Rhodes’ restructure was conditional
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 7:47 pm in Oakland Raiders.
It sounds as if Dominic Rhodes was promised that if he agreed to take less money on his contract and the Raiders drafted Darren McFadden, he would be granted his release.
“If they drafted Darren McFadden I was like, ‘Listen, I’ll restructure but it’s got to be to where if y’all draft him I can leave, you know. Y’all let me go.’ That’s kind of how it went,” Rhodes said in an interview on Sirius Satellite Radio Tuesday. “They kept their word and they let me get a chance to go somewhere else and get my opportunity. I know they like Mike Bush. They just re-signed Justin [Fargas] and I didn’t want to have to deal with what I dealt with last year because I know I can play and I know somebody can use someone like me.”
Host Pat Kirwan asked Rhodes if he regretted the decision to come to Oakland as a a free agent.
“The year out in Oakland was a tough one for me, man, especially coming from the Colts which is a great organization. They put together their team in a way with not a bunch of guys that are supposed to be like Hollywood types,” Rhodes said. “They go and get guys like myself who they know can play football and they put them on the field and they win with them, you know?
“Out in Oakland it was tough, man. I got put into a bad situation. The first thing was my fault by getting the four-game suspension but then when I got back, they knew that I was going to have that four-game suspension, and when I got back they kind of held it against me, didn’t give me my shot to get on the field and do the things that they said they were going to do.”
“That right there kind of let me know what was going on and then I don’t see the reason why the Raiders needed to draft a running back, you know what I’m saying? We had like a stable full of running backs that are capable, that ran for a hundred yards, every one of them and we went and drafted a guy that – he’s a great runner, don’t get me wrong – but I don’t understand the logic behind it.”
Rhodes’ complaints about playing time carry some merit, but the thing that hurt his chances the worst was when Fargas exploded for 179 yards against Miami the week before he became eligible.
If McFadden is as good as the Raiders think he is, they simply couldn’t pass on him. Rhodes is an above average back, but not a home run threat. Once Jordan was injured in the same Miami game where Fargas won the job, Rhodes probably should have been the second runner and given more of a workload.
Jordan seemed clearly uninterested once Fargas took over and Rhodes talked from the heart and played from the heart.
He got a chance in the final two games of the season to put two good games on film, and the Raiders did the right thing in keeping their word and letting him go once they drafted McFadden.
Rhodes sounded interested in returning to the Colts.
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April 29th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Thanks BM
April 29th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I hope we’re only hanging on to LaMont until June 1st to spread out his cap hit.
I’m disappointed Rhodes didn’t work out here, but it sounds like the two sides parted fairly amicably. Rhodes was a ton better than Jordan, and I’m a bit sad he never really got his chance.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I tell ya, if I hear Home-run threat one more time in the context of football, well, I’m gonna…..Well, I guess I’ll hear it one more time!!
April 29th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Some info on Washington DE Greyson Gunheim, 6′5 268.
“UW’s Pro Day was held Friday, and while it wasn’t open to the media, I’ve been able to get a little bit of information from it with the help of Rob Rang, who is a senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com
Turning in some intriguing numbers was defensive end Greyson Gunheim, who ran a 4.58 40, benched 225 pounds 28 times, had a vertical of 36 inches and ran the short shuttle in 4.32. He also ran the three-cone shuttle in 6.76. All are solid numbers for a defensive end prospect.
Rang said those numbers give further proof that Gunheim “is a very good athlete.” But he said he thinks Gunheim is still likely to have to go the free agent route. The Chargers, Jaguars, Panthers, Raiders and Falcons are all thought to be interested in Gunheim.”
Strengths
Has good size and is really effective against bigger oversized offensive linemen. really quick, and still has good size. Really fast around the corner and makes a straight path for the QB.
Great against the run, with 42 career TFL. Can generally time and deflect passes better than almost any DE in the country. Had an incredible 21 passes defensed in 2006, but had only 4 in 2007. Very good at running laterally and can handle quick back on quick pitch carries.
Weaknesses
Just not big enough or shifty enough to slide off really solid tackles. Most of his production seems to come in short stretches of the game. Can disappear throughout a game. Despite reaching the backfield almost every play, never quite seems to track the QB down fast enough for the sack, and rarely ever forces a fumble.
Projection
Greyson is very highly ranked but I don’t really see a stellar NFL career for him. He reminds me a lot of a bigger more talented John Engelberger. A solid prospect worth a fly in the middle rounds of day 2.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Wow, we’ve come full circle, when the Irsays are running the model franchise. I remember when Elway wouldn’t play for them. The word Irsay was a joke. Times change.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
see ya Rhodes, go drink in Indy.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Rhodes got screwed. The Raiders have always been a favoritist <—(ah, a new word!) team. If you say something wrong, do something wrong, you are not going to play. And by wrong I mean, not in line with the company culture.
It’s too bad, he’s a pretty good scat back that can make plays in the short passing game. Kinda sounds wet coast, hey, is’nt that us??
April 29th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
# Mistabrown Says:
April 29th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Personally I like Rhodes over Fargas but someone had to go. Maybe DR asked for release we dont know..
April 29th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Why does Dakota sound a lot like that Madden weirdo guy??? Dakota must be out watching the NBA playoffs.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
We still have a stable of good backs… Fargas, McFadden, Bush! One of these guys is going to get hurt, and the others will be there to step it up. I think the Raiders could have one of the best backfields in all of the NFL. Kansas City and Pittsburgh will have something to say about that, though.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Saint Kaufman: The reason i like McFadden is because he’s a three point threat! He can score from down town! hahahaha is that better?
CT RAIDER
April 29th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I am SOOOOOOOOOO pissed KC got Charles.
If Stu ever has to tackle this guy it will be an instant highlight reel!!
KC had a great draft!
April 29th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Kiffin did do a poor job handling the running backs. Even when the Raiders were blown out, Kiffin kept running L.Jordan into the ground when he could have given D.Rhodes some 4th quarter carries, at least to get him in game shape and see what he could do. Then Kiffin did the same with Fargas. I haven’t looked back at the stats, but I remember fragile Fargas getting nearly 100% of the carries until he finally cracked. I wonder how hard he really pressed to get M.Bush activated.
He also did a poor job with the wide receivers. Once the Raiders were completely out of it, it made no sense whatsoever to give playing time and punt return duties to the old, useless, never to be seen again T.Dwight, when J.L.Higgins could have been getting experience. Sure he would make rookie mistakes, but it wasn’t like the team was losing because of his mistakes. It made no sense.
The same goes for the quarterbacks. Weird secrecy, the clown, Culpepper, the clown…just dumb BS.
Offensive line, same thing. Why didn’t J.Grove get more playing time at the end of the season instead of the broken down old man Newberry? Why not at least activate M.Henderson, give him a few 4 quarter plays in the losses. It wasn’t like B.Sims was playing like a pro bowler.
Maybe Kiffin is good with x’s and o’s, but he sure botched up the playing time. Hopefully he’ll do better this year. Last year was clearly a rebuilding year and any idiot knows you should be giving your young players experience in rebuilding years.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Hey Jim, I thought you were in Illinois now?
The question is if he can take it to the hole. I had no idea he had range though!
Maybe a FG kicker?
April 29th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
3 trophies,
No, it is me, I have always taken an anti-Al stance…and I have not dropped the 19-61 (or whatever it is)record line, lol.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Dakota,
Sorry you didn’t get to enjoy the 3 trophies we won and all the battles won and lost along the way. Your loss Dude. Any “fan” would have respect for the Nation and the team that created us. And we owe it all to Al. I hate to break it to you buddy, Al’s not trying for #4 to please you. He’s doing it for his team and the true fans.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
LTR, oh thanks for the enlightenment. You are right, Al is great, he does no wrong. He is the greatest owner ever…baaaaaaaaaaa
Is that better? Am I a “TRUE FAN” now?
April 29th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
On the Rhodes deal: Just as H-E-double toothpicks said (”Rhodes free to go,” post 225).
April 29th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Pirate,
I agree with you, Kiffin I thought was definately a rookie coach.
It seems this year so far, he’s speaking a little more plainly.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Dakota…
good one =)
April 29th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
WTF…..
April 29th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
If Jordan doesn’t get hurt against Miami, Rhodes becomes the 2d back the next game. But Fargas was ready when he got his shot; he earned it. One game after another he proved himself.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Rockets 74 – 55 end of 3rd….
April 29th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Actually Pirate you bring up a really good point. The deal with being an NFL head coach really has little to do with X;s and O’s. Little Kids can draw up plays that work. It’s relating to guys who make tens of millions of dollars that’s really a pain in the ass.
Really Kiff did not have a lot to go on in the first half of the season. Jordan was number one on the depth chart at RB for a reason. He looked good on last years tape. Once Kiff discovered what a lazy fat ass he really is, he was relegated to the bench. Which was the right thing to do.
The WR’s Kiff inherited were terrible. I’ve had many discussions about that on this blog, with many disagreeing with me. Apparently by drafting 2 WR’s and signing 2 other major FA’s Kiff agreed with me. The deal with Dwight is he had only one less TD in the Coliseum than Jerry Porter had in 5 years. Which happens to be only two more than I HAD!! Higgins was coughing it up more times than a 6 month old baby and he was costing us games, so Dwight was a good choice and it didn’t cost anything. Plus Dwight is a very very very high motor guy which was a refreshing change from Mike Williams and Jerry Porter.
With regards Kiff and the QB’s there’s an old expression in the league: If you have three QB’s playing, it means you don’t have any. This year now, we have one.
Lastly, Grove was hurt. He got hurt bad in practice and was done for the year. Hope this clarifies somethings.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I think Dakota is allrigth….
And as far as the team, it´s only been 1 year and 3 months since rock bottom at 2-14, I say we have made dramatic improvement from where we stood just 15 months ago.
We are on the right track.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Dakota,
You’ve been using my sheep line lately…
That’s actually a registered trademark of SK inc.
Gonna cost ya some beers!
Speaking of which, I just had one of those Miller Chill beers, not bad. I mean, I didn’t puke or anything. I live in the land of the microbeer and have completely revolted against all of it. Strictly mexican beers from here on out. But this Chill beer was alright…
hmmmm, maybe I should stop typing now…
April 29th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
yup guys that it…
I’m outta here…. See ya
April 29th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Sorry Saint, baaaaaaa
I can’t help it, everytime I think of Al I, I, I, BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..
shoot, is this what Goon feels like?
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I can’t do this…Al sucks…there
whew, that is much better.
Al, wake up and fire rob ryan!
April 29th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Hi Madden,…why dont you use your old name anymore?…I liked it.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Well Madden,..are you excited about the great upcoming season following this great draft and offseason moves?
April 29th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
GRaider
See that….such insight from a non insider.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Sorry Hell,..I am an insider,…dont let your jealousy destroy you.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Bob Marley is right. 2006 seems light years away. We are on our way. Soon to be four trophies.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
LOL
I will try to remember my place. But I was the one yesterday that called it on the Rhodes contract. Got your bad that’s all.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
3 trophies,..dont say that,..losers like Maddenraider,..(currently Dakota),…and the rest of the losers in here that arent into optimism hate seeing text like that,…they like to spew misery and bitterness, because thats their role in life,..try and bring others down into their own sorrow.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
“Jordan was number one on the depth chart at RB for a reason. He looked good on last years tape. Once Kiff discovered what a lazy fat ass he really is, he was relegated to the bench. Which was the right thing to do.”
Didn’t Jordan get hurt? At the time he was leading the league in rushing yards?
I get the impression that the issue with Jordan is he doesn’t keep himself in good enough shape to avoid hurting himself as a 3down back. He ran well in the early games last year.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Ok Hell,..however I told this room in January that both Rhodes and Jordan were both gone before the season,..and they will be,..try and keep up.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
It wasn’t a matter if he was leaving or not it was why so soon. I said when he restructured… that was part of the deal for him to take less money. If we got McFadden they would let him go after the draft.
But you already new that. We will forgive you this time. If you would like to read 225 from yesterday you will see where and how you were mistaken.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
No need to cry Hell,..I was right in January,..last time I checked that was prior to your silly post yesterday,..if you need any more help stay tuned,..more accurate predictions to come.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Well goodnight crew,..hey manana I will have some more info fresh off the island,..so come on back!!..see ya then!
April 29th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Enough with all the information about undrafted free agents. None of these guys will make the team in all likelihood. If they get close to making the team talk about them then. I’ve seen posts of just about every FA they signed saying “hey I think they have a shot at makin it”, yeah they do about 1 in a million!
Does anyone know how McFadden will do w/ the ZBS? Did they use that at Arkansas? Sometimes that takes some time to get used to and sometimes backs never do. He is a great athlete anyway and I like his versatility, but good that we have Fargas, and Bush just in case.
We still need a lot of help at WR. Here is our “recently proven” receiving team.
Curry.
Miller will be a good TE but he isn’t a WR. Javon has a lot to prove.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Well I’m please to know someone in here is really good at stating the obvious.
We all need that kind of leadership in here.
I will be back tomorrow awaiting more insight. Maybe if you have time you could let us know where are home games will be played and some game dates and times. Most importantly our first game. I would hate to miss out on the first game.
Thanks for your help.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
dmac nd brach going to make the team for sure nd one of the 2 wr will make it for sure i dunno bout the DE
April 29th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Eastcoast
I don’t know a lot about the ZBS other then it is a single move and run down hill system.
Watching McFadden and how fast he hits the hole. It seems he will be great. Some of the runs where JF got free last year would have been TD’s if the were Dmac in there.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
“….his chances the worst was when Fargas exploded for 179 yards against Miami the week before he became eligible”
Sh!t happens get over it.
I was the only one that pointed out the fact that Rhodes was pouting last year. The first three games he was on every interview crying about his playing time. After about the 4th week he finally shut up. He finally realized nobody was listening to him. Nobody gave a Sh!t.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
East Coast Raider…I’m not the ZBS guru, but i reall L Jordan being quoted as a sceptic of the system until of course He found He had Massive running lanes…lol
Fargas had to make an adjustment or 2 as well.
Based on Cable’s track record at Atlanta, and Denvers use of the system, I’m betting that McFadden will have no problems making any adjustment.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Rhodes was descent. He definitely wasnt as good as he thought he was.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
did anyone check out chaz schillens on youtube one high light in paticular he caught a 2 yard pass took it for a 98 yd. touchdown but the wheels this guy has for his size looks scary ! he also shows he’s got handles, lookin foward to seeing him in camp… could be a poor man’s calvin johnson or randy moss.. for real!
good night y’all
April 29th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I am pretty optimistic about that kid from SD State. I am sure that there was a reason he didn’t go until the seventh round, but you don’t often see that combination of size and speed. I hope he has the attitude and desire to go out and work hard.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Dakota says:
Sorry Saint, baaaaaaa
I can’t help it, everytime I think of Al I, I, I, BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..
shoot, is this what Goon feels like?
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I can’t do this…Al sucks…there
whew, that is much better.
Al, wake up and fire rob ryan!
————————————————–
I see your still doing your Raider hater chant and this time you seem a little torn. AL, I love you. BAAAAAAAA. AL I hate you. BAAAAAAAAAA. AL, you can do no wrong.BAAAAAAAAA. AL, everything you do is wrong. BAAAAAAAAAAAA. Go take a picture of AL and get a room. Your confused man love-hate for Big AL is showing. And you act as if AL doesn’t fire DC’s. “IF” the defense doesn’t perform any better with the new additions, Ryan will be fired, just like the DC’s before him. Get a grip.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I don’t blame Rhodes for his comments. Nothing too harsh or too unfair toward the Raiders. Obviously some pride on Rhodes’ part skews his perception of reality but that’s to be expected.
He’s a decent No. 2 back and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in Indy or seeing playing time elsewhere.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
The only thing that keeps me going is they did alot with nothing last year. We have something this year so we should be really good.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
DbSF Says:
April 29th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
“Jordan was number one on the depth chart at RB for a reason. He looked good on last years tape. Once Kiff discovered what a lazy fat ass he really is, he was relegated to the bench. Which was the right thing to do.”
Didn’t Jordan get hurt? At the time he was leading the league in rushing yards?
I get the impression that the issue with Jordan is he doesn’t keep himself in good enough shape to avoid hurting himself as a 3down back. He ran well in the early games last year.
If you got the impression the issue with Jordan is Keeping himself in shape, which part of lazy fat ass becomes incongruent??
April 29th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
East Coast Raider and others…
13 Undrafted Free Agents were on the Raiders roster and played during the 2007 season.
Barry Sims
Tommy Kelly
Chris Clemons
Dominic Rhodes
Cornell Green
Chris Carr
John Madsen
Ricky Brown
Isaiah Ekejiuba
Hiram Eugene
B.J. Ward
Chris McFoy
Jon Condo
17 Undrafted Free Agents made the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants roster and played 2007.
Skip the UFA information if you like, but some of us find it interesting.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Dominick “Rhoides” really effed himself when he took the league suspension. Obviously that did not sit well with the organization. How many Raider players do you see get suspended week in and week out??? Not many.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Bob
Can you tell me why we didnt make a better run at linemen after the draft? You think guys would be standing in line in Oakland. We have the biggest need and they would have a better chance of making the team.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
The more I think about it I definitely do like McFadden a lot better in the ZBS than in a traditional running game. I think he’ll have trouble pushing the pile for 3-5 yard gains and will get stopped at the L.O.S. too often, but if the line gets him to the second level and he can make his cut and go that’s where he’s going to break off plenty of huge runs.
