Todd Downing lands in Minnesota as Senior Offensive Assistant, joining another former Raiders QB coach

Another one of Jack Del Rio’s Raiders staff has found a job elsewhere. Embattled Offensive Coordinator, Todd Downing, is set to join the Vikings under the title of Senior Offensive Assistant according to Adam Caplan.

Downing was Derek Carr’s QB coach for two seasons in 2015 and 2016 with great success. That had him on the radar across the NFL as an Offensive Coordinator candidate. So, instead risk losing him, Jack Del Rio took a risk and promoted him to OC, letting former OC Bill Musgrave go.

That move backfired monumentally. Under Musgrave the Raiders had a top five offense in 2016, leading to a 12-3 record prior to Derek Carr’s leg injury. The offense plummeted to one of the five worst in the league under Downing and the Raiders as a team fell to 6-10 including a season-ending 4-game losing streak.

Downing had proven himself as a QB coach and offensive mind and deserved to have a job in the NFL. But perhaps he just wasn’t ready call plays quite yet.

He will serve under another former Raiders QB coach, John DeFilippo who was hired this offseason as the Vikings’ Offensive Coordinator.