Silver Minings: Jon Gruden gets play-calling respect

Jon Gruden has gotten a lot of grief in his second go-round as the Raiders’ head coach.

But the truth is, Gruden has earned much of it. He has a 19-29 record with the Raiders in the past three season and is the only coach in the NFL who still has his job after not making the playoffs the past three years.

However, there is no denying one thing: Gruden is a strong play caller. His offense has been mostly effective and he has made some dandy play calls.

PFF has recognized this as they have named Gruden the fourth best player caller in the league going into the 2021 season. This is PFF”s explanation on Gruden:

This one is tough to explain, since Gruden is very much part of the grocery shopping for a team that has brought home rotten vegetables and expired canned goods in both the draft and free agency. Be that as it may, Gruden is still a pretty good chef with these ingredients, as evidenced by the fact that the Raiders ranked 10th in the NFL in yards per play offensively despite having the league’s 17th-ranked pass-blocking unit, 26th-ranked run-blocking unit and 18th-ranked running game by PFF grades. Derek Carr has performed really well the past two years, and the Raiders are 15-17 despite fielding one of the league’s worst defenses during that stretch.

It’s a well-deserved placing for Gruden. He has a hell of a big playbook. Now if he can get all of the other pertinent aspects of his gig done, the Raiders will be in business.

In other Raiders’ links:

• No OTAs for these guys: Some defensive players missed Wednesday’s OTA session. Again, don’t worry. It’s not a big deal.
• Hold onto the ball: The AP reports Derek Carr fumbled on 30 percent of his sacks. That’s 18 percent higher than the league average.
• Division QB talk: Here’s some information on Deshaun Watson and the Denver Broncos.