A lot of his success will depend on how/when Kiffin uses him.
With the success of the ground game last year, the addition of Kwame Harris, the talent at RB and the development of JaMarcus I suspect we’ll probably run more than any team in the league. That means McFadden should get about 10-15 carries per game, catch a couple of passes and maybe return kicks too while Fargas and Bush combine for 20+ additional carries.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I thnk DMC will be amazing with the ZBS. He is a one cut back and that is the ideal back for the ZBS. Jordan spent too much time dancing. McFadden will hit it and blow up field.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
It’s funny Bob, two months ago I said the UFA’s were going to make or break the advancement of the Raiders back to respectability. Thank you for keeping us informed. I am really happy about Speiker, Jackson and Joe Fields. They may not stick, but all those guys are very very good players.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I agree…… I only care about the first few picks. I dont get into the UFA stuff. If they start playing good, I will notice then. I usually dont watch the 2nd pay of the draft. It takes too long. I can read it in the paper the next day.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
HR, I don’t mean to speak for Bob Marley, he does a good enough job for himself, but while we’re waiting for his response, I’ll offer my humble opinion. For whatever reason, the Raiders feel set at the DT position and are trying to shore up the DE position a bit. Why they think this, I do not know.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Oak
I will ask you the same question. #56
This is what makes no sence to me.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Chris in Ny…I think You’re right about McFadden and the ZBS.
Backs with great vision and the ability to make the cut and hit the hole fast DO get to the 2nd level quickly and in many cases the 2nd level is out of position… and reacting…but to late.
Touchdown Raiders.
Personally I hope McFadden get at least 20 touches per game.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Man your quick. Thank you, I respect what you offer in here and please feel free to offer up what ever you have to add.
So like me you are wondering why as well.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
exactly
April 29th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I will admit I was not for McSaggin. Not against him but wanted more picks out of our #4. But now that he is here I’m excited to see him play. Someone post a You Tube link earlier on McSaggin. He looks incredible. He was blowing through the holes and gone. Check it out.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Oak
Well as I said earlier. Kiff and company did a lot with nothing last year. Now we have some good players. We should look pretty damn good this year. I can’t get past not addressing our line. But hey! Let’s see what they can put together. Just hope we don’t have any injuries.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Who’s Joe Fields? I missed that one.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Hell raiderrrsss…post 56,
I wish I knew, I´m guessing a couple of vets will be added before the season.
Oakglenn..59
Yeah, I know you were big on UFA´s, it is true they have a slim chance but you just never know like post 54 proves.
I like the Adam Spieker, Brandon Rodd, Shane Simmons, Malik Jackson, Louis Rankin and Greyson Gunheim siginings so far.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
QB Brian White (Portland State)
TE Darrell Strong (Pittsburgh)
DE Greyson Gunheim (Washington)
DE Derrick Gray (Texas Southern)
LB Shane Simmons (Western Washington)
TE Chris Wagner (South Dakota State)
RB Louis Rankin (Washington)
C Adam Spieker (Missouri)
OL Brandon Rodd (Aiea)
FB Matt Hahn (Penn State)
CB Derrick Brown (Southern Utah)
LB Malik Jackson (Louisville)
DE Casper Brinkley (South Carolina)
TE Chris Conklin (Wingate)
CB Cortney Grixby (Nebraska)
FB Breyone Evans (Massachusetts)
S Joseph Fields (Syracuse)
DT Brandon Jenkins (Mississippi)
WR Damon Morton (Colorado State)
QB Taylor Tharp (Boise State)
DE Greyson Gunheim (Washington)
DE Derrick Gray (Texas Southern)
LB Shane Simmons (Western Washington)
C Adam Spieker (Missouri)
OL Brandon Rodd (Aiea)
LB Malik Jackson (Louisville)
DE Casper Brinkley (South Carolina)
DT Brandon Jenkins (Mississippi)
Gota believe the bottom 8 are getting looked @ most because we could use depth in any of these positions – Also they may be looking for a TE if there thinking of going with a more tradtional TE than John Madsen that was converted to a TE from a WR
April 29th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
HR, I have to say personally I was hoping for Long/Dorsey or Ellis. I think any of those guys and our defense is absolutely top notch if not the best in the league. When I watch McLuvin, the thing that really stands out to me is a couple of things. First his understanding of the offense and defenses is pretty amazing. The second thing that really stands out for me is not the one cut and he’s gone. In all those plays he’s playing against kids his own age, who he is clearly better than. Now, he’s going to play against grown men who are just as fast as he and they’re bigger. And meaner. The thing that really stood out to me is the clip where he throws this option pass, running to his left, against his body and throws a pretty nice ball in coverage. That, my friends, was pretty above average.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Oakglenn and Hell Raiderrss
I do agree with Oakglenn. For better or worse, they seem to feel that a 4 man rotation of Kelly, Warren, Sands and Jospeh will be able handle the DT spot. Someone else should make the roster, I hope it´s another vet like Grady instead of Josh Shaw.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
If you got the impression the issue with Jordan is Keeping himself in shape, which part of lazy fat ass becomes incongruent??
Actually, I only questioned your stated reason for him being benched, had he not got hurt, he wouldn’t have been benched at all, everyone was pretty high on him before he got hurt, he was quite productive. his “lazy fat ass” most likely got him hurt – yes, but his production before his injury was not at all bad and certainly Kif was not considering benching him because he was lazy or fat
April 29th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Bob, also the guy I really like is Joe Fields, the Safety out of Syracuse. 6′1″, 210, 4.4 forty, great hands, hits like a ton of bricks, smart. Nice signing there.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Oakglenn Says:
April 29th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
“The thing that really stood out to me is the clip where he throws this option pass, running to his left, against his body and throws a pretty nice ball in coverage. That, my friends, was pretty above average.”
I was thinking the same thing – Can you say pay back SanDiego
April 29th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
DoeDoe, karma IS a hideous bitch goddess, isn’t she???
April 29th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
San Diego is going to be yelling Im Tired of being Karmas Bitch!
April 29th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
DbSF, I’m actually only teasing. You’re right in that he WAS injured, but his lack of strenghtening work probably led to the back problems and note how after he got healthy he really didn’t see the field again, which normally players will regain their jobs when they’re healed up. Jordan has a bit of a lazy streak which definitely does not sit well with Kiff and the coaching staff.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Hey Oakglenn…I agree with Your observation about McDaddys QB skills…He is a Great Athlete.
Where My observation / perception differ’s is… I think He looked like a Man among boys.
That talent translates to Any Field.
Not many are just as fast and who really knows how many will be meaner.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Len you’re right, and he should look like a man among boys. You’re gonna find the DB’s in the NFL will be just as fast, two or three hundreds of seconds won’t make a lick of difference when those defenders are a few yards downfield, and most of the defensive starters I’ve ever met in the league, well I can’t say they’re the jolliest guys come gameday.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I´m not sure we signed Joe Fields, I was looking for something about him and read a report he signed with Carolina.
In fact, I think the list on post 70 is wrong, those are both the Raiders and Panthers signings.
I think we only signed this guys so far:
QB Brian White (Portland State)
TE Darrell Strong (Pittsburgh)
DE Greyson Gunheim (Washington)
DE Derrick Gray (Texas Southern)
LB Shane Simmons (Western Washington)
TE Chris Wagner (South Dakota State)
RB Louis Rankin (Washington)
C Adam Spieker (Missouri)
OL Brandon Rodd (Aiea)
FB Matt Hahn (Penn State)
CB Derrick Brown (Southern Utah)
LB Malik Jackson (Louisville)
April 29th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Oak
Yes he has to prove he can do it in the NFL. But as you noted his passes were nice. I guess I’m just hoping praying he can be as effective running the ball. Going back to last year. It seems there were a lot of plays we missed huge gains because JF was late to the hole or couldn’t out run the tacklers.
#70 Is this the list of the udfa we have picked up todate?
April 29th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
*these
April 29th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Bandon Jenkins signed with Carolina: http://www.kffl.com/player/19707/nfl
April 29th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Looks like # 81 got to the bottom first.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
these are the breaks quit crying rhodes: your stupidty ultimately cost you a shot to get on the field.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Lane could have used him a little more, but that is besides the point.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
The biggest knock on McFadden has been his inability to get tough yards or run people over. If you talk to the folks out west they seem to think that too. HOwever, if you read columns written from the east or read reviews from fans in the east they refer to him as a “beast” and how he is a tough runner.
I know the only footage we have of him shows breakaway speed but that’s all you would typically see in a highlight reel. Highlight reels don’t show the tough runs because they’re not exciting.
Who to believe, I’ll go with those that saw him on local TV and the local fan base. NOt to mention those columnists that covered him.
I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Oh, bummer man. I saw someone here posted we signed Joe Fields. Not that we needed another safety anyway. he’ll be good for Carolina. I hope he makes it. Bummer man.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Sorry if I gave out wrong info Nation – Here’s another link that showes we signed 14 udfa’s – some sites are showing different things
http://fflivewire.com/articles/2008_NFL_Undrafted_Free_Agent_Signings_1.aspx
April 29th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Oakglenn…I don’t think we will see many 215 corner backs running at Dmac….and for damm sure their wont be any 220 pound safties catching Him from behind.
Ya can’t Hit what ya can’t catch.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Assassin
What were they saying about Adrian Peterson when he came out?
Myself I don’t watch college ball so I really have no history on these guys.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
My big criticism of Darren McFadden was exactly what you guys all rave about. You see him blast thru a hole and he’s gone. Well, what I see is Robert Felton at Guard and Jonathon Luigs at center, both All Americans just blowing guys to bits and creating huge holes. Hence why Felix Jones ran so well too. What I said to everyone is obviously I like McFadden, but I really like Luigs and Felton! Those two All Americans kicked ass.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Here´s something on this guy:
Derrick Gray DE 6′4 266 Texas Southern.
Overview
One of the top 40 small-school prospects in this year’s draft class, Gray was not really on the radar coming into his senior year.
But last fall he showed the potential to become a nice power defensive end with a second-team All-SWAC season: 76 tackles, 24.5 for loss, 9.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.
That sort of production from a larger defensive end got him in the crosshairs of NFL scouts pretty quickly.
Positives:
Prototypical size for a strong-side defensive end, with long arms and good upper-body and leg strength. … Holds the point well, even against bigger right tackles. … Can chase down the line and hustles downfield. … Uses his length at times to put pressure on the quarterback from the outside. … Gets his hands inside the tackle’s body and rips him to get off the block.
Negatives:
Could give more consistent effort. … Got his production against lesser competition, but he does not have the elite quickness needed to consistently beat NFL tackles off the snap. … Needs to learn how to effectively use his size and length to get off blocks to make plays. … Straight-line runner. … Does not change directions quickly on misdirection plays, and may not be agile enough to handle quick backs in space.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Len I am with ya on that. I think Dmac is going to be fantastic no doubt.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Anybody sign Xavier Lee, QB, FSU? He’s kind of an odd fit because he’s not nearly polished enough to play NFL QB but he’s an impressive athlete. He’s about 6-3, 230 and runs in the 4.7 range. He got stuck for some reason behind Drew Weatherford at QB for FSU and never had a chance to develop, but he was considered one of the greatest high school players ever in the state of Florida and did show some flashes at FSU. Anquan Boldin ran a similar 40 time coming out of FSU (that’s why he lasted until Round 2) and Boldin was converted from QB while at FSU. Maybe Lee could switch as well.
He’s a project but he’s one of those rare guys that when he has the ball you feel like he could break off a huge play at any moment.
I hope the Raiders at least consider picking him up if he’s still out there. Maybe stash him on the practice squad until you figure out what position he’s best suited for.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
AP was always touted as a tough runner with concerns about his shoulder/clavicle injury. Had he not had the health concerns he probably would’ve been drafted earlier than he was.
He was also analyzed as someone that got away with being faster than his competition in college but it would catch up with him in the pro’s. THey also said he had a narrow frame.
Sound familiar?
April 29th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Hey Oakglenn, was Dorsey one of those guys gettin blown out?
April 29th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Nice!! Well, Dorsey holds the POA pretty darn good, but I’m sure Luigs and Felton got him a time or two.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Oakglenn – Fair points re: the oline for DMC and Felix Jones. That said, Fargas seemed to have found holes last year, as did Jordan and Rhodes. If those same holes are present for DMC I suspect he can hit them as fast (if not faster) than either of those guys. I’m hoping he hits the hole, unloads his trademark stiffarm, and gains a few yards. A couple of these runs will help JR set up play action.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Oak
You said it. The guys up front make room to run.
Where I feel good about this is Fargas ran for a 1000 yards. Not a knock on him….I like Fargas. But come on. If he can get a 1000 yards in what 12 games? What can DMac get.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Man I type slow. Im always one post late!
April 29th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Oakglenn…My point is that DMAC is a GREAT football player with talent that translates to any league, under any system, under any circmstance.
The Raiders just need to use HIS talent effectively.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
One thing we need to remember is that the running game was NOTICEABLY better when Newberry was in the lineup. I realize Wade is smart and knows coverages but I don’t know if he can open holes like Newberry did. If we have any intentions on running the ball up the middle we will need a Center that can drive the NT forward. The Center position is one I wan’t to watch closely this year.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
David White, of the San Francisco Chronicle, reports several Oakland Raiders players were surprised at the release of RB Dominic Rhodes. “I didn’t foresee that happening,” said RB Justin Fargas. “Dominic is a good player and a good locker-room guy (who) brings everybody else up. Those are the kind of guys you want to have around, so when they let him go, it was a little bit of a shock, a little bit of a disappointment to me.”
April 29th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Good night all.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Len I completely agree. The more I think about this guy Dmac, the more ways I can think of using him. I just can’t wait for Dmac and Mike Bush in the same backfield or Fargas and Bush in the backfield and Dmac split out as a SE.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
DoeDoe…what that article tells Me is that 1st it’s bussiness and 2nd nobody’s job is safe.
Competition. Step up or …..
April 29th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
If anyone would know how to get the best out of D-Mac coach Kif would be the man
April 29th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Well good night all. Thanks for the info and the chat!
April 29th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Def agree
April 29th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Oakglenn…WEAPONS BABY
Sucks for all the D co ordinators out there…lol
April 29th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
David White, of the San Francisco Chronicle, reports Oakland Raiders RB Darren McFadden will command a six-year contract worth at least $50 million with no less than $20 million in guarantees.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Sign Him
April 29th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
I liked Rhodes but Fargas won the job last year and Kiffin loves his work ethic and do it for the team attitude. Ultimately, Rhodes knows he’s not as talentted as a guy like McFadden and couldn’t say anything bad about Fargas. The Raiders owned up to what they said they would do and let him go find a team that can use him. Good Luck Rhodes. I’m only glad that we have the ability to let a guy like that go and be in good shape.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
“This seems in-line with what he should expect. Now, it will be up to the Raiders and his agent to work out the language.”
http://www.silverandblackpride.com/
First time on this web – Not to bad – seems pretty updated with the latest greatest Raiders info
April 29th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
That’s Roughly 10 mil. less than J Long Agreed too in total $… Guaranteed money is I think about the same.
I could be wrong
April 29th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Think about this for one second: We get the ball first. The opposing kicker even boots it out of the end zone. lst and 10 from our 20.
Bush and Fargas in the backfield. Dmac splits and runs a streak pattern. Leave both backs and the tight ends in to block. The opposing defense would have to commit 8 to run support. Jam then drops back and throws a SEVENTY YARD STREAK TO DMAC to open the game!!!!!! How do you like me now Denver????
April 29th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Raider4Life…what that also tells us is that the Raiders have Ethics. The honored a handshake agreement.
They have cred in the industry.
Regardless of what many may think.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I must say I am very pleased with the draft
I admit I was sceptical of McFadden only in the sense that I was trying to be practical. To me trading down and aquiring more picks and players with this years deep draft sounded like the right thing to do, the smart choice due to the bad record and overall talent level, or lack there of from the Raiders.
What in Tommy Maddux’s name was I thinking?! I absolutely failed to to reach par with Al Davis, Lane Kiffin, or even Rob Ryan which no one fully understands. I pride myself as a knowledgable Raider Nation psycopath and have been correct in most presumptions with what they are doing and the direction they are going on and off the field.
Plain and simple I got in a rut! I was rocked to sleep by all the negative drama and b.s. and even some very true nightmares we constantly endured over the past 5 years. Then as Madden would yell BOOM! it hit me like Jack Tatum…
We have a chance to get of the Barret Robins Tijuana Bad News Band Wagon. I got to give it to Al, Kiffin and company. Mixing Darren McFadden in the same backfield as JaMarcus Russell, Justin Fargas, Michael Bush, Justin Grifith, and Oren O’neal could be absolutely silly!! The Luckiest team in the NFL could be the one that has the bye week in addition to prepare for all these weapons before they play us. If they can click on all cylinders this could be scary good.
