Raiders rookie report: Kolton Miller leads the way for not so great season opener There has been more excitement for the Oakland Raiders’ draft class of 2018 than there was of the class a year ago. One exception being top pick Kolton Miller whose selection was criticized heavily and often described as a reach. And not many knew what to make of 2nd-round pick (DT) PJ Hall as he came from a small school and the Raiders have been cursed in the second round lately. Most of the excitement was over defensive end Arden Key and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst. Key Womens Derek Carr Jersey , the team’s 3rd-round pick, was a potential first round pick talent if not for off-the-field issues. Hurst, the team’s 5th-round pick, was considered a top-10 pick before his heart condition was discovered at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine. The defensive linemen drafted didn’t have much of a Week 1 as they had a grand total of just one sack and that veteran Bruce Irvin produced. But the draftees did show potential while not having much of a productive day on Sunday. ActiveKolton MillerPJ HallArden KeyBrandon Parker (DNP)Maurice HurstJohnny TownsendInactiveNick NelsonKolton MillerWith all eyes on him in Week 1, he looked the best of his classmates in a day that wasn’t great for the class overall. Miller gave up just two quarterback pressures in his NFL debut according to Pro Football Focus. His pass-blocking grade for the day was 68.2, which isn’t too bad for a debut against the fierce Los Angeles Rams pass-rush. His run-blocking grade was only 49, which brought is overall grade down to 59.5. He didn’t have the grade of a franchise left tackle or look like one on Sunday but he did look like a guy that could get therepretty soon. His next assignment, All-World edge-rusher Von Miller, who said the Raiders’ O-line just got “a whole lot better” as a result of picking Kolton Miller.PJ HallHall had a team rookie best 57 pass rushing grade on 20 pass-rushing snaps according to Pro Football Focus. But he had the most disappointing play of the night as he ripped through the offensive line on one play and stopped instead of continuing on for a sack. The play was significant because the Rams threw deep and drew a pass interference call on it. Hall sprained his ankle early in the game and that might be a part of why he had an overall lackluster performance. He has not practiced all week and it looks like he won’t play Sunday in Denver.Arden Key Arden Key got two pressures in 20 pass-rush snaps for a pass-rush grade of 53.1. His get-off is on point but he looked like he was trying too hard as he was often out of control and off balance. But one good thing is his run defense grade was the second highest among all Raiders D-linemenat 71.5. Remember, his ability to hold up against the run was a concern coming out. His overall grade was 53.7 against the Rams, who have a solid offensive line. It will be interesting to see what he does against the Broncos, who’s O-line isn’t as good. Maurice HurstHurst didn’t start Sunday and was barely visible with just one pressure on 25 pass-rush snaps. His pass-rush grade ended up being 55.9 and his overall grade was 58.9. Hurst was most effective against the run, where he finished with a grade of61.1 according to Pro Football Focus. Nose tackle Justin Ellis is on injured reserve now and Hall is no lock to play this coming Sunday. So Hurst will get a real shot to show what he has against the Denver Broncos. Johnny TownsendHe wasn’t impressive, especially when he needed to be when punting deep in Raider territory. All he could produce then was a 35-yard punt, giving the Rams a short field from which to score. Perhaps the mile-high altitude in Denver will help him against the Broncos. Of all the rookie starters that got a significant about of playing time, Miller, the 1st-round pick, was the best in Week 1. The defensive linemen that were brought in to help rush the passer could only show tiny glimpses of their potential. Townsend is going to have to pick it up to if the Raiders are to have any hope of flipping the field too. Week 2 will be interesting as Miller has the Broncos edge-rushers to deal with while the defensive lineman aren’t playing against as good an O-line. On Friday, the Raiders took the highly unusual step of clearing the building of most scouts, telling them to stay home until after the draft. On Monday Womens Antonio Brown Jersey , the Raiders floated an excuse for sending employees home with pay.According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Raiders may be planning a”surprise” pick with the fourth overall selection, necessitating complete and total secrecy.That’s fine (actually, it’s won’t be fine if they opt for a “surprise” who becomes a bust), but a normally functioning football operation can achieve and maintain the necessary level of secrecy without sending people home. Most NFL front offices operate on a strictly need-to-know basis, with scouts who aren’t involved in setting the draft board knowing nothing about its contents. It’s a simple and easy application of the Patriots’ “do your job” mantra, where if it’s not critical to an employee’s job to know what the organization will do during the draft, the employee never knows that information.In New England, the area scouts who have no need to know the manner in which coach Bill Belichick ranks the players are (wait for it) instead working on other things that are central to their jobs, whether it’s gathering information about next year’s prospects or being available to answer specific questions or to handle specific projects relating to the work they’ve done for the current draft. The Raiders have consciously surrendered the benefit of these employees’ efforts, due to a vague and perhaps irrational fear that one of them will spill the beans about something that they shouldn’t even know in the first place.And here’s a fair question, given the manner in which a football operation should normally operate: Are the Raiders protecting coach Jon Gruden from himself? Specifically, is Gruden so impulsive and insecure that he can’t be trusted to refrain from bouncing his ideas about potential first-round picks off of scouts who in turn can’t be trusted to keep their own mouths shut?Trust. It’s amazing to think that the Raiders suddenly can’t trust scouts that they necessarily have trusted for months. Trusted to do good work. Trusted to be discreet regarding anything they hear regarding the team’s plans. their salaries.Either the Raiders suddenly decided that they can’t trust the scouts or they never trusted them in the first place, but did nothing about it until now. Neither explanation is satisfactory, and both make the Raiders look bad.Indeed, the Raiders are hardly the first football operation to have a secret that they didn’t want to be compromised. But they are the first (at least in recent years) to pay people to not show up for work due to fears that someone who doesn’t need to know the secret may find out about it, and may blab.It’s up to the leaders of the organization to ensure that people who aren’t trustworthy not be trusted with sensitive information. Which brings me back to the notion that the Raiders are essentially protecting Gruden from himself, by ensuring that Gruden doesn’t disclose the plans that Gruden and G.M. Mike Mayock are putting together for their three first-round picks, in an effort to feel more confident as Gruden embarks on a draft that will be critical to the manner in which his second stint with the Raiders ultimately goes.