On Tuesday morning, Mike Mayock stepped to the podium for his scouting combine press conference. The hot topic, of course, was the status of quarterback Derek Carr. Mayock pointed out some of the positive stats Carr had last season, adding that he is “very happy with Derek Carr“, but maintained the team is keeping their options open at every position, including quarterback.
As it happens, earlier in the morning, a prospect in this draft who is most likely to be on the board when the Raiders selection comes up at 12 overall expressed his interest in playing for the Raiders and for Jon Gruden.
“You look at the Raiders, you think of the coach. Coach Gruden, being able to play for him, That’s someone else I watched growing up. You’ve got the show, you’ve heard a lot about him, he’s a quarterback guru, that’s who you want to play with.”
While most mock drafts have one of either wide receiver Jerry Jeudy or CeeDee Lamb headed to the Raiders at 12 overall, there have been a few who have Love as the Raiders selection, including NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks just this morning who called Love an “ideal fit” for Gruden’s offense.
Add that Gruden just watched his old friend Andy Reid win the Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes — to whom Love has drawn comparisons — and you can see the potential interest.
