Jon Gruden seems to be setting goals of unpredictability. At least with regards to his lineups. How they perform has been somewhat more predictable.
There were a couple of unexpected lineup changes for the Raiders this week. The secondary has been a game of ‘who’s one first’ all season. That continued this week with Rashaan Melvin and Reggie Nelson unexpectedly inactive and Gareon Conley, Daryl Worley, and Erik Harris getting the start.
But this week the biggest surprise was Brandon LaFell, who went from inactive without a catch this season to starting at receiver and leading the receiving corps in snaps as the team’s replacement for Amari Cooper.