Jon Gruden is a polarizing person, to say the least. The Oakland Raiders head coach has some pretty interesting methods and at times, he has been heavily criticized for the way he runs his team. Those criticisms were on full display earlier this season when he traded away star players like Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper.
Heading into the draft, newly appointed Raiders general manager Mike Mayock told reporters that Gruden is making sure he does a good job in the draft, especially considering most of the picks are thanks to Gruden's trades.
"'Don't mess it up, dude,'" Gruden told Mayock via ESPN. "'I took a lot of slings to get you three first-round picks.'"
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The Raiders will have four picks within the first 35 draft slots. This means there will be a ton of pressure on the Raiders to get some big-time players. Mayock says he is ready for the challenge and understands what it takes to draft well.
"I'm a son of a coach and I know how coaches think, and coaches think need," Mayock said. "And we're a coach-driven building, our coaches are highly involved. That's good. I embrace that. The flip side is, you can't reach. You've got to use some common sense. And that's what I preach."
The Raiders finished last season with a record of 4-12 so they'll be looking to have a turnaround campaign in 2019.
