Raiders’ explanation for trading Lynn Bowden doesn’t help matters
By Mike Luciano
The Raiders’ excuse for trading Lynn Bowden makes no sense.
The Las Vegas Raiders were expected to get a lot of use out of versatile former Kentucky star Lynn Bowden during his rookie season, but his tenure in the silver and black has already come to a close. Bowden was traded to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a fourth-round pick that was originally given to Miami in exchange for linebacker Raekwon McMillan.
GM Mike Mayock explained that getting rid of Bowden was exclusively a football decision and not character related, but later claimed that Bowden’s trade was prompted by the fact he was struggling to make the transition to the backfield.
"...He worked his tail off, he came to work every day. So, this was completely a football decision, had nothing to do with anything else. Quite frankly, I think the position change is a difficult one in any year. But it’s exaggerated in a COVID year with no offseason...(more)
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) September 6, 2020
If you knew it was going to be difficult for him to make that transition in a season impacted COVID-19, why did you both select him in the third round and issue him an ultimatum of either learning the position or getting traded?
Lynn Bowden was a uniquely dominant star at Kentucky
After Bowden established himself as a star receiver for Kentucky, injuries at quarterback prompted a shift to a pseudo-Wildcat offense with Bowden at the sticks. In addition to throwing for three touchdowns, Bowden ran for 1,468 yards on 7.9 yards per carry with 13 rushing touchdowns. The Raiders picked him in the third round of the draft with the expectation that he would convert to running back full-time and back up Josh Jacobs.
Instead, Bowden will start his pro career in Miami, who had the worst rushing game in the league last year. If the Dolphins let Bowden show off his skills on the field rather than just relying on what a few weeks of practice show them, he could form a deadly thunder and lightning tandem with Jordan Howard in the backfield.
https://twitter.com/LynnBowden_1/status/1302603728600674306
The Raiders didn’t even let Bowden get on the field before sending him out of town for not being able to learn a third position within the last calendar year. If Miami is able to integrate them into their offense, the Raiders might’ve committed a massive blunder by giving up on him.
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