Raiders having trust issues under Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden

The Oakland Raiders have a league-high three first-round picks in the first round of the NFL Draft, but the scouts will apparently have no say.

The first round of the 2019 NFL Draft is on April 25. Apparently, the Oakland Raiders scouts will be watching from home like all of us.

On Friday morning, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported that the Raiders have sent their scouts home because Head Coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Mike Mayock don’t know who to trust.

What?

For any franchise, this revelation just days before any draft would be a disaster in the making. For an organization that is paying Gruden $100 million to be their savior, then cleaned house by trading its two best players, and the hired a first-time general manager straight out of the media, this could be catastrophic.

It is one thing to have scouts that you depend on more than others. It is also normal to limit the number of voices talking in the war room, helping the decision-makers to narrow the final draft board. It is quite another notion, though, to send your entire scouting department home, citing issues with not having anyone in the building who you can trust.

Additionally, there are consistently conflicting stories about which direction the Raiders will go in the first round with their three selections. Some believe the team is infatuated with taking a quarterback, while others have written it seems off the table. The reality is that nobody truly knows what Oakland is planning to do. There is also nothing to indicate that anyone in the organization does either.

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Regardless of what decisions are ultimately made, one thing is clear. The Raiders need to get a handle on their issues, or this draft will be a continuation of the futility that has plagued them for most of the last two decades.