5 possible replacements for Jon Gruden on Monday Night Football

OAKLAND, CA - NOVEMBER 18: Former head coach of the Oakland Raiders and now ESPN Monday Night Football Analyst Jon Gruden looks on during pre-game warm ups before an NFL football game between the New Orleans Saints and Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum on November 18, 2012 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

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KANSAS CITY, MO – DECEMBER 10: Running back Marshawn Lynch #24 of the Oakland Raiders jogs onto the field ahead of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on December 10, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

4. Marshawn Lynch

Full disclosure, this is probably the least likely option on the list. For one thing, current Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch may still be an active NFL player next season. Maybe the fact Gruden is coming back will motivate Lynch to stick around for another year. It wasn’t the smoothest 2017 for Lynch and the Raiders but the mercurial back still went over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and averaged over four yards per carry. For the sake of this list, we’re going to assume Lynch has had enough and will head back into retirement this offseason.

It remains to be seen just how much Lynch could help viewers understand what was happening on the field, but he might be the most entertaining candidate. Lynch has always followed the beat of his own drummer and would be an out-of-the-box hire. He would be unique in his delivery and his attitude toward football in general. There would probably be quite a few of media colleagues that would cringe at Lynch being a part of the media. After all, Lynch was never the most cooperative player when it came to that. The name of the game is to make people want to watch Monday Night Football. There would be a ton of people who would tune in just to see what “Speech Mode” would say next.

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