This is a chance, not at practicality, or to increase the overall talent pool and make a solid working machine, but this is a bold move in greatness! With so much copy cat and parody in the NFL, you can get dragged in the mud with mediocrity. I was probably o.k. with this before but when I think of just how special this could be, to throw any look at the opposing defense and they have to fear so many weapons all game long. Just imagine you are the line backer who doesn’t know if you have to shed a stiff hitting O’neal so you want to get in early and get leverage so that the split second you may have to grab McFadden’s ankle and hope to bring him down before he fly’s by you meaning the quicker you feel the blow from the hit you just took and as you look on from being buried 2 inches in the grass you see Russell still has the ball. You look in the secondary and realize your are not the only one who bit down hard on the fake, then you grab your shoulder to straighten out your pads as you look to see Russell throwing a lazer to Zach Miller 35 yards over the safety’s head who reacted with the linebacker and McFadden and say to yourself mercy. All of their backfield weapons have a chance at being elite with superior skill sets.
The next few years can be really fun Nation.
On a side note Iove the picks of Branch, Scott, Shields, and Schilens because the theme is speed. Something you can’t teach and crave to coach.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Oakglenn….TOUCHDOWN RAIDERS
I like the way You’re thinking.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Very true Raiderlen… Kiffin had these guys on the same page as much as you can ask for last year. He will do some more weeding out this year. Even Sapp who is retired called out Jordan and gave props to Kiffin’s offense.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Post 118 and 120
I LOVE IT!!!!
April 29th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
About this……
“David White, reports McFadden will command a six-year contract worth at least $50 million with $20 million in guarantees.”
That´s about right, considering the deal Gaines Adams, last year´s 4th pick signed with TB. Lombardi once said, you figure a 3 to 10 percent increase from year to year according to the slot.
“Tampa Bay’s Gaines Adams agreed Thursday to a six-year deal..The deal maxes out at $46 million, with $18.56 million guaranteed, ESPN’s John Clayton reported.”
And as far as Jake Long, keep in mind he signed only a 5 year deal and it was for 57.5 million with 30 guaranteed.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Oakglenn…did you notice your boy Robert Felton went undrafted?…he signed with Buffalo, I think.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
BOB..thanks for the info
Well then I will Presume that means DMAC will be “signed sealed and delivered” (HE’S OUR’S), before camp opens.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
No problem Len
Good night people.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Raider4life…You Paint a BEAUTIFULL picture of what is to come.
Thank You.
Can’t wait to see the Raiders start to give back what they’ve been takin’.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Have a Goodone nation
As Greg Papa would say TouchDown
RAAAAAAAAIIIIIIDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEERRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
April 29th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Fargas McFadden and Bush (unless he gets beat out by one of the FA’s we bring in) is a great backfield. Fargas will run hard and won’t complain and the other two are rookies (bush didn’t play last year) with no egos from what I’ve seen and heard. Fargas gives us an above average to good everydown back, McFadden can be eased into the offense and used as a change of pace and weapon in various packages, and Bush can start off as a short yardage guy – his versatility in the pass game will help a lot too. Griffith can run the ball too so we’re basically set…Rhodes was o.k. He wasn’t going to carry the load and he wasn’t going to give us more than 3.8-4.1 ypc.
I didn’t want to draft McFadden b/c of the needs on the d line, but realistically the only guy worth of the pick was Chris Long and once he was off the board, McFadden was the only guy worthy of the pick since Kelly is playing the 3 technique (thus eliminating Dorsey as Kiffin stated and I along with a select few on the board have said all along).
This should be our last top 10 pick for a long time so if DMac is the real deal (that’s the coach’s call), and Javon Walker is ready to go, we’re set at the skill positions for a while and DMac will end up being the essential element to Kiffin’s explosive offense. It’s the pick teams on the cusp of the playoffs and better than can’t get to the superbowl that would die for D Mac – if he works out (and I think at worst he becomes a great change of pace back that can be used to create mismatches in the passing game), we can build around him, JR, Miller, and Walker – realistically the superbowl is 3 years off anyway no matter how you slice it – a good draft on the d line and o line might have given us a better chance at the playoffs this year, but moving forward we will be glad we made this pick as we address the o line in the next two years while JR learns how to play in the NFL.
I just rewatched all of McFadden’s you tube highlights, he is a perfect fit for this offense. He’s a lot tougher than I thought he was, loves contact, has a mean stiff arm, and when he sees daylight whether it’s inside our outside the tackles, he attacks it quick. He’s much better/more complete than Reggie Bush, and like others have said, he’s only 20 and can bulk up his lower body. The difference we’ll see between him and Fargas is the ability to maintain his balance after contact and to make full-speed cuts once he gets to the second level. Fargas is a one cut back that hits the crease hard and fairly quickly but with little balance and poor top-end speed at this stage of his career. McFadden’s vision and reaction time is ridiculous. When I watched him (granted they were highlights), he instantly accelarted to top speed and blasted through the line with really small running lanes or creases. Also, check out his 4.27 40 at the combine on youtube; he just walks to the line, puts a hand down and takes off unlike all the other guys that had a whole routine down; it was impressive. I’m definetly concerned about his small lower body since he’s a number 4 overall pick and that doesn’t bode well for a franchise back, but he’s better than Reggie Bush and is a lot more fluid. He’s like a faster Marcus Allen. I also think the wild hog offense he ran in college will translate well to the zone scheme we run because the principle is the same, look for daylight and hit the crease and make a play at the second level.
Anyway, that’s my take – I’m positive he won’t bust beause he can be used in a lot of ways and we’ll see if he’s the second coming of Bo in a couple years when he fills out completely and gets on a professional weight program.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
too bad Robert Felton was not taken by us a Undrafted FA, cause i think he would be a nice back up at Guard at least
April 30th, 2008 at 12:00 am
O.k. one last nostalgic post for the evening nation and good night.
You can’t spell McFadden without the Madden! The winniest coach in Raiders History!
April 30th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Jedi, Nice post. McFadden, IMO..is the Real Deal.
He will never be Bo Jackson. Man What a shame His carrer was cut short.
But I do Believe He can be as good as Marcus was for the Raiders Back in the Day.
Can’t wait to see it play out.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Raider4life…LOL..It’s pre destined Karma Baby.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Exactly which person or persons is going to protect our new star running back from his own family once he does sign that dotted line? In this age of unbridled selfishness it should be of great concern to the young man.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Len,
Yeah, Bo was IT. That was a sad day when he went down, but anybody who’s a football fan should be glad they got to see him in the NFL and the only reason was because of Al Davis letting him play part time. I see very similar running styles between Bo and McFadden though, which really surprised me. I had him pegged as Reggie Bush 2 most of the pre-draft, but a couple of new youtube clips changed my mind…I’m not a huge college football fan so I didn’t see much of McFadden’s games, but the clips I saw showed me that McFadden has that same tenacity as Bo – nobody is going to have that same insane combination of size speed power and agility, but McFadden does bring the hammer from the video that I saw. There’s one in particular where he blasts through a hole between the tackles and puts his head down to blast through the strong safety, but he got to the second level so fast that he took the angle away from the safety and without breaking stride, he lowered his shoulders, covered the ball with both arms, and gave a pop anticipating the contact…when it wasn’t there, he raised back up and sprinted to the endzone, again, without breaking stride. This kid has the mentality of a Running Back, not like Reggie Bush who just wants to bounce everything outside and got away with pure speed most of his life.
I am really impressed and I think the combination of our strong running game coupled with the threat of McFadden taking it to the house is going to open up our offense like no other player could have possibly done. I can’t wait until the pre-season – if Bush and McFadden are as good as advertised, JR is going to have a lot fun going vertical off play action.
I had to suffer in San Diego for four years listening to all the discharge fans singing the praises of LT… I can’t wait until McFadden throws a half back option pass for a TD against them…you’re right, this is going to be a fun offense to watch as it matures over the course of the season.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:19 am
I don’t think McFadden’s character is going to be an issue – he’s out of his old stomping grounds, the Vick case has everyone on notice, and he’s not that bad of a guy from what everyone says. He got in a bar fight defending his brother when he was 19. According to the report I saw, his coaches said he was so upset that he let his team down because he dislocated his toe in the incident and couldn’t play in the opener against USC, that he refused to go out to bars for the rest of the season. This guy is team first, has no drug issues, and his sister is coming out here to live with him to help him adjust and stay out of trouble. Kiffin will also contribute to his maturation process I’m sure.
We won’t know for a while, but give him the benefit of the doubt and let’s see what he can do on the field.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:34 am
OK, let’s go over the timeline of how Dakota got baited today.
MaddenRaider reviews the blog this morning and to his surprise, notices that Dakota takes a couple of shots at Davis. Normally, Madden would give Dakota a 2-shay under one of his names. But since Dakota can’t go more than 3 posts without calling out MR, MR decides to take another route. He hawks it as an Al Davis worshipper, using the name “Ro 34″, an actual name of an Al loyalist that MR used to go at it with at RF.net.
Dakota, being the einstein he is, bites like a salmon in September, and takes on MR’s new alter ego, mind you, MR’s alter ego taking the side of Al Davis. MR’s plan is simple. Baiting Dakota into bashing Al will inevitably provoke real Al loyals to go after Dakota. Enter “Big Al’s Goon”. For the rest of the day, Dakota and Big Al’s goon go at it, while MaddenRaider, for all we know, left for his job at 7-11 or whatever at 2 pm.
What’s the moral of the story, kids?
IGNORE THE TROLLS.
I don’t know why you guys simply can’t do this. You guys always tell everyone to do it, but then are the first to bite whenever one shows up. Dakota, congrats. You got punked. Again. Let’s see if you bite again tomorrow.
Good evening.
Don’t bother responding.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:48 am
Dominic Rhodes is a perfect example how fast love can turn to hate. When he signed the contract it was a great organization and he was happy to be here, but now that he got the Timberland he has all of this stupid sh%t to say. First of all he wasn’t there long enough to have a legit opinion about the way they run things in Oaktown due to his suspension so clearly he’s just bitter. Who is he to tell the Raiders they a have some pretty good backs so they shouldnt have taken a great back. That sounds really stupid. The difference between a good back and a great back could be 2 TDs vs. 2 FGs. 10 wins vs. 7 wins. Playoffs vs picking high in the draft again and again. Rhodes needs to stop acting like an angry woman, pack his/her bags leave, get over it and shut the hell up. Life goes on.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:29 am
Jedi,
DmC may be a fine young man, it is others around him that may be of harm.There are 20 million reasons that he could find himself having to deal with many persons who have nothing but selfish interest preying upon him at every turn. Some athletes, take JaMarcus as an example, seem to have enough support from family and friends to be of benefit. DMc?
April 30th, 2008 at 2:49 am
M,
Completely agree and we’ve both probably known people in our lives personally or professionally that were easily influenced by people or circumstances that are fundamentally bad and their careers suffered for it. Millions of dollars can corrupt anyone or just empower a turd to do bad things (i.e. pacman jones). As far a pro football players go, my only claim to fame while playing 8 man football was catching Rashaan Salaam from behind and forcing him out of bounds after a 20 yard gain. That was the only play the dude didn’t score a touchdown – he mercy ruled us in 2.5 quarters. That guy had talent, won the heisman, had unbelievable parents, went to a wealthy prep school, and still screwed up because of the money and drugs. Same with Todd Marijuanavich – you just never know. Bad or weak people (e.g. Ricky Williams) do bad things – What McFadden did was defend his brother and after he got in trouble and injured himself, he never defended his actions except to say he made a mistake because emotion got involved due to family and was deeply disturbed not being able to play for his team – I think he learned his lesson and the vick/jones cases only serve to reinforce that. He’s bringing his sister to Oakland to help give him a family foundation out here, and I’m sure the organization will give him all the support he needs as well. If we see him running with his old crew out here, then I’ll be concerned, but I think he realizes he needs to avoid trouble and I think he knows he needs that help – he’s not the brightest crayon in the box and he’s also not very saavy at his young age, but to his credit, he seems to recognize both and brought his sister out here to make sure he doesn’t stray. I think the worst we can expect are a few more baby mama’s (lock up your daughters, nation) but all in all, I do trust that he knows keeping bad company will kill his career and he just loves football too much to risk it.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:52 am
i’ll assume we had a good draft and mcfadden is as good as many say. i have no hatred for al davis. i remain worried about both lines, and about the health of our rookie quarterback, upon whose shoulders our hopes lie. as we dispense with veterans like rhodes, i am concerned with leadership and team chemistry. even when a team is destined for the superbowl, there are times when the going gets rough and it is important to have guys on both sides of the ball who can say: “it’s ok, i’ve been here before and if we stick together we can get through this”. who will fill these roles on this team as it is currently constituted? rookies, near rookies, UFA’s, guys prone to injury, and guys with little experience with winning? i liked having rhodes around, a guy who had experienced winning the big one. i want the raiders to succeed, and i hope we don’t wind up regretting personnel decisions as with him.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Well…it just dawned on me.
We’re going for the power trio setup that Dallas and Indy used to climb back to sucess after being at the bottom of the NFL.
Dallas had Aikman, Emmett and Irvin.
Indy had Peyton, E. James and Marvin Harrison.
We have JaMarcus and McFadden……..we are missing the 3rd guy in the trio.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:03 am
Jedi Raider…were you a Bishop’s guy? ha ha
April 30th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Nothing new here but a nice read non the less!
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080429/SPORTS/804290336/1015/SPORT0502
April 30th, 2008 at 3:38 am
“CopenhagenFan Says:
April 30th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Well…it just dawned on me.
We’re going for the power trio setup that Dallas and Indy used to climb back to sucess after being at the bottom of the NFL.
Dallas had Aikman, Emmett and Irvin.
Indy had Peyton, E. James and Marvin Harrison.
We have JaMarcus and McFadden……..we are missing the 3rd guy in the trio.”
Well, lets hope next year we will complete the trio or may one of our current receiver can the last piece of the puzzle
April 30th, 2008 at 4:58 am
The offense will look just like Tennessee’s except with more long balls. Bottom line is McFadden is way better than Rhodes ever thought about being and a lot younger.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:11 am
Tennessee’s offense sucks…Vince Young throws about the same as McClown!
I hope JMoney can get his head together and harness his gun.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:12 am
CAM do you think that Walker can step up at WR?
April 30th, 2008 at 6:04 am
I heard the interview with Rhodes on Sirius. This interview probably hurt Rhodes more than his lack of production. Waa, Waa, Waa…I don’t understand, more Waa, Waa… Let me make this plain and simple so even Rhodes himself understands. M.Allen, B.Jackson, D.McFadden types only come along every ten or twenty years, and there is no guaranty your going to be the one of 32 teams trying to get him. The second McFadden was drafted Rhodes was up for trade. If any team in this league felt he was worth a sixth or seventh pick they would have jumped at the chance. Jumped at the chance because nobody expects a sixth or seventh rounder to have any better then a 50/50 chance of making the team. So if Rhodes wasn’t worth locking down with a seventh before anybody else gets there, why would anybody want him now that he opened his mouth and cried boo-boo on a national stage. At this point he will probably sit around until he accepts the NFL min. and plays as the third then fourth the in a three years or less is just not worth the min.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Tennesse was a playoff team and beat us, their offense does not suck. Young just can’t throw the deep ball very well just like McNair.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Copenhagen…
what if this Schillens was our guy?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Eyepatch if you think the Titans offense doesn’t suck you are fooling yourself. Their defense held opponents to under 17 points like 10 weeks or something crazy, thats how they made it to the playoffs.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Real nice OakGlenn but you were firmly against drafting DMAC weren’t you?
# Oakglenn Says:
April 29th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Think about this for one second: We get the ball first. The opposing kicker even boots it out of the end zone. lst and 10 from our 20.
Bush and Fargas in the backfield. Dmac splits and runs a streak pattern. Leave both backs and the tight ends in to block. The opposing defense would have to commit 8 to run support. Jam then drops back and throws a SEVENTY YARD STREAK TO DMAC to open the game!!!!!! How do you like me now Denver????
April 30th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Man, you guys spend a lot of time here blogging. I hope you are getting paid to blog.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:36 am
#144 we are also missing guys #4-8 in the equation… the stud offensive line.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Since when is McFadden Randy Moss? The guy had all of 149 yards receiving in 13 games last year, and he is going to come into the NFL and start running 70 yard streak patterns?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:41 am
BSPN stated that MacDaddy wasn’t going to get 800 yds ruching this year because the Raiders are so bad. man I really want to stuff it down their throats for once!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:00 am
McFadden and Bush- “Rape and Pillage”….
There, you heard it…quit with the “Thunder and Lightning” cr@p!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Mistabrown, I think Oakglenn, like the rest of us who wanted Def. has resigned himself to rooting for the Raiders & their players no matter what. What I don’t understand is the McFadden fans who b!+ch about “crazy Al” when it was “crazy Al” that enabled McFadden to come here.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Mistabrown needs defcaf….keep it coming…Armchair QB can’t get sacked…love it!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:06 am
RaiderTW….it’s about being All In The Family…
we b!tch about our own family but can’t nobody else.
I’d love to shake Al’s hand for what he has done for the NFL and then give him a flying drop kick Mortal Kombat style for what he has done to the Raiders…LA, Art Shell II, Marcus Allen, No Receiver opposite Brown until Rice came along, etc, etc.
As family, this is allowed.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:07 am
What does that matter Brown??? What are you foolish?? I was also against KC drafting Dorsey.
