The Oakland Raiders passed on drafting a quarterback with the fifth-overall selection in the 2014 NFL Draft and instead waited until the second round to take Derek Carr, but if it was up to Jon Gruden, the team would've gone a different route and selected Johnny Manziel. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Gruden spent the first night of the Draft "imploring" the Raiders to select the former Heisman Trophy winner.
Jon Gruden urged Raiders to draft Johnny Manziel, per report
Jon Gruden “implored” the Oakland Raiders to select former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel in the 2014 NFL Draft, but the team went with Derek Carr instead.
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Gruden, 51, is reportedly the apple of Raiders owner Mark Davis’s eye now that Dennis Allen is no longer the head coach of the Raiders, but the former Super Bowl winning coach has been comfortable in the past to keep his job with ESPN as a Monday Night Football commentator. A reunion with the Raiders, where he coached for four seasons, might be too good to pass up though, and Gruden has told friends that it’s the one job he’d return to the NFL for, according to Rapoport.
It’s hard to argue, at this point, that the Raiders made a bad decision by drafting Carr, who has already taken over as the team’s starting quarterback as a rookie. Through six games, Carr has compiled 1,189 yards passing, eight touchdowns, five interceptions and an 80.9 passer rating. His performance as a starter has inspired some hope for Raiders fans, and held off pining for Manziel:
It's Derek. Derek Carr. @RapSheet @richeisen @nflnetwork
— OAKLAND RAIDERS (@RAIDERS) October 26, 2014 Manziel, who was selected 22nd overall by the Cleveland Browns, has just one NFL pass (an incompletion) and has been relegated to the sideline due to the strong play of Brian Hoyer. In the days prior to the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, Gruden believed Manziel would go as high as second-overall to the St. Louis Rams.
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