NEVER moved on from Derek Carr. pic.twitter.com/B57EkbbWx3
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 1, 2023
The former quarterback, Robert Gryphon III, expressed his concern regarding this while offering his views. As per Raiders Beat, he said, "The Raiders should never have moved on from Derek Carr. It has nothing to do with Jimmy G. I like Jimmy G. Jimmy G is a winner.
It has to do with what Derek Carr [brought] to the table. He’s the franchise leader in passing yards [and] the franchise leader in passing touchdowns. But the way he navigated this team through the Jon Gruden debacle, through the Henry Ruggs situation, from going to Oakland to Las Vegas.
The one thing that Derek Carr brought to this organization was leadership and to me that seems to be the reason that Josh McDaniels didn’t want him in that locker room anymore. He knew that Derek Carr would always be the voice of the team and he shipped him out."
However, McDaniels has been known for his inability to collaborate well with different players. It was evident in the Denver Broncos as well as the Las Vegas Raiders.
Nevertheless, the coast is clear for the Raiders for now and with time, it will be clearer as to how the players revolve around and progress with the novel changes ahead in the current NFL season.