And of course Trevjo doesn’t even know what a streak pattern is or he wouldn’t comment. It might be time for both of you to go unwrap your new Madden 09 games while the rest of us talk about actual football.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:08 am
—”According to a “league source,” the Raiders have been holding onto LaMont Jordan because they believe they can still wrangle trade value out of his 2005 season.
Crazy Al is at it again. At this point there’s no way teams will part with anything of value when they can simply wait for his release and sign him to a cheaper deal. Apr. 30 – 10:48 a.m. ET”—
—”The Raiders are expected to begin searching for a backup quarterback to compete with Andrew Walter.
Trent Dilfer remains a candidate, and Daunte Culpepper is still hanging around. More likely the team is hovering around the Buccaneers’ roster like a vulture, waiting see which of their seven quarterbacks get dumped before training camp.
Apr. 30 – 10:51 a.m. ET”—
April 30th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Easy Oakglenn, I already have McFadden up to a 99 on my bootleg (thank you China) ‘09!! LOL!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Lowdown…
you sure sound like a sympathetic healthy fella!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:12 am
LMN…I was having a good night…
April 30th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I guess Sapp ruined our chances to trade Jordan with his talk about jordans offseason status…
I never thought we could trade him anyway…
April 30th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Lowdown..
it was regarding your rape and pillage comment – and your latent homo erotic comments…
April 30th, 2008 at 8:18 am
LMN, I tend to read more than post…hadn’t seen you on in a while….nice to some Order amongst all the Chaos which generally goes on in here.
As for Rape and Pillage…just tweaking what someone said about Pillage and Plunder…
McFadden’s Combine numbers for FRP (Forced Reprodution): 2.5 Kids….classic.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:19 am
lowdown, bootlegs games and videos in China???? No way.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:21 am
hehehe
April 30th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Latent?? It was blatant… Verdamte Auslander! Hoffentlich mit dem Viertel Reich alle die Nederlander wirdt todt sein und wir konnen einem besser Welt haben.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Copenhagen brought up the “triplets” analogy of the Girls and Horses. I haven’t yet understood why a WR has to be the third member of the party. Zach can easily be our number one option even if he is a tight end. Triumverate complete. (I say make it a foursome, throw M.Bush in there.)
Stud O-line? Hmmm. A quandary. Tom Cable, time to break out the magic wand.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Oakglenn…yeah..hard t find (every street corner)…worst part is these peasants think soccer is football…actually had to hunt all day for it…b@stards “No I don’t want Euro Football, Hockey, or Rugby”
Damn commies and thier conspiracey to infest the world with avan flu and soccer!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Lowdown,
that stuff you’re breathing ain’t air, it’s an amalgam of toxins. Don’t inhale!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Lowdown….
I read german too, but you romantics about your leader AH is off base… btw what has the Dutch done to you… remember you self a foreigner at the moment =)
April 30th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Lowdoen you really proved a point/claim about amricans there….
April 30th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Lowdown…
why dont you step out in front of a tank at tianemen…you would do your fellow american a favor, I bet the Chinese would thank you and the entire Raider Nation would be better off…
April 30th, 2008 at 8:31 am
LMN…of course I know you read German…slanderd you long ago…and most Europeansspeak several languages….as for being a “foreigner”…hell as Bogart said in Casablanca “I’m a drunkard”…ergo making him a citizen of the world!
That being said, I dig your commentary…
AH was a punk…hah, you call that a war? Try haggling in the markets here or in Morraco, now that’s war!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:33 am
hold kæft en tosse… typisk de er så vilde med alt fra anden verdenskrig at de tror dem der tabte krigen er nogle seje gutter…. taber
April 30th, 2008 at 8:33 am
LMN,
good afternoon. Yeah, Lowdown’s Deutsche diatribe was a quite a load.
If you breathed the atmosphere in Beijing you might have some odd thoughts as well.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Erocentricism has clouded your usally well placed view.
The Raider Nation is my Nation. My passport says so.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Lowdown…
I used to like your comments to but those homo remarks and the romanticism of the 3rd reich is not something i find funny… at all
April 30th, 2008 at 8:36 am
LMN,
sagt det bra en 182
April 30th, 2008 at 8:37 am
M… exactly. And the beer is even worse…no stouts or lagers to speak of….
April 30th, 2008 at 8:38 am
M…
hey… yeah, first time i saw a chinese turists here, the wore mask looking like stormtroopers or so… when their guide told them the air here was clean they didn’t dare taking of those masks :/
April 30th, 2008 at 8:39 am
M…
yeah I know regarding #182 but i had to vent =) and I knew some here would understand so much better =)
April 30th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Homo eroticism?? Must say I am mystified by that one…unless you are reading into something I am not?? Honest, you got me on that one…generally I know when I am writing a double entandre…
As for the 4th Reich…what can I say, gotta soft spot for people with the nerve to do what no one else will do…right or wrong. Guess that’s what made me a Raider.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:42 am
now you were talking Soccer… haha
tonight is the last of the semifinals of Champions league, Liverpool meets Chelsea… which mean the Final will be total british… Man U vs LFC/CFC….
April 30th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Al Davis is Jewish. I don’t think he’d be amused.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:49 am
KoolKell….
good point!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:49 am
sigh…that’s his problem.
Commoners get caught up in the “My Race was attacked” , or “My Religon” was attacked…
Not me. It’s all about body count, regardless of race, religon, color, creed, marital status, etc…
I don’t care who you are…just like Sigourney Weaver said in Aliens when she killed one of he own “It was in my way”.
I leave the esoteric “cafe Conversation” and conjecturing to you learned types…me? I’m simply fascinated with numbers…
April 30th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Good morning NATION
April 30th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Lowdown…
its a pathetic way of thinking to talk positive about the worst thing to happen in the last 200 years… perhaps you think Nazies is cool because of their uniforms or their weapons. But I don’t understand why you couald agree with their thinking… “ends will never justify the means” NEVER!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:57 am
408…
Hola, jefe!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:57 am
LMN, what you don’t understand is neither the ends nor means matter to me.
As for worst thing in the last 200 years？
Are you serious? I think you are overstating…or have you forgotten the entire season of Dallas that ended in Bobby waking and realizing it was “just a dream”… or the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi….
Your colors are showing amigo.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Let me explain it like this LMN, and then hopefully you an understand me and chill….
Some see the glass as half full, others see the glass half empty….I say, when the glass get’s to tat level it is time to order another beer.
Entiendes carnal?
April 30th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Well I just like those you root for, never will…
during WW2
25M military loses, 42M Civilian loses, 5.75 Jews a total of 72.75 people…. thats more death than the Mayans, Aztecs and the the slave trade of the 1800 combined… So yeah this was a pretty bad war… about of 4% of the entire world….
My Colors are showing? well either its SnB or RednWhite…
April 30th, 2008 at 9:17 am
We cant cut Jordan until June 1 and teams are simply waiting. I wonder if the Raiders have their eyes on some guys who will be cut after June 1st. If anybody has a clue on who those possible cap casulties may be let use know.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I will not chill not at all, but I’ll leave for the moment, not on such important subject, if you glamorize about the Nazies you have a really nasty disorder…
April 30th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Tay…
yeah, a trade wont happen, its not like he is Randy Moss or something, they will just wait if they want him…
April 30th, 2008 at 9:21 am
looks like an important piece of the interview was left out. There’s been speculation that kiffin also wanted dmac at 4.. Here’s more from d rhodes @ fanhouse blogs:
Today, Rhodes, took his GM skillz to Sirius NFL Radio:
“I don’t see the reason why the Raiders needed to draft a running back, you know what I’m saying? I mean, we have a stable full of running backs, that ran for 100 yards every one of them. And then we went and drafted a guy — he’s a great runner, don’t get me wrong — but, I don’t understand the logic, everybody wanted to do this or that; it was never saying, “Okay, we’re all going to do this together.” I mean, there were just a whole bunch of fires everywhere, and … then they seemed to blaze out of control.
I don’t really think Lane Kiffin wanted to take a running back in the first round, let’s just put it like that … he has to deal with it now, but I don’t think that’s what he wanted to do.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Al Davis is the MAN! Last year he cleaned house and let a bunch of back audition for a job. Justin Fargus is the only one who proved out. Kiffen was conservative bringing Russell in last year because he needed his O-Line to learn his new zone blocking system and gel. This year he picked up a dynasty guy like M.Allen, B.Jackson. If M.Bush works out we could have the making of a new FOUR HORSEMEN: McFadden, Fargus, Bush, Russell. When the hoofs meet the turf no team is going to be able to stop them. That’s the point, if you can’t stop them you have to bring 8, the second a team commits 8 Russell goes into a play action and our new ALL PRO receiver with his team of 4.3 lighting fast buddies will ring the bell! This is the team we have all been waiting for. As soon as the Raiders score the second touch down in the first half the other team starts to get worried because this isn’t a team where 14 points is going to get you a win against anymore. Now you need 30 or more, so they open up the offense and start to pass: Game, Set, MATCH! This is the team Al Davis has been working for all these years and the talking heads still can’t figure out what’s about to happen! Listening to those idiots on Sirius is just laughable. Simple: no one can keep up with our running game, this translates into if you want to beat us your going to have to pass. No one has a better pass defense. I just wish the talking heads actually knew a fraction as much as they pretend too!
April 30th, 2008 at 9:28 am
OakGlenn, you were against KC drafting Dorsey ????
LMAO
I wonder how much KC gives a rats a$$!
You didnt want us to draft DMAC and now your having wet dreams about DMAC catching TD’s out of the slot! You’re a mess..
April 30th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I didn’t mention any names at Sirius because they really need to clean house and start over.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Of course Lamont Jordan has no value right now, but my guess is that the Raiders are hoping that, as it often happens, once the regular season is closer and some RB´s go down with inuries in camp and pre-season, we could get some calls for Jordan, a late rounder at best but that´s better than nothing.
And of course, there is a chance that one of our own guys goes down, so Jordan with a re-structured deal may come in handy to start the season, after all if Fargas goes down, we´d be left with 2 rookies to handle the bulk.
Of course all of the above is moot if we need the cap space at some point in the upcomng weeks, months.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Joe E and Rashard Lee will be there if Fargas gets hurt. Jordan wont necessarily be cut June 1st it could happen in August.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I would have kept Rhoads and dumped Jordan.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Inside Alameda says:
What’s the moral of the story, kids?
IGNORE THE TROLLS.
I don’t know why you guys simply can’t do this. You guys always tell everyone to do it, but then are the first to bite whenever one shows up.
——————————————
let me get this straight, if your a Raider fan that doesn’t think Big AL is the ant-christ then your a Troll? Wouldn’t a Troll be a fake Raider fan pretending to support the team, but every chance he gets he’s bashing the team, creating flaws that don’t exist, highlighting flaws that do, and predicting doom and gloom? And if your not believing and spewing the Raider hate that they do then your a Troll? Classic gang technique of either your with us or your a Troll/the enemy. What a load of crap.
There are many here that support the Raiders including AL Davis. There are many Raider fans that know the Raiders are still one of the most successful football franchises in pro football. Sure we (the Raiders)have recently had a string of bad seasons following our 2002 SB loss. That’s not a reason to want someone dead or a reason to wish death on someone. There are many Raider fans that can see the improvements that have been made and know that the Raiders will be back on top. And when we are back on top the Raider haters will still be whining, complaining, and most of all hating.
Because the Raider haters here are so quick with the insults and have pretty much taken this blog over Raider fans and supporters are reluctant to speak against the Raider hater groupies, crew, gang or whatever they consider themselves.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Lamont Jordan is a great backup! The Raiders aren’t going to have any trouble keeping him if he is willing to be the fouth back. Trouble is he is better than a fourth back, even if no one is willing to part with a 5 or a 6 and 7. He just has to want to be part of a 12-4 team with the ultimate desire of drafting 32nd next year. Kiffen and Al have done a great job of ejecting the trouble makers, so the job is his if he wants it.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:41 am
lowdown you play 360 or ps3?
April 30th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I would have preferred to keep Rhodes too, but they had a deal in place, Rhodes did his part by giving the team some room for all the FA´s, we had to honor our end of the deal too.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Raider Buck, the Raiders agreed to let Rhodes go if he restructured his contract. He restructured and they released him, end of story.
Lamont wil likely be kept around into pre-season so if a team loses their RB to an injury Jordan might have value.
All speculation but there is reasons for things. He could be cut June, July, or August.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Looking at the clips of McFadden, he reminds me a lot of Macus Allen. His upright style and shiftiness. Does anyone else get that view? Allen didnt run people over, but like McFadden he was great on the goal line.
Who does McFadden remind you of????
April 30th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Steve Duran…but he won´t be our 4th back unless he takes a major pay cut, which he has to do anyway if he wants to play at all next year, no one will pay him 4.7 million dollars.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:54 am
That’s right, what do I want for Christmas? I want the 32nd pick in next years draft! And further more, I’m thinking the Raiders could go 12 – 4 next year and do something THIS YEAR! THIS IS THE TEAM WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. Al Davis knows you force teams to play to your strength. This is a simple lesson nobody gets and I’m glad. This could be Al Davis has been to more Super Bowls as an owner than all the talking heads combined! This is why only a couple of teams we play this year have a better record against us. There are 31 other teams and none, let me repeat myself, none of them have close to the all time domination against other teams then the Raider do…and the gap only widens if you only use the years Al Davis was involved. Al Davis finally got tired of listening to every pretend expert coming down the pike and built this team his way, and only S%^$, get out of the way, cause here they come!
April 30th, 2008 at 9:59 am
There’s no way Jordan will take a pay cut. He already asked for his release last year so he’ll say no to the pay cut so we will be forced to release him. He won’t want to sit the bench and get paid. He’s too proud..
April 30th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Brown is that the way it works in Madden ‘09??
April 30th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I dont know Oak Ive never played Madden. I dont even have a Playstation or Xbox. Why dont you go pet your cat..
April 30th, 2008 at 10:17 am
So then Brown, if you don’t get your football “knowledge” from video games, I guess you don’t have any then. You were the one who said if an offense was going to run a screen, you would blitz, which is the dumbest thing you would do. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You said the Raiders never change their defense and so when you tell me you know what defense the Giants ran in the Super Bowl, I just have laugh at you. You don’t know what the eff you’re talking about ever. Next.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Actually I said that cat is smarter than you. And you didn’t deny it, which was the smartest thing you’ve ever done, because I could most likely scientifically prove that cat is smarter than you. And we could take bets. You’d lose at that too.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Oak, if I said that go find it and copy in this blog and you’ll never see me here again. If you cant find it you leave.
“You were the one who said if an offense was going to run a screen, you would blitz”
Hurry up!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Oak, you want to talk about the Super Bowl again?
What did you tell us? Oh, you said we run the same DEF as the NYG. You also said NY hardly blitzed NE in the Super Bowl.
I looked at the SB on DV-R and found 13 blitzes by NY through 3 1/2 quarters. You’re a fraud and I knew I had you when you opened your trap and said NY didnt blitz NE.
You’re also about the only idiot here that said Rob Ryan shouldn’t be fired.
The end.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:25 am
A run blitz could work against a screen. Problem solved.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Anyway, any run-stopping LBs should make their way over to island and apply at headquarters.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:28 am
“Pillage and Plunder” in 08′
Nothing will stop the Raiders “Young Guns” backfield, featuring JaMarcus Russell, Michael Bush and Darren McFadden, all of whom can throw the ball, none older than 23.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Thanks M but I never said that to him he will say anything to defend his sorry a$$.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Lowdown — you keep using fancy words to impress us all, but you’re not saying anything. You’re good at putting people down, though.
And, if you were as intelligent as you profess…you’d also know that your childish morphing of “Pillage & Plunder” into anything with the word “rape” in the title would immediately alienate the majority of the people who saw it?
So, keep showing us how smart you are by keeping your commentary just like your name — low down.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Mistabrown,
Good morning.
I enjoy your comments and I also enjoy Oakglenn’s comments. I never have known why the two of you have animosity. Not my business.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:44 am
this reminds me of an episode of Scrubs =)
April 30th, 2008 at 10:45 am
are the spelling & grammer police still here
April 30th, 2008 at 10:46 am
HeysDaze…
hear hear!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:47 am
M, its really very simple.
At the end of the season OakGlenn threw support Rob Ryans way, ok fine thats his right to do so. But..
Then, he said we run the same DEF as the NYG and NY didnt blitz NE in the SB. I went to my DV-R and watched the SB and found 13 blitzes in 3 1/2 quarters.
I called him out and he got his lil feelins hurt and now he calls me dumb, foolish, etc etc.
The end.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
408..
if you are going to write fargus or kiffen then i’m starting the siren =)
April 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Yeah, Brown I have time to go back and find all your stupid quotes. There are soooo many it would take days. Give me a break. So now you’re saying You didn’t say those things????????????? Now you’re stupid AND A LIAR. Nice. You sure you’re not Maddenraider????????? You two seem awfully similar.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Raider fans have thick skin! No sniveller in here.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Mistabrown,
everything usually is quite simple when it comes down to it.
sidenote, what a gawdawful bunch of crap to watch the heartless pukes from Den and Dal not even attempt to compete in the playoffs. The W’s would’ve fought tooth and nail were they given the chance.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:52 am
LMN
LOL. na I pay att.. 2 the players names with all due respect to the NATION. The rest I could care less about
April 30th, 2008 at 10:54 am
OakGlenn, a simple solution if you dont want to go back and look is not to misquote me.
