Head coach Jon Gruden and new GM Mike Mayock don’t know who t

hey can trust"WhiteSeries Stagner ThingsLottery Tickets ’19Summer of SpagsMailbagFanposts Fanshots Community Community GuidelinesContactAbout StubHub ✕Report: The Raiders are obsessing over security prior to this week’s NFL draftNew Tyrann Mathieu Jersey ,30commentsHead coach Jon Gruden and new GM Mike Mayock don’t know who they can trustCDTShareTweetShareShareReport: The Raiders are obsessing over security prior to this week’s NFL draftKirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsOn Friday afternoons in April, sometimes it can get a little slow for national NFL reporters.A week ago on Friday, many of them whiled away their afternoon on Twitter, comparing notes on how they get annoyed when the person in front of them on an airliner reclines their seat.But on Friday, they were tweeting about a report out of Oakland that started with NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.In some ways, this wasn’t eyebrow-raising news.In other ways, it was.On a segment of NFL Network’s Up To The Minute, Rapoport acknowledged it isn’t uncommon for NFL offices to be pretty empty on Easter weekend Steven Nelson Jersey , but said that what made this unusual was the lack of trust Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and new general manager Mike Mayock have in their scouting department.“Mike Mayock does not know who he can trust with his draft secrets,” Mayock explained.“He does not know who he can talk to or who he can confide in — and it is no surprise that there is going to be some significant turnover in the scouting department for the Raiders after the draft.”The last part is certainly true.As Las Vegas Review-Journal Raiders beat writer Michael Gehlken noted (yes, Las Vegas newspapers already have Raiders beat writers) this is not an uncommon situation for new NFL GMs.Kansas City Chiefs fans will recall that John Dorsey was in a similar situation when he arrived in January 2013.He had to depend on the scouting department hired by his predecessor Scott Pioli for the 2013 NFL draft, and brought in some of his people for the following season.Still... there’s something about this report about Mayock’s lack of trust in his scouting department that seems a little... off — especially after his daughter Leigh Mayock joined the Twitter conversation among the NFL reporters.First, how can you not love Leigh Mayock for this response?But it does bring up another question: does Mayock take his draft binder to the bathroom because he doesn’t trust his own family with it, or because he is so obsessive about the upcoming draft he can’t stop thinking about it — even when there is... uhh... other business at hand?In Mayock’s defense, if there’s a draft to obsess over, this one is probably it.Not only will it be the longtime draft guru’s first time in a GM chair on draft day Tony Gonzalez Jersey , there is much at stake.The Raiders will have eight picks — including pick 4, pick 24 and pick 27 in the first round — and it’s not unreasonable to think they could be planning something big.That’s the point ESPN’s Bill Barnwell brought to the Twitter conversation on Friday afternoon.But it was NFL.com senior analyst Gil Brandt — who had been an NFL personnel executive for two decades before Chiefs general manager Brett Veach was even born — who got the last word during Friday afternoon’s NFL reporter Twitter klatch with an old-school solution to Mayock’s problem.The NFL Draft begins Thursday night.On Friday afternoon, these folks will all have other things to discuss. Last year the Patriots lost a Super Bowl when Tom Brady threw for 505 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, thanks to the defense failing to stop the Eagles’ offense. That was the story of the season in New England, when the offense was great but the defense couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain.This season has been different: Tom Brady’s stats declined in 2018, but the defense was better. New England improved in defensive DVOA from 31st last season to 16th this season. By yards per play allowed, New England improved from 30th to 19th. By takeaways, New England improved from 25th to sixth.Last year’s Patriots defense forced 19 turnovers in 19 games Derrick Thomas Jersey , counting postseason. This year’s Patriots have forced 30 turnovers in 17 games, even though turnovers league-wide were slightly down this season.Takeaways will be particularly important on Sunday against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. When the teams met in the regular season, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a lot of big plays, but the Patriots also intercepted him twice, and New England won the game. It’s hard to picture last year’s Patriots forcing those interceptions and beating an offense as good as Kansas City’s.The defensive improvement is a credit to linebackers coach Brian Flores, who took over many of the coordinator responsibilities when Matt Patricia became head coach of the Lions after the Super Bowl. Flores is expected to become the Dolphins’ head coach after the Patriots’ postseason run ends, and the way the Patriots’ defense has performed this season suggests that the Dolphins found themselves a good coach.