FanPost

Getting to Know "Al Davis" The Oakland Raiders at a Glance

I am also new to analysis of any other team than the Broncos, especially not analysis of the bitter rival Oakland Raiders.

Disco_Stu on MHR summed up the Raiders of season as follows:

“They demonstrated confidence in last year’s WR signings by drafting a completely UN-polished track star with the #7 pick.

They demonstrated confidence in their Quarterback of the Future™ by signing Jeff Garcia.

They demonstrated confidence in the coaches and front office by keeping a yes-man in at HC while Al keeps making his “picks”

So, yeah. Good offseason. The end. :o)”

Lane Kiffin, the youngest head coach in NFL history, was released midway through the season last year to make room for the interim and soon to be full time HC Tom Cable.  I honestly believe that Jesus himself could coach the Raiders and would get fired by Al Davis, the man is senile and uses the HC’s as puppets and scapegoats for his senility.  Of course said senility keeps a weak opponent in our division.

In The News

Darrius Heyward-Bey

He is the talk of the town, and rightfully so.  In so many MSM opinions his drafting was a huge reach.  We signed all of our first day picks combined for less than what he will make this year, and he may never perform better than an underutilized or over-forced 2nd receiver.  I won’t go on record saying Hey-Bey will fail but the odds are stacked against him, he lacks the talent and skill set necessary to be a #1 NFL receiver.  He may very well be running down the sidelines routinely against the Broncos but unless he’s breaking one a game he will not justify his early selection.  Watch this youtube video and try not to wet your pants…  from 1:00 to about 1:20 or so.  Even fans are leery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMT4JheSte0

Doesn’t Michael Crabtree look a little too ecstatic that he wasn’t drafted at #7?  And his father??  Was that a sigh of relief?...

Michael Mitchell

Old Al Davis sure made an impression on the first day of the draft!  This guy SHOULD make an impact during his NFL career, but most scouting agencies and teams had him listed as a 7th rounder, so pray tell did Oakland draft him mid 2nd?  Mel Kiper of ESPN had Mitchell rated between 40th and 70th best available safety, Mike Mayock of NFL network had this to say while watching the Raiders selection:  "The Ohio University safety?!? I had never heard of Mike Mitchell before three weeks ago when he ran a good time at his pro day."  This could be another situation where Al Davis drafted with speed as a top priority; he posted a 4.39 by some and a 4.43 by others at his pro day.

Mini Camp

The Top 3 draft picks for the Raiders in their first ever mini-camp sat out the last days of camp with various injuries, such as sore hamstrings and cramps.  Hey-Bey looked good at first catching all balls and showcasing his speed, he then fell into the category that all Raider hopefuls were praying was a lie, he developed lead hands dropping three straight balls.  Keep in mind however this is only May and drops don’t matter now, unless he continues to drop, which would only affect his position on the depth chart.  Mitchell showed great speed on the field and was scolded by coaches for contact with a receiver, this kid is hungry for some big hits and he’s hoping he can prove the media wrong.  Being a Broncos fan I hope that the media is right. J  Slade Norris pushed Ricky Brown, last year’s starting SLB, to the 2nd team defense as a MLB.  The Raiders have to see a ton of potential in this kid pushing last year’s starter to a different position in a back-up role.

In order to know where the Raiders are headed this year we need to take a look at the moves that they have made so far this off season.

Most notably are their moves at the QB position, they are either trying to make sure they are deep at back-up positions or they are losing faith in JaMarcus, they have inked 3 QB’s this offseason.  Also the re-signing of Shane Lechler, the monster punter, and Nnamdi Assomugha, best CB in the business, who were both reportedly disgruntled and ready to leave, they were given huge contracts and are now helping to anchor some pretty key roles on this roster.

Roster

Here is my attempt at a roster breakdown, my original analysis was 6000 plus words, but I do not know how to post anything that long on MHR…

Quarterback

JaMarcus Russell should be the heir apparent with his less than stellar 77.1 rating last season, he was backed up by the failed draft pick from Grand Junction, CO Andrew Walter.  The Raiders in a very Jon Gruden-esque sort of way have signed many QB’s this offseason including, Jeff Garcia(crafty veteran), Bruce Gradkowski(failed or not properly utilized skills), and finally Danny Southwick(Mr. I played at FIVE different colleges) Southwick made quite a name for himself on the Louisville fire, some sort of Arena team.  Check this bleacher report article for more analysis.  Here are the team stats, please look through them as you read about each position.

Running Back

The Raiders are loaded with talent in the backfield, unlike the teams woes at drafting receivers they definitely do well drafting RB’s.  This group however lacks flashy numbers and was only able to put the ball in the endzone 9 times last season.  Darren McFadden is the game breaker back while Justin Fargas is the stat leader and gets the bulk of the carries, Michael Bush is a good versatile receiving back as well.  This offseason they signed Gary Russell from PIT who’s only NFL stat was basically a one yd TD run in Super Bowl XLIII.