I dont misquote you. Your Super Bowl assessment was a legendary blunder in itself.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:56 am
LMN…opee
How about you spelling my name right, or were you trying to disrespect me or Mr. Hayes
April 30th, 2008 at 10:57 am
M, the W’s were to tired to scrap in the playoffs. All we had to do was beat Denver the last week @ home and we couldn’t doit.
Next year Nelson will have no excuse Brandon Wright & Bellinelli wont be rookies.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:57 am
HayesDaze…
Man i hoped no-one would notice =) sorry =)
April 30th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Actually, let’s clarify this very quickly. What I said about the NY Giant Super Bowl, was they blitzed a “handful” of times. I still stand by that. Define handful.
I had a discussion with Brown over play calling and defenses and he said some of the stupidest stuff ever logged on this site. Brown also claimed he goes to the games and the Raiders never change their defense. Well, anyone who knows anything knows THAT’S not right. So summarizing quickly, we know Brown really doesn’t know what he is talking about when it comes to football. So when Brown claims to know what Defense the Giants called, we have to take that with a grain of salt because he doesn’t have a clue what is going on, on a football field.
Now if he is claiming he didn’t say those things he’s now a liar, and why waste any more time with him. I don’t interact with people like that.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Things are still chippy in here? Good, keeps us on our toes.
I still think we would be much better off without Al Davis…and I’m sticking to my guns come Goon or high water, lol.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:00 am
You just misquoted me. You really are a fkking moron. And a liar.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Oakglenn $ucks.
Go Raiders.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:02 am
217: This is exactly right! Nobody is going to pay Jordan 4.7 million, so his biggest payday is going to be with the Raiders. The Raiders reworked Rhodes contract this year to make him more valuable as trade bait. Like other players, trades only take place if the team knows they are getting something for at least a couple of years and three or more is better. Bottom line is Rhodes is not worth a seven pick. On the free market now he is only going to land on a team for the min. or slightly more than the min. Jordan is pretty much in the same boat, nobody thought he was worth locking him in even for a second, even with a multi-year deal already in place. So if he want’s to stick with a winner he will stay, if he wants to play for min. or there abouts, he will go…but lets not forget he actually still has to make this team and he’s doesn’t have the motor or talent to beat McFadden, Fargus or Bush, so he’s got to beat the younger, faster, highly motivated free agents we picked up already. This is not a given, so good luck Rhodes, I hope you have what it takes to stick with a winner.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:05 am
This offense has the chance to be very potent. (Russell, Miller, McFadden, Walker and maybe Bush). These are skilled positions filled with very skilled players – potential all-pro players. Kiffin has to make it work and put it together …his job depends on it (7-9 or 8-8 may secure his job for another season 9-7 or 10-6 Al may give him the reigns).
Beleive it or not the offense needs another bad ass WR. Maybe that guy is Higgins, maybe its Carter (finally) or maybe they picked him up in this draft; but the team needs another star wideout beleive it or not. Walker is the lone star really and he’s not reliable. A player like the touted (or hyped up) Micheal Crabtree will catapult the skilled positions to potentially Dominant.
The Oline is still a question mark in my head mainly because we have two bookends (Harris, Henderson) that none of us have seen in action. Assuming they are really good – big assumption – this offense can really shine.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Santa Rosa press dem has a cool artical (Russell’s ready) tried but couldnt post the link
April 30th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Wow. At least we know Robert Comer can string two words together. don’t go for three Robert. You might get confused.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I’m sorry I intended to say, good luck Rhodes and Jordan.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:10 am
We didnt have a discussion about blitzing you gave me a handfull of scenarios like some fool about blitzing.
Regarding the “screen pass” you seem to be stuck on I said Thomas Howard can cover LT on a screen pass if we blitzed with a corner or safety.
Does that refresh your memory?
The end.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:12 am
250: sandbag if you wish, but 12-4 is closer than you think. This team, this coach, built by Davis. Hey that’s the new stamp we need. Can you see the hot ma-ma’s at the games with “Built by Davis” tats. I can’t wait for the sun to come out!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:15 am
The FOUR HORSEMEN: McFadden, Fargus, Bush, and Russell are the perfect backfield. Combine that with a little LIGHTENING like our new improved speedy receivers and you have the 32nd pick in next years draft! Al Davis is the MAN!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:16 am
No. What you said was blitz, I then said and when you send LT into the vacated zone on a wheel route, with the WR’s going down the field with no safeties or corners, that’s the easiest play call and completion in the league. Your answer: uhh, uhh, duhh, football, duhh, uhhh…
You’re a clown dude. Admit it.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:21 am
ya’ll always trippin in here
April 30th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Russells ready link
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080429/SPORTS/804290336/1015/SPORT0502
April 30th, 2008 at 11:22 am
it seems lowdown got his rape idea ruined in other forums as well
April 30th, 2008 at 11:23 am
well not that it matters…but Jordan needs to be shown the door too…sad that we couldnt package him with Washington to get a better pick like early 3rd rounder….all in all I woudl say this was the most dissapointing draft I have ever watched !
The Cheifs did what we should have been doing…picking up Linemen…we had a solid draft last year and then since we spent so much in the off season this year…allowed ourselves to just sit on our hands and accept whatever crumbs fall to us…
what gets me th emost is that both Carl Nicks OT from Nebraska and Barry Ricahrdson OT Clemson were there for the taking as well as Dre Moore DT, Frank Okam DT and many more solid O and D Linemen which are positions of need right now…as well as Beau Belle LB…I mean….a CB and a couple of wideouts in late rounds !!!!
F ME….we had the opportunity to grab really solid guys in the later rounds…and we trade up 4 spots in round 4 to take this nobody/project DE from a small school…just like all the others we chose this year….small school…zero experience in big time situations….was the best we could come up with for our draft board in 08 ???
Fire someone…I dont know who..yet…but somebody needs to go…because this is just plain pathetic !!!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Tonio
Thanks 4 the help bro! This lap top hates me
April 30th, 2008 at 11:24 am
this USC Fili-fella hasn’t much love for the law =)
April 30th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Tom Flores..
oy!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:29 am
lol… No worries 408 … despite all the drama… we’re a helpful Nation
April 30th, 2008 at 11:29 am
We Have great skill position players now…but lackluster lines on both sides of the ball…how is that gonna get us into the top spot in the AFC West ???
The battles are won in the trenches…and KC just got a lot better…as did Denver loading up on LBs in the off season…before the draft I believed we were destined to win the division this year….now I think we would be lucky to move up to 3rd in our division !
I just added a seat to my season tickes and now I have that sick feeling in my gut when you know you just lost huge bet and now you cant go party for the next month !!!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Tom Flores
Im not happy with our late round picks either but we did have a good off season as a whole. IMO Pluss you have to deal with the fact that Mr Davis is gonna take a db every year. @ least he didnt take like 4 db’s in the draft. Now that would suck
April 30th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Drafting lineman in the draft isn’t always the best way, or even the safest way to go. Al Davis did that once, and we ended up with Robert Gallery and Jake Grove. Everyone needs to stop whining about the lineman that were available when we drafted, I wanted to us to get Big Red Bryant more than anyone, but Al drafted skill players for a team that had Jerry Porter and Justin Fargas as its best offensive players last year. We needed an upgrade at the skill positions, and the team feels good about the lineman we already have, nuff said.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:30 am
LMN — #242 wasn’t me. Another imposter. But, you really didn’t think nobody would notice, did you?
April 30th, 2008 at 11:34 am
We added a DT, a DE, and a C in FA. Plus some of the injured players should be at 100%. Hard to judge the line until we see them play.
They might be the most improved players in the league for all we know.
I for one, don’t feel that 4 round or later lineman are better than what is on the team already. So I am gla they did not waste picks on lineman who won’t make the team.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:34 am
HayesDaze…
LOL, well I hoped =)
April 30th, 2008 at 11:35 am
10 minutes to go…
April 30th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Is this all just a bad dream or did we really just waste our few late round picks on speedy guys that will never play a down until maybe ‘10 instead of drafting 3 to 4 solid Linemen that could plug holes in our gaping lines this year or certainly make it into the rotation by ‘09….
as I said before…the best receivers are coming out in ‘09 and will be gobbled up in round 1…why the hell do we need more nobody receivers to teach and take up valuable roster spots ???
I hope this means we are at least cutting the two WRs that have zero experience form our roster now…McFoy and Buchanon…if we at least do that…I will be a little less pissed off !
April 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am
yeah but…. I just wanted C.Long McSkinny better be a freakin mad man!!!!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am
All the changes… FA and UDFA… is going to make the preseason very very interesting to see … man… if Harris and Henderson can become decent ends… we’ll be better than good…
April 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Coach On Wheels, TrevJo, Terrapin, TT…
whats the difference between a ‘Ted’ Linebacker and the Sammy…. if they both are on the strong side?
April 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Watching NFL network last night… watching C long… with his new #75 for the lambs made me a bit sick
April 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
But you were disrespecting me just like you call everybody else out for doing, Just saying you are not perfect so maybe you should tone down the Mr. Perfect act.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Tonio,
great link!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:40 am
K Rock
I agree with the incredibly encouraging moves we made in the off season. Getting Kalimba Edwards and the DT from the Giants were solid additions to a very thin roster at those postions…but I thought they were hte beginning of a real push to get better on our lines…even Kwame Harris was an improvement over Sims…I dont know the new Center enough to comment yet…but he is freaking 11 years into his career and that ain’t an improvement…thats status quo…
April 30th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Flores,
How were we supposed to draft 3 to 4 SOLID lineman in the late rounds? We had 4 picks, two of those in the 6th and 7th, are you telling me that somehow 7th round lineman are solid, but 7th round recievers are projects. Come on man, get over your bias for the big uglies. We used picks in this draft to get Mario Henderson and Gerard Warren, a year early so that they could develop. Any O-lineman we drafted this year would be behind Henderson on the depth chart, so what’s the point, we gotta see what we got with him first.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:40 am
No prob La… 408 reminded (me)us of it… it is inspiring though isn’t it
April 30th, 2008 at 11:40 am
They should’ve let Fargas leave , he can’t catch as good as Rhodes and he’s injury prone. Now he just got a new contract and we draft McFadden, the economical thing to do was keep Rhodes one more year on the old contract, let Fargas walk , then in 2009 McFadden and Bush would be the featured backs. Now we have to let Fargas showcase his skills and then hoepfully trade him in 2009, that is if he isn’t hurt and we end up keeping him or letting him go and he still gets paid.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I don’t agree about these “Great” lineman the Raiders missed out on in the 4th round.
How do you know they could plug holes right from the start?
Lineman that far down the board are there for a reason.
Those speed guys the Raiders got will contribute from the start on SPECIAL TEAMS.
Raiders should have a killer Special Teams Unit this year with the speed on the field.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:46 am
# HayesDaze#37 Says:
April 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
But you were disrespecting me just like you call everybody else out for doing, Just saying you are not perfect so maybe you should tone down the Mr. Perfect act.
__________________________________________________
HayesDaze…
nope i was not disrespecting you, nopes, at least it wasn’t my intention! if you took it that way I’m sorry… I clearly misspelled your name, I’m sorry for that… but i’m only calling people out who continually misspells Kiffin, Nnamdi or Fargas names – thats something i see as disrespectful… the term is called data-discipline…
thats about it, but again sorry to misspell your nick, it was an honest mistake, as i talked with the ‘Ryan-fella’ about too
April 30th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I am sorry everyone …I accepted the DMAC pick without too much grumbling as you may have noticed…but there were far better picks to be had then what we took..IMHO
Time will only tell…but when you have a KING DUNLAP at 6′9″ staring at you and you pick another WR as your 7th round flyer….
my only question is WHY ? Someone anyone..please explain it to me…because I thought that we addressed the WR position in the Off Season pretty well…
including this new kid Todd Watkins….and Drisan James…both kids look better than what we had to suffer through last season…and we didnt have to give up any picks to get them !!!
My only hope is that we are on the phone trying to gte Adarius Bowman to walk-on as an FA…like Chaz Shilens woudld have done…we should have focused the last of our picks on linemen and called the other kids up and asked them to walk on as FAs…thats my thinking…I am probably not the sharpest tack in the box…but it just seems logical to me…
April 30th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Tonio…
yeah it was great to hear! I cant wait to see Jammy giving a stiff-warm to a blitzing LB to buy him time and sends the ball 70yds down the field =)
I almost forgot about that WR Calvin whats his name =)
April 30th, 2008 at 11:50 am
waow tha game is on=) see ya guys =)
April 30th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Flores,
King Dunlap got relaced by a freshman halfway through the season, he isn’t a very aggressive lineman, which is what Tom Cable looks for.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Fargas put in good time for us… sacrificed a lot for us… he was rewarded for that… he deserved to stay…
April 30th, 2008 at 11:53 am
La, I think JMac will be very good this year… but we still have to keep in mind that it’s his “first” year… which is why DMC was or should be a hit… which is why … Rhodes is gone… to make room for Bush…
April 30th, 2008 at 11:53 am
anyway
Hi everyone…hope I did not upset the apple cart too much…I am still looking forward to seeing if this kidDmac was worth our entire D Line being medicore again this season…who knows maybe Jay Richardson will step it up this year alongside Tommy Kelly and Terdell Sands will actually earn hsi ridiculous salary this year….thats what Kiffin, Davis and Ryan are all hoping…but I dont buy it….we should have dratfed some insurance at these positions above and beyond the very smart pick ups in the off season…Kalimba Edwards and Williaqm Joseph were steals…but we could have packed our lines this draft and made our weakness our strength…IMHO
April 30th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Also,
Javon Walker, Drew Carter and Ronald Curry are not gonna fix are WR problem, all of these guys will be gone in two to three years most likely. Al Davis is drafting our recievers of the future, to develop with JaMarcus; like Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Tom… even if we did draft high… take Mario Williams as an example… it took him more than a year to get on track… If our lines are at least mediocre… ( I think better on both sides )… adding who should be a premier back in DMC…to help support who should be a premier QB… … and with better pieces coming from college next year… I think we’ll be aight
April 30th, 2008 at 11:58 am
TF
Trust in AL
April 30th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
The only good thing about not getting C.Long is I get to watch him beat up on the winers twice a year!
April 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
we do have the best ever backfield with Bush, Fargas and McFadden..as well as our future HOF QB…
our secondary is second to none…these are things that get me up in the morning with a smile…
I just wish we could have gone the extra mile and shaken the tree to get a few good apples to fall in our basket for our trenches to really solidify this years team….that’s all…
god bless this team and our coaches…may we run other team into the ground and wear out our opponents Defenses so that they have no time to do any damage to our questionable D Line.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
and finally,
Tom Cable put together a decent O-line last year given a short time frame, they should be much better this year. Upgrades at Center and LT will help.
The D-line is mediocre at best, and I will never argue against that, BUT there is a very slim chance that Rob Ryan will be here next here, and drafting D-lineman that fit into his system would be a waste.
Special teams may have been our worst unit last year. The drafting of Tyvon Branch and Trevor Scott are mostly to address special teams’ needs, and should pay dividends for improving the team as a whole.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Trust me nation, just cause the media idiots don’t give raiders props, there are some that are, and since i have talked with a lot of fans from other teams not just AFC west opponents they are scared to face the Raiders, if this many people are already thinking this with how are offseason was just think how the other teams coaches are thinking. think about the defenses on other teams that we will face, not knowing who really will be starting for us but we are going to have a lot of mismatches, who’s going to cover mcfadden, walker, curry, miller and are other young speed demons when on the field, plus BUsh is Unknown this guy can be a stud who knows what he will bring to the table, i think we are in for a very good year, Al Davis could of sat back and did nothing but that fact is he actually did something to try and get us better, granite we could of used Dorsey we still got better, so all in the Nation let’s not complain, let’s not get on each other, and be happy for what we did do, we could of been like the Broncos and went down hill but our team tried to do something, and that something makes it a very good offseason…..
April 30th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
408 re: C long vs the Niners… muwwaaahhahahahah <– evil laugh… that’s going to be too fun
April 30th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
408 Raider
I always hope that AD is doing what he thinks is going to get us into our next SB…so I will withold further judgement until mid season…
April 30th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
TF
Thank you sir. We all know hes a crazy old bat but hes OUR crazy old bat and were stuck with him for better or for worse. GOD I hope were better this year.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
The D line may be questionable, but hopefully not horribly bad. We have a pro bowler at one end who was injured last year and hopefully will be recovered. We have a tackle who is a good player (Kelly), and I think Edwards will prove to be an adiquit pass rusher. Hopefully Sands will be back to his year before last form, having had time to adjust to the loss of his mother. Richards was decent last year, but is not much of a pass rusher, he can occasionally collapse the pocket though. Warren gives them some depth, and I am hoping Joseph will at least turn out to be decent. I would loved to have gotten a big run stuffing DT, but even so I don’t think these guys will be as bad as some think.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Dre Moore was availabe and he may turn out to be great (maybe Bryant too) but I’m not mad at getting Branch. His pickup serves many purposes (KR, FS/SS insurance, CB, and Gunner). It was a very good selecion. I’m excited about what we did there.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I agree with everything that has been said in support of the decisions of this draft…yet I am still a bit worried…I think we coudl have done alot more in this draft to improve our front 7…thats all…I hope they hold up and that we are only 1 more draft away from dominance…a first round WR and nothing but Linemen and a top OLB after that in ‘10.
