“Put this team first”: Champ Kelly aligned with the Raiders’ roster  strategy

Champ Kelly appears to have reintegrated well into the position of assistant general manager after serving as the Raiders’ temporary general manager.

JoJo Wooden, whom Kelly has come to know over the years, and other football gurus from the Los Angeles Chargers were brought on board when Tom Telesco was appointed general manager in January. Kelly appears to have seized the chance to continue helping to assemble the Raiders roster, despite the possibility that this would have been an uncomfortable scenario for him. His approach has been to take Telesco and Antonio Piece’s vision for the Raiders and bring in the players needed to make it a reality.

The way Telesco handled the matter played a part in how well the front office change went this offseason. Although the new general manager has made some changes to the front office, he has accepted the Raiders culture that Pierce and Kelly had already built in the building. This includes having faith and trust in the scouting division, which will produce a strong class of players for the 2024 draft.

“I think it’s a testament to the scouts because the quality of work they had done throughout the fall was so good that he could come in and really get a feel for them and also get a feel for how they viewed the players that were draft eligible,” Kelly stated. “I’ve now gone through a number of systems, and regardless of how the language is twisted, in the end, all you’re doing is stacking a position group vertically and then horizontally over the other position groups. Our goal is to identify the greatest players and Raiders for our team, whatever of the system you use.”

The team selected Brock Bowers, Jackson Powers-Johnson, and Trey Taylor—three national collegiate award winners—in the process of identifying the greatest fits. Kelly also expressed admiration for Dylan Laube and DJ Glaze, two guys the Raiders brass had the opportunity to assess during the Senior Bowl.

Kelly has been actively working with Telesco to strengthen the roster even with Phase 2 of the offseason exercises started, but he is quick to give credit to the entire staff for their all-out effort.

“I’m just extremely proud of the complete staff, how they work, how we’ve gelled together,” he stated. Recognizing a Raiders approach and making the necessary adjustments. assessing players and choosing those who are the best fit for our team. They fit us, even though they might not be the best players for the other thirty-one clubs. And our men did a fantastic job at it, and I’m thrilled to continue working with them and pleased to work with them.”