Fullbacks

Lorenzo Neal, need I say more, he may be 39 and have 16 years in the NFL but this guy has blocked for more 1000+ yd backs than you could shake a stick at.  Oren O’Neal took care of this position last season and he does ok at his job.

Wide Receivers

Tough position to analyze, I want to say that they all suck but the truth is the Raiders do not pass the ball, they ranked 29th in pass attempts last year.  Johnnie Lee Higgins is the leader for receivers, which isn’t saying much, and is a speedster, so how do you compliment a speedster?  By drafting Michael Crabtree of course… Oh yeah that didn’t and couldn’t happen, so instead you try to build a roster off of nothing but speedsters at this position and hope that one of them gets open.  Al Davis covets talent in the pure speed department; bring on Hey-Bey he SHOULD make a good #2 receiver, follow him up with this year’s mini-camp buzzee Chaz Schillens, at 6’4” a very large target.  They brought in a speedy possession receiver from Florida in Louis Murphy, Javon Walker is injured again, and Arman Shields last year’s third draft pick is still injured, Samie Parker the veteran along with a few rookie free agents were signed this offseason.

Tight Ends

Zach Miller leads the way as a good pass catching end and the teams receptions leader in 2008.  After Miller it falls all the way to Tony Stewart with his 11 catches, but he is a primary ST guy.  They brought in a draft pick with Brand Myers who is a solid blocker with ok hands and Chris O’Neill from Boise State undrafted.

Offensive Line

The Raiders have attacked line issues this offseason as they hope to give Russell the time he needs and the backs the holes they need to get the yards they need to control games.  Silver and black quarterbacks were sacked a total of 38 times last season, 31 of those sacks taken by the “elusive” JaMarcus Russell…

At the tackle position both slots look to be filled by 2009 FA acquisitions.   Khalif Barnes was brought in this offseason and hopes are high that he will keep his QB’s upright.  Erik Pears, the former Bronco, should also look to be the other bookend although Cornell Green a career back-up has been the starter over the last two seasons.

Guards are led by a former Bronco in Cooper Carlisle and more notably Robert Gallery the tackle convert.  Jonathan Compas is their UDFA from UC Davis, and Paul McQuistan a 2006 draft pick who was on IR last year round out this position.

Samson Satele was brought in to play Center in a trade this offseason with the Dolphins involving Gibril Wilson, he is a very solid athlete.  John Wade and Chris Morris round out this position.

Defense

The Raiders have been in a rebuilding mode for the better part of the last decade, at times it seems odd that this team cannot pull together winning seasons when they have so much talent on both sides of the ball, is it coaching?  The owner thinks so, or is it the owner and the front office?  Regardless they have a lot of talent on defense; at times they just can’t string anything together.

Defensive Backs

Nnamdi Asomugha is the best in the business at CB, he is helped out by Stanford Routt(world class speed) NB, and Chris Johnson who took advantage of a late season promotion to starter and pluck 3 INT’s.

Hiram Eugene stepped it up to take the FS job from the all too hyped Michael Huff whose career has been slipping.  Michael Mitchell the supposed draft reach hopes to make his impact at the other safety spot, of course he’ll only be fighting with Jerome Boyd a 2009 UDFA.

Linebackers

Kirk Morrison is a stud MLB, he looks to be helped out by newcomer Slade Norris who nudged last year’s SLB off of the first team D in his first series of mini-camps, the WLB at the end of last year was Jon Alston who was promoted late in the season to starter.  Isaiah Ekejiuba is a ST specialist for the Raiders.

D-Line

Jay Richardson and Derrick Burgess are the DE’s, while Stryker Sulak from Mizzou looks to step in and fight for playing time along Matt Shaughnessy the higher draft choice.  Greyson Gunheim and Trevor Scott were both solid performers on the team last year, Scott finished with 5 sacks which tied the team lead.

Gerard Warren who came in a trade from Denver is their top guy but he still is not as key to their D as Tommy Kelly.  Terdell Sands makes for a good reserve, he’s gargantuan!

Special Teams

Sebastian Janikowski, Shane Lechler… Enough said.  Johnnie Lee Higgins and Justin Miller are the two studs for their return game.  Higgins had 3 PR TD’s while Miller recorded 2 KR TD’s.

I hope this wasn’t painful to read.  It is way too much information, but I have a tough time leaving out even the most insignificant player.  In conclusion I think that it is safe to say that the Raiders have a lot of talent and potential, much like 31 other teams in the NFL, there is however some reason that they are being held back from coming out of the crapper that they have been living in the last 6 years.  What is that you ask?  Well that is what the debate can be about.  I think Al Davis is a scary looking old man, he looks too much like a woman who used to babysit me back in the day who used to spank us with the wire end of a fly swatter…  Either way I hope that this was helpful and not just a crappy waste of time.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.