Thats all I think we need to go all the way…I was just hoping we would have taken our linemen this year to teach them our system now so that they would be ready to play by seasons end…
I hope that Cable and Knapp wont bug out for Seattle once Holmgren passing the torch to Mora…
April 30th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
What up to all of my brothers and sisters of the Raider Nation!!
I’ve been MIA again and I have missed out on all of the fun. Good to be back.
What’s up with everybody, did I miss anything?
I’m bringing back the PSA’s (what up OG?)
“don’t sweat the petty things, pet the sweaty things”
April 30th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Terrapin
Branch was the only pick I understand…the rest have me completely baffled…I hope these WR picks knock McFoy and Buchanon off our roster at least…it was embarrassing seeing them on our roster with their lack of college playing time…thats true desperation when you have guys like that on a pro roster.
Not to mention a couple of our LBs…we could have picked up Beau Belle and helped ourselves there too…
April 30th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
NATION, WHAT IS UP????????
Listen i posed acouple of days ago what shouled be the nick of our 2 great RB’s. I am tired of the old
Thunder and lightning. It also reminds me of the dischargers lighting and thunder. I saw a couple of post of what some folks came up with I do however have a fav that was posted.
…Pillage And Plunder…
Post 299 is all the way on point PERIOD
April 30th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
well I am stuck here in Cali for a few more weeks…and hope to hear that we have signed a few guys that were undrafted to fill in our roster at LB or DE…or even a Center to bump the old timer off the roster !
Young Guns that what I want to see on this team…BTW..is it just me..or do we have Duane Starks on our roster every spring training only to be cut just before the season opener or what ??? Is he just a glutten for punishment ?
April 30th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
one more thing…why in Zeus’ butthole is Schweigert still on our roster ??? Didn’t we just sign tow capable guys for our secondary in Gibril Wilson and DeAngelo Hall ??? Now we pick up this speedster Branch to compete with Routt…why do we need Stu as a back up FS or non-tackling special teamer??? seriously…someone enlighten me please….
April 30th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Haynesworth contract talks at standstill with Titans.
Contract negotiations between the Titans and Albert Haynesworth remain at a standstill, but that doesn’t mean the All-Pro defensive tackle is just sitting around this offseason, his agent said Tuesday. Haynesworth has hired a personal trainer and is working out regularly, agent Chad Speck said. Many of Haynesworth’s teammates, meanwhile, continue to work out at Baptist Sports Park during the team’s offseason conditioning program. — Tennessean
Wonder how many picks next year this would cost us?
April 30th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Looks like the Russians are going to beat the americans :/ come on you reds! beat those blue fåkkers =)
April 30th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
HayesDaze…
furhtermore, when I wrote your name wrong I was in fact cheering you views on the rape-remark… so no disrespect here =)
April 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Yeah TF… Starks is back (for now)…
Haynesworth…oohhhhh ~drools~
April 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Terrapin, Coach On Wheels, TrevJo, TT…
whats the difference between a ‘Ted’ Linebacker and the Sammy…. if they both are on the strong side?
April 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Pillage and Plunder….I like it…fits with the Raiders theme…
I cannot wait to actually see a Bush & McFadden backfield…Fargas has paid his dues and deserves equal time this year but I expect him to be a back up in ‘10…with Pillage and Plunder as our primary weapons back there for the next 8 years…
thats alot of stability…at key positions…same as Asomugha and Hall…they are actually the ones that deserve the Pillage and Plunder nicks…as they will be picking off QBs left and right !!!
April 30th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
QUESTION: would you trade Derrick Burgess for
Jason Taylor? Pros and Cons…
April 30th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Glad to see my “Pillage and Plunder” nick for the backfield is getting so much traction on this board cuz I am definitely rocking that on a sign at the Monday Night game against the horses. The rest of the NFL will come to know how nasty our backfield can be that night.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
“don’t sweat the petty things, pet the sweaty things”
Nice Dog I’ll remember that one.
Defenses will be trying to figure match ups quickly to defend our “O”. Dont sweat it!
April 30th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Taylor… as good as he is(was) the situation reminds me too much or Armstrong… No way… I keep Burgess. who’ll be healthy this year ( he wasn’t last year )… give’m an extension to keep’em happy for two years… then… punt
April 30th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Tom Flores, you say the next eight years? Yeah right, in this day and age of free agency the Raiders will be lucky to have them in the same backfield for half that time.
One of them at some point is going to be unhappy (possibly dues to pay, playing time or number of touches) and want out.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
TF… I agree on the names for Nnamdi and Hall…as for the rbs… I’m down with Stick… and Move… … DMC sticken’em … and Bush Move’en em… (forgive my boxing days flashbacks)
April 30th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Thats it Flores …I guess we see the team needs differently from the coaches …or maybe we see them the same but our views of talents are different or maybe our methods of fixing them are different. I say the last two depictions are the most accurate.
Kiffin knows stopping the run is a BIG problem for us. He knows. Maybe his thing was to surround JR with as much talent as possible b/c long term He will be the determining factor not a NT, which can be had almost any year. Developing the QB is key to this franchise rising from the ashes.
Memory is vague, very vegue, but I believe the Colts brought Manning along the same. Their defense was not top notch, very bad actually, but they decided to surround Manning with the weapons he needed for his development – the rest is history …still being written. Hopefully this alleviates some of the concerns ….lets think more long-term. Getting JR the pieces is pivotal.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
BBB…
I like it =) it was the ‘rape’ thing I disliked.. jsut to be clear
April 30th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Haynesworth and Jared Allen…I would have given all of our remaining picks of this years picks for that pair…I will hazard a guess and say there is no doubt that Haynesworth will cost a 1 and 3 in next years draft….he was a “bad boy” in ‘06 but came out strong and redeemed himself in ‘07. Just the kind of guy we need right now…and Jared Allen would have been perfect opposite Burgess the next two years until Burgess wore out and Ricahrdson was ready to take over…
oh well…dream on…dream until the dream comes true !!!
April 30th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
No. Taylor is clearly running out of gas. Burgess still has a couple of good years left.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
quagmire…
we take it when it happens, but you’re right, I think it will be McFadden =)
April 30th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
LMN — Again, #278 is an imposter. The real HayesDaze#37 writes so much better than that guy. He’s just trying to start something where there’s nothing.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
ESPN: State of the Raiders, Jame Hasty: ” I think the NFL has passed Davis by and no coaching consistency”
April 30th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Jerry — time to weed out and ban the imposters!
April 30th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Just kidding it really was me, that is what you get for being so cocky.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
330 wasn’t me golly gee what is going on.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Flores – Needless to say, I was all for going defense (DE,DT); but what I really wanted was Long – so did everyone. I think he would’ve been picked over McFadden. At the same time I can see why Al/Kiffin went offense – whether I agree with it or not.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Notice, I didn’t say weed out the poseurs! We’ve got a few of them, and their BS is pretty fun.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
As the draft turned our, I rather keep Burgess too. I talked about trading Burgess prior to the draft so we could boost up the D with picks acquired from a Burgess trade…. but now not, keep him for his last 2 productive years and make good use of him =)
April 30th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
YesYes!
1-1 right now the blues is out =) come on you reds =)
April 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
LMN,
yeah a few people took my pillage and plunder a bit too far. As for Nhamdi and Hall, they should be lumped in with Huff, Wilson, Morrison and Howard to form the “Snatch and Grab” defense. If DMAC is as good as advertized, then this defense should lead the league in interceptions next year.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Agreed La… and hopefully Richardson will get better enough to fill his spot.. .when he vacates…
April 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Terrapin
thank you for reminding me…we are still developing a fresh behind the ears QB…you are right that we should give him pieces for the puzzle…but dontcha think we shoulda traded back into round 2 to pick him up a rockstar WR to grow with…??? Javon Walker will be good this year and make that all elusive “pro bowl” if he stays healthy. I dont see staying healthy more than two years though…and that means we need to have a young number 1 receiver….soon !
I hope we have a miracle situation like Marques Colston in New Orleans…but that doesnt happen all that often…still I will continue to HOPE….
so next year we go D Line in the draft ??? With the exception of our 1st round WR ???
April 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
One of the poseurs is upset somebody must’ve called him on something, so he snatches other users’ ID’s and calls paople names. Weak and pathetic.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
No hard feelings Ma Lilicia Negra………..ok
April 30th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Real HayesDaze…
no worries, then =)
April 30th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
LMN …don’t know
BSPN is just that BS. Don’t pay much attention to what those fools say. They are just there for entertainment. I mean to say McFadden is going to suck because the team is bad is just ignorant and showing you know nothing or chose to ignore your own profession. We we’re 6th ranked in rushing offense for crying out loud – produced 3 consecutive 100 yard rushers in 1 freakin’ season. What does that tell you? They just spew vitriolic hate without due attention to the facts.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Muhahhaha good one… I got it =)
April 30th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Rhodes might be whining a little bit — but he and the Raiders did the honorable thing to each other, and he didn’t have to say that publicly.
If he knew about being released all along — but didn’t let on all this time — Rhodes was the perfect Raider, for a little while at least.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
lol… welcome La…
April 30th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
ESPN & Rhodes are saying McFadden was all Davis’s choice, Kiffin didn’t think there was a need on the #6 rushing team. McFadden will be used as a 3rd down back, maybe 500 yds rushing.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Hey NATION, I live is SD county I get a chance to get heckled by a whole lot of bandwagon charger fans. It gets to be very annoying to say the least. they jump on and off during season and off season whatever…..Anyway if you guys get a chance to talk to “real” football fans and not some biased opinionated fan… wait i just descibed myself, anyway try talking to a cook, donkey or discharger fan try and have a conversation about football and where the Raiders are. I have had said conversations with mostly
“real” discharger fans and I have to be honest they are scared s#!tless. They want zero part of DMAC, are praying for a JRUSS flop, and have zero idea what a MBUSH is.
so I say all that to say go enjoy talking with fans from other AFC west teams. Get an idea of the “fear” level, the media hasnt got it, dont expect them to. Most fans dont get it, would never put that type of pressure on them to understand something so complex. the only folks that get are NATION members.
08-09 is the return to greatness.
So let it written, so let it be done.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
If McFadden doesn’t get at least 1,500 combined yards, I think his choice at #4 will be criticized soundly — unless the team’s 9-7 or better because of his significant contributions.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Al Davis: Lane, your offense was ranked 28th last year and you still need to develop JaMarcus Russell, how would you like to get the most explosive offensive playmaker in the draft?
Lane Kiffin: No thanks, I would rather have the undersized defensive tackle with the stress fractures, that got lit up by said playmaker.
Not buying BSPN’s or Rhodes’ crap!
April 30th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Middle finger news for bspn
April 30th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Thec ask all those “Discharger” fans if they are going to follow their team up to LA next year.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Charger fans barely follow their team in San Diego.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Yeah, it sounded to me as if Kiffin were on board with the pick, but maybe he’s just minding his manners since being slapped down by Al Davis.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Rhodes needs to stay off the greens. Is it kiffs fault he got susspended?
IDIOT
April 30th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
BART is right — Kiffin was drooling over McFadden all along.
If he would’ve attended the workouts at the Combine, Kiff’s red face would’ve exploded. That’s why he was at the clubs not dancing.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
BBB, you bring up a couple of excellent points as usual. First off, Lane takes the O from -32 in the league up to a whopping 28th. You gonna hand him the defense as well???? I don’t think so. Especially with a rookie QB to develop, let him just stay with the O and special teams.
Could we have used Dorsey??? Absolutely. But the Raiders seem to feel they have the Dline they want. So in that fact, Damc was a complete no brainer.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Thec,
I agree, Broncos’ fans here are being pretty closed lipped about their own team and they don’t like the McFadden/Russell potential at all, they are shaking in their boots. You can literally see the fear in their eyes! Most of them think this will be Rat’s last season in Denver and they are preparing for a downturn in their team’s near future.
Heck, I saw the fear in Rat’s eyes last year, both in the game we lost in OT and the game we won, Rat was pacing the sideline with a look of utter confusion and fear. He was being out-coached by a 32 year old. He saw the future and it was silver and black baby.
Lets just hope Al doesn’t do something rash to make us take a step backwards.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
BSPN convinced itself that Al was in love with Darren McFadden (I have not once heard a direct quote from the AL regarding that though) and have since continued to write every story from that angle, as though it were cold hard fact. It might be true, but until I hear it from the horses’ mouth; it is just speculating on speculation.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
The WRs in the draft class were weak – by most accounts – hence none going in the 1st round. Avery probably was that guy they were hoping to be within striking distance but he surprisingly went first.
If memory serves me correct the Raiders have Walker’s deal setup so that they can opt out after Y1 or Y3. That leaves a lot of options open for the Raiders. They could draft a top notch WR next year (Micheal Crabtree? …Russell to Crabtree? ….you never know). Or maybe we just drafted him …Schilens?
April 30th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Oak, I have begun that mission so far they are split. Most of the folks here dont understand what being a “True” fan is. Example if the Raiders were to ever go 0-20 i would bet you that most of the guys/gals i see on this blog would still continue to post. dischargers fans were jumping ship crying to me as if i would console them when they were 1-3 last year.
when it comes to being a “true” fan most people just dont get it.
NATION members we understand it thats just the way it is.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
to people who don’t know…
we all know the Sammy, Mike and Willy linebacker…
it turns out that the ‘Ted’ Linebacker is the ILB on the strong side in the 3-4…
so it would be, Sammy, Ted, Mike and Willy….
April 30th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
McFadden’s already projected by some “experts” to be a 1,300 yard back:
1. Darren McFadden, RB, Oakland: McFadden landed in a crowded backfield this weekend, but it shrunk with the release of Dominic Rhodes and could continue to shrink if the team cuts LaMont Jordan. Justin Fargas is still in the mix for carries, but don’t overrate him based on his 1,009-yard, four-touchdown season in 2007. Fargas has been a reserve for most of his time at the NFL level, so McFadden should pass him on the depth chart sooner than later. The rookie should be seen as a high-end No. 2 fantasy back and worth a second- or third-round selection in all seasonal formats.
Projections: 1,250 rushing yards, 8 TDs, 17 receptions, 160 receiving yards, 0 TDs, 5 fumbles lost (179 fantasy points)
He’s currently rated as NFL.com’s #13 RB and projected to be a 2nd round pick. For those who play, understand, and/or give a crap about fantasy football know that that is significant praise for a rookie running back. This really means nothing but it’s still far more credible than Dominic Rhodes and Mark Schlereth and Mike Tirico.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Thec,
Totally agree. Furthermore, it drives those other fans crazy that the Nation is faithful to the team every year despite their current record or “buzz”. They can’t understand a fanbase that shows loyalty beyond winning and losing, because they are just bandwagoneers themselves.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
well back to the game…. we’re in extratime… 2 times 15 minutes this turned out to one exciting game… Come on you reds! (LFC)
April 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
BBB, I am assuming you live in the yay. that were i am from born and raised lived there for 30+ years. I love it when i vistit. you se all the NATION support banners Bummepr stickers window panels etc…. thats some exciting stuff.
what is interesting is you have a seroius NATION base down here.
I have said it before, when you see a member of the NATION flying the S&B you can go up to that person start talking NATION doesnt matter about skin color, size, religion, gender none of that its only NATION business. I dont know if any fan base like us. We are in a league all our own PERIOD
April 30th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
see ya next time something great happens around here…like a few undrafted FAs show up on our doorstep and get a look over !
until then…keep the faith baby !
April 30th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
LMN,
3-4 Defense:
DE NT DE
LEO
SAM
TED MIKE
April 30th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
TT, I see you are tru to your word by taking some time off good to see you bro.
I felt that you wanted to post a couple of days ago but you were just watching from uptop.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
TT,
Re post 347, it was the Clayton dude.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
LMN,
The “WILL” in a 3-4 is designated as the “LEO” which is the designated pass-rushing DE/LB. In SD, Merriman is the LEO and Phillips is the SAM, Phillips will rush often but is assigned TE responibilities, usually only on 1st and 2nd down. Merriman will cover the TE on occasion and Phillips will rush the passer but Merriman is the LEO, who is designated to rush the passer more often than not. The 3-4 allows for a lot of different looks but each LB also has their own primary responsibilities as well.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Thec,
Was actually born in LA, and moved to the yay in 1992, so the Raiders have been a constant in my family for a long time. For me they represent all of California, but also every single bada$$ motherfvcker in the world that has had to rebel against something in his or her life.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Oakland Raiders – C Adam Spieker, FB Matt Hahn, LB Shane Simmons, TE Chris Wagner, RB Louis Rankin, OL Brandon Rodd, CB Derrick Brown, LB Malik Jackson, DL Derrick Gray, TE Darrell Strong, QB Brian White, DL Greyson Gunheim
So, we have added two OL, two LBs, and two DL. Is everyone happier now?
