The Oakland Raiders sent all of their scouts home last week in advance of the NFL Draft, and the move not just be about trying to keep their plans as secretive as possible.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and new general manager Mike Mayock do not trust the scouts that are currently working for the team, and there is expected to be a “major shakeup” with the department. Rapoport expects the Raiders to move on from most, if not all, of them after the draft.
From @gmfb: The #Raiders want absolutely secrecy on their slew of first-round picks, so GM Mike Mayock and coach Jon Gruden did some things. pic.twitter.com/2kvRIol6OK
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 22, 2019
Most of Oakland’s scouts were already working for the team before Mayock was hired, so it makes sense that he would want to bring in his own people.
After the report came out that Gruden and Mayock had sent all of their scouts home and told them not to return for the draft, Mayock’s daughter tried to downplay it by sharing a funny story about the lengths the GM went to in order to keep his draft binder away from his own family. While that was likely a factor in what happened with the Raiders’ scouts, it seems like Mayock and Gruden do not think very highly of them.
