“Hard Knocks” kind of hit a lull this week. It’s obvious that HBO is playing nice with the Raiders. Even the section on Antonio Brown and his helmet issues heavily favored Brown’s side of things with the NFL. Everyone was painted in a positive light in this episode when we all know that things have not been perfect for Oakland and their star wide receivers. Brown is obviously on this week’s power rankings. Check out below to see who else made it this week. Here’s a spoiler: Josh Jacobs is not on the list. The first-round pick hasn’t been mentioned once this year.
1. Jon Gruden
Last Week: 1
“Hard Knocks” sure has a plan for its episodes. Every episode opens with Gruden. This week even opened up with Frank Caliendo doing a Gruden impression. This knocking on wood is kind of endearing and annoying at the same time.
Gruden also made the team sing happy birthday to general Manager Mike Mayock. We learned that the Raiders coach can not sing — and neither can the team.
2. Antonio Brown
Last Week: 8
Hard Knocks finally addressed the Antonio Brown helmet issue. The show was kind of at a point where they couldn’t ignore it any longer. It’s one of the biggest stories of the offseason. Brown even showed up to practice. Gruden covered for him perfectly talking about how the team knew that Brown’s foot and helmet issues long before anyone even addressed it in the media. Everyone welcomed AB back with open arms. Drew Rosenhaus said they thought they had the helmet issue figured out. As we know, they did not have it figured out.
“Hard Knocks” definitely gave Brown a chance to tell his side of the story about things.
Week four of “Hard Knocks” may actually focus on Brown not being there as the show did have an excerpt of Mike Mayock’s latest comments on Brown being “all in or all out.”
3. Johnathan Abram
Last Week: 6
Abram went to the Madden raters and complained about his rating and his teammates’ rating. He was negotiating a better strength and man to man coverage rating. Abram continued his praise of his teammates as the episode went along and compared Hunter Renfrow to Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman.
Abram has officially become one of the stars of the show. There were signs at the Cardinals preseason game referencing his salmon comments from episode one.
4. Darren Waller
Last Week: Unranked
His Raiders teammate campaigned for the tight end to have a higher rating in Madden. Waller seemed fine with his rating. It’s weird to hear an NFL player being fine with their Madden rating. Waller also doesn’t know a thing about the movie “Fight Club” or Ozzy Osbourne’s “No More Tears.”
We also have a human interest story with Waller who has been clean for two years and a recovering addict. This is a great story for “Hard Knocks” to focus on. Waller could be an inspiration to other people who may be struggling with substance abuse.
5. Nathan Peterman/Mike Glennon
Last Week: 2
Can we group them as one at this point? The battle for the Raiders backup quarterback spot was a focus of the episode. We got to see an interesting debate about shaking up the quarterback order for the preseason game which means Glennon’s job as the backup quarterback is not locked down.
Glennon missed a wide-open Waller in the back of the end zone in the preseason game but recovered for a long touchdown pass later in the game.
Peterman showed a nice connection with Keelan Doss who made the list this week but wasn’t on this episode a focus for episode three.
6. Derek Carr
Last Week: 3
Derek Carr making fun of Hunter Renfrow’s age was almost too obvious a joke, but it’s right in line with the Carr we’ve seen in the past two episodes. It seems like Carr knew the camera was on him in the preseason game and he was trying a bit too hard.
7. Luke Wilson
Last Week: Unranked
Wilson is one of six tight ends on the current Raiders roster. He had a great line that’s not safe for work — or this website — when talking about the Golden Gate Bridge. He worried about his calves which anyone who has had skinny legs can identify with.
8. Richie Incognito
Last Week: 8
Incognito made his standard short appearance in the episode talking to Antonio Brown about his frostbitten feet.
9. Brentson Buckner
Last Week: 5
Buckner’s one-liner about Hunter Renfrow keeps him on the list.
Out of the rankings: Kellan Doss, Brent Musburger
