Raiders general manager Mike Mayok talks about the team’s unexpected decision to swap the draft in the third round Lynn Bowden was only about football.
Despite reports that the Raiders had concerns about Bowden off the field, Mayok said it was simply Bowden’s problem struggling to fulfill the role the hijackers had envisioned for him. Bowden played both wide receivers and quarterbacks in college in Kentucky, and Mayok said it was his own fault that he thought Bowden would be a good match for the Raiders as a running back.
“Not. 1, it was only football decision… And the character, off the pitch, the guy did absolutely nothing wrong. We did all the homework on the kid off the field, ”Mayok said via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “He racked his brains, came to work every day. So it was a completely football decision that had nothing to do with anything. Quite frankly, I think changing position is a difficult task in any year. But that’s an exaggeration in a COVID year when there is no off-season. So, you take a kid who was a slot machine receiver at 18, a quarterback at 19, and ask him to play a run at 20. And, indeed, the only thing I’m going to say about this is my call. He could not play at the expected level today, and because of this we felt that we had to make a move. And, again, everything is on me. “
Whatever the reason, the Raiders had to give up Bowden and the pick in the sixth round just to get him back in the fourth round. Bowden’s selection in the third round was a big miss from the Raiders.
