Six years ago, Dion Jordan was considered an exciting NFL prospect.
Jordan, a 6-foot-6, 284-pound defensive end from Oregon, was the third player taken in the 2013 draft and had exceptional speed and quickness for his size.
But Jordan’s pro career has been disappointing. He played just two seasons for the Dolphins, who drafted him, and then the Seahawks. He also lost two seasons to NFL suspension.
Now, he’s getting another chance with the Oakland Raiders.
Jordan was signed as a free agent by Oakland this past weekend and will get the opportunity to get snaps at defensive end behind starters Clelin Ferrell and Maxx Crosby.
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden liked what he saw from Jordan in the past and believes Jordan has potential to make plays as a pass rusher.
"He’s a talented guy," Gruden told the Bay Area News Group. "We liked him at Oregon. We liked his body of work in Seattle last year. We played against him. We’re happy to have him and we need him so we’ll have a better piece of information after we get to see him."
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Jordan played 17 games for Seattle in 2017 in 2018, posting 5½ sacks with 40 tackles. In his first two seasons in Miami, he had just three sacks in 26 games.
Raiders general manager Mike Mayock, who in 2013 was a draft analyst for the NFL Network, had been a big fan of Jordan at the time, noted Anthony Galaviz of the Fresno Bee, who wrote this week that Mayock said this on television when Jordan’s name was called during the draft:
"This young man that’s walking up here, Dion Jordan, I think he’s got the potential to be the player that I compare him to, which is Jason Taylor, who ironically played for the Miami Dolphins."
Taylor was a speedy defensive end who played 15 NFL seasons, 12 with Miami, and had 139½ career sacks.
Jordan was suspended by the NFL for the first 10 games of this season for violating the league’s PED policy. He is eligible to practice this week. He takes the place of injured Arden Key on the Raiders’ roster.
The 5-4 Raiders play the 0-9 Bengals Sunday in Oakland. Kickoff is set for 1:25 p.m.