April 30th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
BBB, thats whats up.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Derrick Gray, DE, Texas Southern
Name: Derrick Gray
College: Texas Southern Number: 57
Height: 6-4 Weight: 266
Position: DE Pos2:
Class/Draft Year: Sr/2008
40 Time: 4.89 40 Low: 4.82 40 High: 5.08
Projected Round: 7-FA Stock: High: 6-7 Low: PFA Sunday
Rated number 28 out of 163 DE’s 321 / 2553 TOTAL
Combine Results
Pro Day Results
Combine Invite:
Height: 6044
Weight: 266
40 Yrd Dash:
20 Yrd Dash:
10 Yrd Dash: 225 Lb. Bench Reps:
Vertical Jump:
Broad Jump:
20 Yrd Shuttle:
3-Cone Drill:
Dates:
Height: 6044
Weight: 266
40 Yrd Dash:
20 Yrd Dash:
10 Yrd Dash: 225 Lb. Bench Reps:
Vertical Jump:
Broad Jump:
20 Yrd Shuttle:
3-Cone Drill:
Draft Scout Snapshot: DS Rating on 08/12/07: #95 DE, Projected: FA
2008 Postseason update (04/04/08): Stock: Up. Did well at Texas vs. The Nation practices, looking strong as his build (6′4″, 266) indicates and a bit quicker than anticipated. A project player worth a seventh round selection.
10 GP; 10 GS; 37 TT, 8 TFL, 2 SK, 4 QBH, 1 FF in ‘06. 11 GP; 11 GS; 42 TT, 8 TFL, 1.5 SK, 1 PBU, 2 QBH, 2 FF in ‘05. 7 GP; 0 GS; 23 TT, 1.5 TFL in ‘04.
Overview
One of the top 40 small-school prospects in this year’s draft class, Gray was not really on the radar coming into his senior year. But last fall he showed the potential to become a nice power defensive end with a second-team All-SWAC season: 76 tackles, 24.5 for loss, 9.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. That sort of production from a larger defensive end got him in the crosshairs of NFL scouts pretty quickly.
Analysis
Positives: Prototypical size for a strong-side defensive end, with long arms and good upper-body and leg strength. … Holds the point well, even against bigger right tackles. … Can chase down the line and hustles downfield. … Uses his length at times to put pressure on the quarterback from the outside. … Gets his hands inside the tackle’s body and rips him to get off the block.
Negatives: Could give more consistent effort. … Got his production against lesser competition, but he does not have the elite quickness needed to consistently beat NFL tackles off the snap. … Needs to learn how to effectively use his size and length to get off blocks to make plays. … Straight-line runner. … Does not change directions quickly on misdirection plays, and may not be agile enough to handle quick backs in space.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Hey Terrapin,
I think you’re right about there not being any really elite receivers in the draft, but I think there was plenty of talent there overall. I’m sure a lot of those guys will make teams and contribute over the years. What I’m beginning to wonder about was whether there was really any good D-Line talent in the draft. I personally would have liked it if we picked up a big body in the fourth round, but a lot of the draft services were pretty critical of the D-Linemen this year…………even the good ones.
A lot of people were high on Dorsey and Ellis, but both are relatively undersized, Dorsey has numerous questions about his helath and doesn’t have much of a reputation as a sack artist. Also, he would have commanded a HUGE salary. Maybe the Raiders think they can get quality people at a low price from some other teams castoffs.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Greyson Gunheim, DE, Washington
Name: Greyson Gunheim
College: Washington Number: 7
Height: 6-2 Weight: 252
Position: DE Pos2: OLB
Class/Draft Year: Sr/2008
40 Time: 4.69 40 Low: 4.64 40 High: 4.76
Projected Round: Stock: High: Shot late Low: PFA Sunday
Rated number 34 out of 163 DE’s 426 / 2553 TOTAL
Combine Results
Pro Day Results
Combine Invite:
Height: 6021
Weight: 252
40 Yrd Dash:
20 Yrd Dash:
10 Yrd Dash: 225 Lb. Bench Reps:
Vertical Jump:
Broad Jump:
20 Yrd Shuttle:
3-Cone Drill:
Dates: 03/14/08
Height: 6021
Weight: 252
40 Yrd Dash:
20 Yrd Dash:
10 Yrd Dash: 225 Lb. Bench Reps:
Vertical Jump:
Broad Jump:
20 Yrd Shuttle:
3-Cone Drill:
Draft Scout Snapshot: DS Rating on 08/12/07: #13 DE, #136/750 Overall, Projected: Rnd 4-5
12 GP; 10 GS; 44 TT, 14 TFL, 6 SK, 2 PBU, 1 QBH, 3 FF; Sprained knee in Aug ‘06, didn’t miss much time. Earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors in ‘06. 11 GP; 11 GS; 38 TT, 11 TFL, 5 SK, 3 QBH in ‘05. 11 GP; 7 GS; 16 TT, 4 TFL, 2 SK, 1 PBU in ‘04.
2006 Season
Sprained knee in Aug ‘06, didn’t miss much time. Earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors … won the John P. Angel Lineman of the Year award at the team’s postseason banquet … played in all 12 games and started 10 of 12 (all but California and Arizona State games) … finished the season ranked ninth in the Pac-10 Conference in sacks with 0.5 per game (six sacks in 12 games) … also ranked ninth in tackles for loss per game at 1.0 per game (12 in 12 games) … ranked fourth in the conference in fumbles forced with 0.25 per game (three in 12 games) … led the team in tackles for loss and in sacks … ranked seventh on the team with 44 total tackles, most among defensive linemen … opened the season with a big game, notching five total tackles, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble vs. San Jose State … had two sacks for 17 yards in losses and a forced fumble at Arizona … posted one sack in each of the season’s final four games … season-high nine tackles, including two for loss and a sack, plus a forced fumble in the Oregon game … had two tackles for loss in the ASU and Stanford games … credited with two pass break-ups in both the USC and Washington State games … won the UW’s Pepsi Player of the Week Award after the San Jose State game.
2005 Season
Started all 11 games at defensive end … led the team with 11 tackles-for-loss (11th, Pac-10), and tied for the team lead with five sacks (also 11th, Pac-10) … also notched three pass breakups and recovered a fumble … named the John P. Angel Outstanding Defensive Lineman at the team’s postseason banquet … vs. Oregon State, recorded five tackles with one tackle-for-loss and a forced fumble … had six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a career-high 2.5 sacks at ASU … also had two tackles-for-loss vs. Air Force, and a sack vs. Cal … selected to the Pac-10 All-Academic second team.
2004 Season
Played in all 11 games and started the final seven … one of just two true freshmen to play in every game during the season … finished the year with 16 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks … earned first start vs. San Jose State … had three tackles, including two for loss and a sack, vs. Cal … named to The Sporting News 2004 Pac-10 All-Freshman squad along with teammate Jordan White-Frisbee … named the team’s Husky Fever 12th Man Award winner for defense.
High School
Named his area’s defensive player of the year by the Petaluma (Calif.) Argus Courier … also named first-team all-Empire running back by that newspaper … picked by the Tacoma News Tribune for its “Western 100″ Team …named to California’s all-state defensive first-team for mid-sized schools … rushed for 1,700 yards and 25 touchdowns, but stood out even more as a defensive lineman … had 55 tackles and 11 sacks … chosen as a scholar-athlete by the Northern California chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame … named the El Molino All-SCL running back of the year in 2002 by the Sonoma West News and Times … helped team to a 9-3 record as a senior … also a member of the Analy basketball team … five star pick by Max Emfinger Recruiting at rush defensive end … rated the No. 42 player in California by SuperPrep … named to PrepStar’s all-region team … played for coach Mike Mareda at Analy.
Personal
Father, Gregory is a business agent and mother, D’lorah, is a dietary technician … has one sister, Gwendolynn … planning to major in electrical engineering.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Thankfully both of the DEs we signed were on my list of preferred UDFA DEs, and either would have been decent pickups in the 6th, but as you all know, I’m VERY happy with our 6th round pick.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
RE: castoffs… I’m still hoping we can get Grady Jackson back into the fold…
April 30th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Darrell Strong, TE, Pittsburgh
Name: Darrell Strong
College: Pittsburgh Number: 14
Height: 6-4 Weight: 268
Position: TE Pos2:
Class/Draft Year: Sr/2008
40 Time: 4.78 40 Low: 4.72 40 High: 4.88
Projected Round: 7-FA Stock: High: Early 6 Low: PFA Sunday
Rated number 15 out of 88 TE’s 275 / 2553 TOTAL
Combine Results
Pro Day Results
Combine Invite: Yes
Height: 6040
Weight: 268
40 Yrd Dash: 4.78
20 Yrd Dash: 2.79
10 Yrd Dash: 1.65 225 Lb. Bench Reps: 17
Vertical Jump: 25
Broad Jump: 09′02″
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.36
3-Cone Drill: 6.86
Dates: 03/24/08
Height: 6040
Weight: 268
40 Yrd Dash: 4.76
20 Yrd Dash: 2.74
10 Yrd Dash: 1.60 225 Lb. Bench Reps: 18
Vertical Jump: 34 1/2
Broad Jump:
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.21
3-Cone Drill:
Before Combine: Hgt: 6046, Wgt: 260, 40YD: 4.75-4.82-4.94
Draft Scout Snapshot: DS Rating on 08/12/07: #7 TE, #135/750 Overall, Projected: Rnd 4-5
2008 Postseason update (04/04/08): Stock: Steady. Looked very good at times during the Hula Bowl week, adjusting to poorly thrown balls and blocking in-line better than expected. Didn’t shine as the athlete teams though he’d be at the Combine: 4.78 40, 25″ vertical, 17 reps, 9′2″ broad. Greatly improved his vertical and short shuttle at the pro day: 34.5″, 4.21.
10 GP; 10 GS; Rec: 15-171-11.4-3 in ‘06; Suspended 2 games in Nov ‘06 for unsportsmanlike behavior vs. South Florida. 11 GP; 2 GS; Rec: 16-226-14.1-1 in ‘05. 12 GP; 1 GS; Rec: 4-58-14.5-0 in ‘04.
Overview
An intriguing athlete with NFL size and speed, Strong struggled until his senior season to make a positive impact for the Panthers. Developed into a legitimate receiving threat and an improved blocker after being known more in the past for his untapped potential and off-field indiscretions. Strong’s improved maturity and production as a senior, however, as well as his obvious physical tools should earn him consideration in the middle rounds.
Analysis
Positives: Rare combination of size and overall athleticism. … Good foot quickness and downfield speed for the position. … Flashes explosiveness out of his breaks to generate separation from the defender. … Soft hands for the reception. … Improved maturity on and off the field as a senior.
Negatives: Considered an under-achiever until his senior season. … Off-field issues, including being cited for harassment and criminal mischief. … Not the blocker his size and athleticism would lead you to believe. … Inconsistent effort, marginal explosion at the point of attack and too often doesn’t sustain. … Has shown a tendency to add weight in the off-season.
2007 Season
Strong (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Plantation) was a four-year contributor to Pitt’s offense, appearing in 45 career games. As a senior he had 29 catches for 328 yards (11.3 avg.) and three TDs in 2007.
2006 Season
Suspended 2 games in Nov ‘06 for unsportsmanlike behavior vs. South Florida. Will vie for the starting tight end duties after serving as a top contributor to that position each of the last two seasons…played in 10 games last year, making four starts…had 15 catches for 171 yards (11.4 avg.) on the year…had three TD catches…matched his career high with four catches vs. Toledo (for 51 yards)…also had a oneyard TD catch vs. the Rockets…had four catches vs. Michigan State, totaling 32 yards…had three catches for 30 yards and a oneyard TD vs. Virginia…threw a 30-yard TD pass to LaRod Stephens-Howling on a gadget play vs. The Citadel…had a 19-yard TD catch at South Florida…missed two contests (Connecticut and West Virginia) due to the disciplinary suspension mentioned above.
2005 Season
Played in all 11 games and started two in his first season at tight end…had 16 receptions for 226 yards (14.1 avg.) and one TD…also had two 2-point conversion catches…had 59 receiving yards on a career-high four catches (14.8 avg.) at Rutgers and also added a two-point conversion catch…had a career-high 62 yards on three catches (20.7 avg.) versus Youngstown State…had three catches for 37 yards (12.3 avg.) and had a two-point conversion catch versus Cincinnati…scored his first career TD with an eight-yard catch versus South Florida.
2004 Season
Played in all 12 games as a reserve receiver, making one start when Pitt opened in a four-receiver set at Notre Dame…had four catches for 58 yards (14.5 avg.) on the year…had a season-high two catches for 40 yards versus Nebraska…his season-long catch of 31 yards came against the Cornhuskers…also had a pair of nine-yard catches versus Notre Dame and Furman.
High School
All-Broward County and all-district honoree…two-year starter for perennial Florida power Plantation High…started at receiver as a junior and quarterback as a senior…threw for 1,330 yards and 17 touchdowns against just three interceptions as a senior…completed 63-of-109 passes (58%)…helped team to a two-year mark of 21-3 (.875) and back-to-back district championships and Florida 6A playoff berths…Plantation went 10-2 his senior season, reaching as high as No. 2 in the Florida rankings, and 11-1 his junior year…selected to play in the prestigious Broward-Dade County All-Star Game…rated one of the top 60 prospects in Florida by SuperPrep… SuperPrep All-Dixie Team…played under Coach Frank Hepler…also lettered in basketball and track and field.
Personal
Darrell Strong, born 5/21/86, is the son of Sherry Phillips…has one brother…administration of justice major.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
BBB #350
hahaha
April 30th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
all the TE/FB additions suggest griffith, madsen, and stewart should all be looking over their shoulders
April 30th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Bascially this is how I see it (even though I wouldn’t give this doughnut during the debate). Fargas will probably start the year or be #2 and he will be phased out next year. This is assuming Micheal Bush is healthy. So they could very well have needed a young RB in a year or two.
So Fargas is phased out next year and as much is indicated by his contract numbers: few years, very front loaded, low backend numbers. Its Bush and McFadden’s show in ‘09 but after that we only have Bush of another 2 years assuming he doesn’t bicker for another contract. Bush/McFadden ‘09-’10 …McFadden/?? thereafter.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I say Al was leaning to Dmac untill he ran at the combine. Thats when Al got off the fence for good.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Brian White, QB, Portland State
Name: Brian White (+) Coming off wrist injury (Trans from Colorado)
College: Portland State Number: 8
Height: 6-4 Weight: 224
Position: QB Pos2:
Class/Draft Year: rSr/2008
40 Time: 4.87 40 Low: 4.82 40 High: 4.96
Projected Round: Stock: High: FA Monday Low: FA Fri
Rated number 41 out of 109 QB’s / 2553 TOTAL
Combine Results
Pro Day Results
Combine Invite:
Height: 6041
Weight: 224
40 Yrd Dash:
20 Yrd Dash:
10 Yrd Dash: 225 Lb. Bench Reps:
Vertical Jump:
Broad Jump:
20 Yrd Shuttle:
3-Cone Drill:
Dates: 03/12/08
Height: 6041
Weight: 224
40 Yrd Dash: 4.87
20 Yrd Dash: 2.86
10 Yrd Dash: 1.72 225 Lb. Bench Reps:
Vertical Jump: 30 1/2
Broad Jump: 08′10″
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.34
3-Cone Drill: 7.13
Draft Scout Snapshot: DS Rating on 08/12/07: #34 QB, #473/750 Overall, Projected: PFA
4 GP; 0 GS; Rush: 11-(-10)-(-0.9)-0; Pass: 30-13-43.3-224-1-1; Transferred from Colorado in Sept ‘06. 2 GP; 0 GS; Pass: 12-7-58.3-81-1-0 in ‘05. 1 GP; 0 GS; Pass: 1-1-100.0-10-0-0 in ‘04. Redshirted in ‘03.
2006 Season
Transferred from Colorado in Sept ‘06.
2005 Season
He saw action in just one regular season game, basically mop-up duty against Texas A&M where he took just four snaps, one being a kneel-down to end the game. However, with starter Joel Klatt out of Champs Sports Bowl and his replacement, James Cox, struggling, he was brought in with 9:06 remaining in the game and engineered CU’s lone touchdown drive of the night. He completed all three passes on that first possession, the last a 2-yard touchdown throw to tight end Quinn Sypniewski, rallying CU to within 13-10 at the time. He finished the game 7-of-12 for 81 yards with the one score (and no interceptions). He missed all of spring practice after undergoing surgery for an injured wrist, which he suffered in the weight room spotting for a teammate, but was back to 100 percent come August drills.
2004 Season
He saw action in one game, as he got in briefly at the end of the Oklahoma State game. He completed his only pass for 10 yards. He had a very good spring, completing 18 of 28 passes for 175 yards in the three main scrimmages, including a TD pass to Joe Klopfenstein in the Black & Gold game (and had just one interception).
2003 Season
Redshirted in 2003.
