With Dennis Allen Gone, GM Reggie McKenzie Should Be Next Chip to Fall

By Kevin Saito @Kevin_Saito on October 1, 2014

 

Fans from all corners of the Raider Nation awoke, and probably rejoiced, in the news this morning that head coach Dennis Allen – he of the 8-28 overall record, as well as an impressive 10 game losing streak dating back to last season – had been fired. After posting consecutive 4-12 records, an 0-4 start to the 2014 campaign, and having more lopsided, blowout defeats (nine) than victories (eight) in his two plus seasons on the job, it really was inevitable. And perhaps another inevitability might be thatOakland Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie may find himself following Allen out the door.

While it must be acknowledged that Allen – along with DC Jason Tarver and OC Greg Olsen – were the contractors who built the house which fell down into flaming ruins at their feet, it must also be acknowledged that McKenzie is the architect that designed such a flawed and fragile house in the first place. Since taking his place at the top of the Raiders’ football decision-making food chain, McKenzie has made a thousand poor decisions that have blown up in the faces of the organization. It’s that questionable decision making that must be put under the spotlight now as the Raiders chart their way forward.

After all, it was McKenzie who wasted a draft pick on Tyler Wilson – who was beat out by undrafted rookie Matt McGloin. It was McKenzie who gave up a draft pick to bring in QB Matt Flynn, and then threw a pile of money at him, only to cut him after he showed what the world already knew – that he wasn’t a very good quarterback. It was McKenzie who gave up a draft pick, and a lot of money to bring in QB Matt Schaub, only to have the veteran beaten out for the starting job by rookie Derek Carr. It was McKenzie who traded up in the draft to claim a player whose injury history should have been a huge red flag. That pick, D.J. Hayden, has played but a handful of games for Oakland due to injury, and hasn’t looked particularly good when he’s been on the field.

McKenzie has been given a boatload of credit for his 2014 draft class, which was one of the best in theNFL. But perhaps he’s been given far too much credit for it. Much of McKenzie’s draft card this offseason boiled down to dumb luck. Khalil Mack and Derek Carr fell into his lap and all McKenzie had to do was not screw the whole thing up by drafting them – which he wisely did. But if not for some seriously dumb luck, Oakland’s draft class might look a lot different. Of course, players like T.J. Carrie, Gabe Jackson, Justin Ellis, and Keith McGill may turn out to be solid players, but it remains to be seen at this point. But at least they – unlike Hayden – are actually playing and contributing to the team.

The list of questionable, if not horrid decisions that McKenzie has made in his capacity as Oakland’s GM is longer than Tolstoy’s War and Peace – did somebody say Rodger Saffold? And the result of his poor decision making, in part, has been Oakland’s dreadful, winless start to the 2014 season.

The other half of that equation though, is that Allen was given a roster full of proven playmakers and explosive, young talent, and wasn’t able to do anything with it. Given what was, by far, the best roster he’s had in his two plus years on the job, Allen was unable to maximize the talent he had, and the club actually regressed. Unbelievably, the 2014 Raiders, equipped with more talent than they’ve had in years, are profoundly worse in every imaginable way, than the previous two 4-12 teams.

Much of the blame falls to Allen – and rightly so. But McKenzie cannot escape his portion of the blame either. As bad of a coach as Allen was, there are a number of red flags waving that say McKenzie is just as bad of a GM and that perhaps it’s time for the Raiders to commit to an entirely new direction – one that doesn’t include McKenzie making the football decisions.

Kevin Saito is a fiction writer, sports junkie, history nerd, and NFL contributor to www.RantSports.com Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or on Google.