Hard Knocks wrapped up its season with the Raiders and other than Brandon Marshall, there weren’t many new characters for the final episode. Marshall’s cut fell flat because we never connected with him before this final episode. He was in the story and then he was out, which felt forced by HBO because a veteran like him was an unlikely cut and showrunners missed it.
As for the entire season, it was a mixed bag. There were some good stories with younger players — most who ended up being cut. Jon Gruden was the obvious star. Derek Carr didn’t have a ton of personality — which was kind of expected. Anything that could have been seen as controversial such as Antonio Brown’s entire offseason or Richie Incognito’s off-field troubles were essentially glossed over. We came in with high hopes for the Raiders on “Hard Knocks” and left with a B- show.
1. Jon Gruden
Last Week: 1
Gruden was this season’s star. The best moment of the episode may have been something that was totally on-brand: Gruden’s love Metallica. The best part for X’s and O’s fans was Gruden breaking down running backs pass blocking skills and abilities. The Gruden in a dark room talking about players on the bubble was a little too overproduced and fake. It still put Gruden front and center of the episode. It also gave us a review of what players the show focused on this season.
2. Brentson Buckner
Last Week: 4
Buckner got the cold open again. He made the standard “father time is undefeated speech,” with his own spin on it. Buckner has secretly been the breakout star of this season. He has shown personality. He’s been the lone assistant coach with a voice on this season. It’s basically been Gruden and Buckner.
3. Keelan Doss
Last Week: 7
Doss was surprisingly cut — and subsequently picked up by the Jaguars. Doss’ final exhibition game performance kind of sealed his fate. It’s always nice to a local prospect on “Hard Knocks.” It feels like they have a stronger tie to the team.
4. Jason Cabinda
Last Week: 3
Cabinda got his portion of “Hard Knocks” during the exhibition game. We also got to visit in on his mother watching the game. HBO and the show did a good job of focusing on how the game of football and training camp also affects players families. The last two episodes showed the support system that’s necessary when playing in the NFL. Plus, his mother was funny and gave some strong in-game commentary. Cabinda landed on the Lions practice squad.
5. Nathan Peterman
Last Week: 5
Peterman versus Glennon was a central part of the exhibition game portion of the show. Liev Schreiber even made a neck joke about Mike Glennon. As for Peterman, he didn’t technically win a roster spot. He was placed on IR with an elbow injury. Peterman was able to play through the injury in the final preseason game against Seattle. It seems like IR is a way for the Raiders to keep Peterman under control and help him develop moving forward.
6. Luke Wilson
Last Week: 2
Luke Wilson was a captain for his return to Seattle. He got to talk trash to old teammate Russell Wilson. He got all the handshakes and hugs at the end of the game. Then he was cut by the Raiders.
7. Antonio Brown
Last Week: 8
I can’t get behind the Antonio Brown image rehabilitation portion of the show. Brown lands here because HBO tried to make him a focus. It seems as if they really showed only one side of Brown’s offseason saga. It’s either that or the Raiders are afraid of making their star wide receiver angry.
8. Johnathan Abram
Last Week: 9
Abram came out of the gates hot. He ended the season fishing with fellow first-round pick Clelin Farrell. Either Abram cut back on his personality or HBO wanted to focus more on the fringe players.
9. Darren Waller
Last Week: 10
Waller was named a starter and it was a nice bow on his redemption story.
Out of the rankings: Derek Carr
