At this point, Oakland Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith's various issues with the law are well-documented. Since joining the league via the first-round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Smith has had five run-ins with police, including a DUI conviction, which saw him suspended for nine games of the 2014 season, and another, more recent, alleged DUI that also came with accusations of hit and run and vandalism. After being released by the San Francisco 49ers this preseason, Smith signed with the Raiders and has, to this point, become a seemingly permanent piece of Ken Norton Jr.'s defense. And while Smith's most recent arrest remains unresolved in the courts, Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie sounds like a man ready to make a more long-term commitment to the troubled pass rusher.
"We did a lot of research on that," McKenzie said in a roundtable with reporters recently, via Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area. "At the end of the day, when we decided we were going to go after him, we wanted to let him join the family and help him in any kind of way we can. That's what we're doing."
McKenzie also said that Smith is in the team's "long-term plans." While that doesn't mean anything specific and while Smith hasn't yet provided the kind of impact that would make Raiders fans particularly wary of losing the undeniably talented 'backer - through six games in the silver and black Smith has 18 tackles and just 1.5 sacks, well off the pace that saw him rack up 14.0 and 19.5 quarterback takedowns, respectively, as a member of the Niners during his first two years in the league - McKenzie made it clear that the team is expecting Smith's current production to grow as he becomes more comfortable with the team and Norton's scheme.
"There's a growth process on a new team, especially when you don't go to training camp," McKenzie said, via Bair. "He had to get his legs under him, and he's definitely become a good player for us now. It may not add up in terms of sacks, but there are similarities with Khalil (Mack) from last year. Khalil was incredibly disruptive on tape. Aldon's splash plays, his explosive plays, are going to come. We're good with Aldon."
It seems like an ill-advised decision to commit long-term to a player that has proven consistently in the past to struggle staying out of trouble, but for a team like the Raiders, desperate for a return to relevancy and operating in an NFL world that offers limited resources for upgrade, talented cast-offs like Smith are the kind of diamonds-in-the-rough McKenzie will need to mine if Oakland's already obvious improvements under new head coach Jack Del Rio are to continue.