High School
As a senior, he earned PrepStar All- American honors, as was also named to its All-West team. He garnered SuperPrep All-Far-West honors as the 48th overall player and No. 8 quarterback, while Prep Football Report named him to its All-West team as the No. 39 player in California and No. 10 quarterback. Rivals.com tabbed him the No. 21 quarterback in the nation (and the No. 69 player in California) on his way to earning All-CIF (southern section) and All-South Coast League accolades. He was an honorable mention all-league performer during both his junior and sophomore seasons. As a senior, he completed 160-of-265 passes (60 percent) for 2,006 yards and 16 touchdowns (he had 11 interceptions). He also rushed 60 times for 225 yards and three scores with a long run of 47 yards, and caught one pass for an 8-yard touchdown on a trick play. As a junior, he completed 118-of-205 passes for 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns, with just five interceptions. He also ran for 120 yards and three touchdowns. In limited action as a sophomore, he completed 56 percent of his passes (70-of-125), throwing for 900 yards and eight scores, adding 100 yards on the ground and one TD. Top career games all came during his senior year, including a 41-19 win over Laguna Hills when he passed for 280 yards and four touchdowns on 17-of-22 attempts. Just two weeks later in a 35-14 win against Aliso Niguel, he completed 18-of-30 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns. In his team’s final game of the season, a first round playoff loss to Claremont, he completed 13-of-21 passes for 200 yards and three scores. Trabuco Hills was 6-5 his senior year (losing to Claremont in the first round), 5-6 his junior year (losing in the first round) and 2-8 his sophomore season under coach Bill Crow. He lettered three times in basketball (averaging 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks per game as a senior), once in track (high jump; a career best of 6-0) and played baseball as a freshman.
Personal
A grandfather (Ralph) played offensive line at Bowling Green and for the Baltimore Colts during the 1960s; father (Mark) was a linebacker for Bowling Green from 1980-84; and an uncle (Scott White) wrestled at Kent State.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
TT…
its more the ‘Ted’ ’s assignment that interests me =)
April 30th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Griffith isn’t looking anywhere, and definitely not over his shoulder, he is so important to our offense
April 30th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Am I the only one that thinks Al is maybe two players away from having a shut down man to man defense?
April 30th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
WHAT IT DOO NATION
April 30th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Yes you are.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
LMN,
The TED has inside(strong-side A and B gap) responsibilities to fill the gaps when the blockers are occupied and has coverage responsibilities when the SAM is rushing or occupied in outside containment, in which case on a running play the TED’s responsibilities become the B and C gaps, or the middle of the point of attack and is then responsible for making the tackle. I could branch off into alot of assignments and responsibilities because it’s such a complex scheme but I’ll leave it simple for now.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
LMN, OO is the power run blocker and has that job locked down, griffith is a great fit for outside zone running plays but all of the “H-backs” we’re bringing in suggest there is a competition for recieving responsibilities from the FB spot, or maybe you’re right and they suggest that he’s too valuable to risk in raining camp and thus need bodies to fill in for him……………
April 30th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
TT…
thanx man… it was just something like that I needed to hear… It makes sense, I just had to know a bit so i could differentiate the assignments
April 30th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The Raiders caught the league’s attention when they released Dominic Rhodes and his $1.75 million contract Monday. Many figured LaMont Jordan would be the first to go with his $4.7 million owed this season.
Rhodes helped explain the move during an interview on Sirius Satellite Radio on Tuesday.
He said that when he restructured his contract two months ago, it was with the understanding the Raiders would release him if they drafted Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.
The Raiders did pick McFadden, so Rhodes got his wish. They informed him Sunday of his release, which then came Monday.
“We had like a stable full of running backs that are capable,” Rhodes said. “We went and drafted a guy that – he’s a great runner, don’t get me wrong – but I don’t understand the logic behind it.
“I don’t really think that (coach) Lane Kiffin wanted to take a running back in the first round, let’s just put it like that. He has to deal with it now, but I don’t think that’s what he wanted to do.”
Rhodes left convinced that Kiffin isn’t in control of much at all, at least in terms of personnel. Asked if Kiffin had a chance to succeed in Oakland, Rhodes said, “I don’t know, man. It’s going to be hard. He’s put in all these different bad situations to where he doesn’t have a chance, you know? When you know you need to stop the run and you don’t get anybody to stop the run…. He just doesn’t really have a chance, because somebody else is in control all the time.”
Speaking of Jordan: The Raiders are holding onto Jordan, a league source said, because some in the organization believe they can still get trade value for the man who ran for 1,025 yards in 2005.
At this point, teams are more likely to wait for Jordan’s release so they can sign him to a cheaper deal.
Rookie crop grows: The Raiders added six undrafted free agents Tuesday, including Portland State quarterback Brian White, to make it 12 rookie signings since the draft ended Sunday.
They also signed Pittsburgh tight end Darrell Strong, Arizona State center/guard Brandon Rodd, Penn State fullback Matthew Hahn, Washington defensive end Greyson Gunheim (who is from Sebastopol) and Texas Southern defensive end Derrick Gray.
Still searching: The Raiders are expected to resume their search for a backup to quarterback JaMarcus Russell. They want to go into training camp with at least one proven arm to compete with fourth-year quarterback Andrew Walter.
A few names to watch:
– Trent Dilfer: If the former 49ers backup is going to play another year, it’d be nice to stay close to home. The Raiders contacted him recently and he remains a serious candidate.
– Daunte Culpepper: He started six games for the Raiders last season after signing with the team during training camp. If the Raiders aren’t happy with their quarterback depth, he just might still be around.
– Buccaneers’ TBA: The Raiders are watching to see which of seven quarterbacks Tampa Bay releases before possibly making a move.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Dakota,
Your man is projected #1, in draft and police. How do you fit a 6′5″ 290lb+ man into the back seat of a cruiser. Slowly. LOL
http://www.ocregister.com/sports/moala-arrested-usc-1995002-beach-simmons
April 30th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
It´s allright, you can go with what bspn feeds you or you can actually read what Lane Kiffin himself had to say:
“Speaking for myself, I knew months ago that this was the guy that we had to have and we had to figure out a way to get him.
We lost the coin toss and moved to four and that scared me a little bit there. Fortunately, he was still available and in the end we got everybody on the same page.”
- He´s talking about the coin toss, that was back in February at the Combine, that shows you how long has it been since he had his sights set on McFadden.
“Fortunately, he was still available and in the end we got everybody on the same page”.
- In the end they got everybody on the same page??..that means somebody who matters was not in the same page for a while, I wonder who could that be?.
On trading McFadden:
“No, there´s not a chance. There was too much work that went into this.”
On McFadden´s “issues”:
“What was very important to me the first time I sat down with him….and we had another conversation this morning about that myself and Darren..”Darren, if you’re there when we go, I need this, this and this. And you need to understand this is how you need to be.”
Sounds like someone did his homework.
On JaMarcus:
“As you go back and you research quarterbacks that have done really well over a long period of time it’s because they have the right things around him.
It’s the same thing after the San Diego game we talked about in the press conference afterwards. We need to surround him with better talent. We think we’ve done it this offseason.
That’s how young quarterbacks do really well. There’s not a better way than having a great running game and adding to that with a guy who can also catch the ball as well.”
- Not to mention he was in contact with McFadden all along, as he stated when questioned about his issues and the research he did on him.
And of course, he´s the one who called McFadden while he (McFadden) was still on his way to the Draft to let him know.
Sidenote: I would have thought AD would be the one calling him, that was kind of shocking to hear, but I don´t konow if that´s how they did in the past or if it´s always been the coach who does it, I know Jerry Jones calls himself.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Maybe Kiffin was spending all that time talking to Arkansas about McFadden and not the coaching job…
April 30th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Rhodes is just talkin sh!it cuz he didn’t get any playing time last year – He’s just trying to stir things up
April 30th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Ideally we could switch to a 3-4 with sands at NT, Warren as the weak-side DE, Kelly as the strong-side defensive end, richardson the alternate at SSDE and Joseph the alternate at WSDE, and Warren on occasion able to spell Sands, Burgess, Edwards, and Scott would be the LEOs, Howard would be the ideal SAM, Morrison is a good TED option and then Thomas is a prototype MIKE, while Williams would likely be the utility ILB and Scott and/or Edwards could also spell Howard on 3rd down. Also, the presence of Huff opens up the inside of that defensive front for more run plitzs and zone reads from the ILBs and consistant man-to-man coverage on the outsides offers infinite zone-blitz opportunities. If we could find a 3-4 DC and/or Al would allow RR to run such a scheme we would have one of the scariest defenses i the NFL. I already think our D will be very good next year but I’ve always been a 3-4 guy. As you know from my offensive phylosophies I prefer a more aggressive approach and being a Raiders fan, I like to see the QB go down, and go down hard. A 3-4, especially with our current personnel, would be the best way to do that.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Thank you Bob… bottom line is… he’s on OUR Team now…whoever wanted him.. or not…
April 30th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Changing to a 3-4 at this point is to surrender another 2-3 years of development and winning.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
There’s no 3-4 heritage in the Oakland Raiders. Please spare me the Ted Hendricks moment.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Coach Kiffin was on sirius talkin bout Bush is ready thats why we cut Rhodes! Walker has some burst and the doc’s say hell get more!(still hurt?) & were keepin jordan? (looking 4 a trade?) and he loves the south bay!! Oh yeah coach given love to da 408
April 30th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
According to Kiffin Kelly’s best position is the 3 technique.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Last I heard that Javon Walker is at 90% heatlh wise
April 30th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
a 3-tachnique like Kelly is also a perfect fit at the SSDE spot in a 3-4, I know it won’t happen but it’s what should happen in order to maximize our personnel. Of course, with the level of talent on our defense we have potential to be successful on that side of the ball regardless of scheme, but I wil always consider the 3-4 the “best” scheme.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Oh yeah and were (Kiffin) gonna use McSkinny(when he signs I’ll stop callin him that) like he did bush pluss he said he learnd from haven bush so he has a better knowledge of what 2 & not 2 do
April 30th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I already discovered I am about the only one who hates the cut blocking scheme that the hated donkees have employed against us for the past decade or two.
We never called it a zone blocking scheme way back when.
Now I also in the minority about being ever so close on Defense.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I forgot to say
In Al I trust
April 30th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I don’t think all gaps are the same. They already tried Sapp as a DE in a 3-4. I don’t think the gap bet C-G is played the same way as the gap between G-T.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
damb missed it by 2
April 30th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
No use wasting any more of Kelly’s career, by playing him out of position, again.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
408RAIDER
What else coach kif say?
April 30th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Andrews Moms
Pay back is a B!tch – thats the way I look at it – Finally we get to cut @ there knees like theyv been doing to use for ever and a decade
April 30th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Last year was a throw away year. Al Davis knew it. Lane Kiffin knew it. Rob Ryan even fell into it too since their defense played like it. Having McCown at the helm most of the year with Jordan continuing to get work tells me that Kiffin wanted to save his prizes for next year while using and abusing other peoples children. McCown was a test dummy for us, plain and simple. Culpepper was insurance in case McCown got hurt. Neither of them were needed after the year because of JR and its proven since neither are here as backups.
Jordan has always been on his last leg and he gave us the #1 rushing team the 1st 3 games and Kiffin tried to benefit from that. He had no choice but to go with Fargas at the time and found a hidden gem so he rewarded him. Kiffin knew he had talent in Mike Williams but Williams didn’t even know his own talent so Kiffin was quick to pull the plug. He probably knew Jerry Porter wasn’t coming back and he probably didn’t even want him so he kept throwing him out there while saving JLH.
He had no clue what kind of offensive line we had so he threw a bunch of scrubs in Jordan, Porter and McCown to take the beating until he could work out the kinks. Well, with a healthier starting team coming in and with more talent, we’re bound to be more successful. AD let Kiffin have one year to mess around so he could get it worked out and when both saw how little talent the team had, AD brought a bunch of new faces a paid them a ton of money and now Kiffin is out of excuses.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
DoeDoe
thats about it the db we drafted is going to play Safty & teams..
April 30th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Right on
April 30th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
KK, playing the A/B gaps require more power while playing the B/C gaps requires a balance of power and athleticism, and playing the C/D gap requires significantly more athleticism. Last year Kelly was a DE playing the C/D while this ear he is moving inside to play the A/B, but as a 3-technique he will focus primarily on “shooting” the B gap.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Jason jones of the sac bee has transcrips of Rhodes sirius interview on his blog 2day
April 30th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Hmmm…
Dammit! It will the Malcolm Glazer owned Man Utd vs. the Russian owned Chelsea in the final in Moscow, Russia…
Two Brits against each other in the Final of Champions League….Wild
April 30th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Thanks TT. I like 4 man lines.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
KK, what we’re doing will work great, but our defense is built with an inclination toward the 3-4 based o the athletic abilities of our D. It won’t happen, but it probably should. We’ve chosen a good way but I believe there’s still a better way. Of course, I’m a 3-4 guy, so I myself am inclined toward that attacking style of D. The spread Offense with a ZBS OL and a 3-4 D with a cover-2 backfield are the easiest ways to get the most out of the least. We have underachieved on the O and D lines the last few years and the ZBS has maximized our OL production, a 3-4 would do the same for our front 7. Spread Os and cover 2 Ds are the simplest but not neccesarilly “best”. Ideally you want to have a balanced “hybrid” O that incorporates misdirection, WCO passing, verical threats, moving pockets, and option-downhill running. It looks like we’re building a versatile and balanced offense in this model, and we’re following the idel blueprint for defensive coverage. Man coverage is ideal, but it’s not practical, it’s nearly impossible to execute because noone can built a secondary good enough, and young enough to consistently hold up, and stay together long-term, thus there is a lot of turnover and inconsistency. We seem to have built the “prototype” secondary and are in the process of building our “prototype” offense, the ZBS is the ideal OL scheme because it maximizes production at a position that is hard to build a consistent and stable unit, the same can be said of a 3-4 defense for a front 7. The ZBS ad 3-4 mask supposed defficiencies that are visible in traditional schemes, but when you combine effective excecution of these scheme with ideal talent you get the broncos OL of the late ’90s and the chargers and patriots front 7s of the last few years. While I believe our O and D lines are capable, these schemes can take a capable O or D line to good or even very good until the ideal level of talent can make your units very good, as we’ve seem the ZBS in it’s transformation of our OL. Again, I don’t think it will happen, I just think it should.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Huff – I hope you’re right! Fargas ran well on a last place schedule. If another team out there needs a quality RB I wouldn’t mind if Al traded him with Schweigert, etc to pick up a decent DT or OT. IF not hopefully the youngsters he drafted a couple years ago can handle it.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Andy’s Mom -
Back in the day, a few teams not only mastered the ZBS, but they mastered the dirtiest aspect of it — cutting an unsuspecting lineman after he was literally held-up by a D-lineman.
Denver, San Fran, and a few other teams were great at getting away with it. Back in the 80’s, I remember Howie breaking a KC player’s nose after he got tired of the cheap shots like that. That was sweet, actually.
Now, the rules are supposed to prevent those types of hold him and hurt him kinds of tactics. I might be wrong, but I can’t recall more than once last year where the team was penalized for doing it incorrectly.
You’re not the only one who doesn’t like the practice, though!
April 30th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Anyone hear anymore about trading Jordan to SD? Fox Sport rumor mill has both Culpepper and Dilfer as possible backup QB’s if they aren’t happy with the QB situation. And Oak is holding onto Jordan in hopes of trading him, but teams will wait until 06/01 to land him cheaper.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
yeah but when we do it its sweet!
I’m still not shure how it helps our pass blocking tho
April 30th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/raiders/
April 30th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Some hack on sports center just said the discharge would hold the SB trophy next year
April 30th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Lil More from Rhodes
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/raiders/
April 30th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
408… that’s the one thing that has me with the O line too..is pass blocking… we know we’ll be able to run… even with Harris … he can run block… he’s problem was pass blocking….
April 30th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Hey Marley, I enjoyed post #396…Thanks.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I dont watch soccer but that sports center reruns just showed an exceptional kick. First? goal by team in blue blew by goalie who was right there but it blew right by him.
Call Al and see if he can sign him to replace the keg of beer someday
April 30th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Here is something for you guys to look at. A Peterson and DMac compared on the same film. I think AP is Fricken great. But watching this comparison it seems DMac is a lot more explosive off the line and is at full speed a lot faster then AP. Looks like he has a better top gear as well.
Ap gets the tough yards and runs through some tackles. But gets caught from behind a lot in this.
Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qkx3d_NrVU&feature=related
April 30th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
it helps in pass blocking because the OL functions as one unit rather than as individuals against individual d-linemen, but unfortunately our starting LT and starting C struggled in space and had trouble blocking as a fully functioning unit in pass protection, we HAVE helped the line a lot with the additions of harris and wade, especially since wade’s primary skill is that he is smart and an expert in terms of line calls and adjustments
April 30th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Dmacs last ten yards in the 40 was faster than the first ten yards…
April 30th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Like Oakglenn said last night. He will be playing against bigger and faster guys now. But so is everyone who is coming up. I just hope he is a repeat of AP this year.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Hell Raiderrrs, I hope so too. That may not be a fair comparison though. AP is more shifty and can break tackles better than D-Mac, but we’ll see…
April 30th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
TT
Hell yeah Im IN cant wait 4 pre season so we can check out our shiny new O
April 30th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Damn I can’t wait. I played fantasy baseball to try and help me get through the off season. But it’s not working. I don’t really like baseball.
Some down there in the Bay please tell Crosby I need him to yank a couple over the fence tonight.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
John Clayton said
” Al Davis isnt going to like this but the plan is for DMAC to rush for about 500 yards and Fargas get 1000″
Unfreakinbelievable, thats the plan eh John ?
April 30th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
And they know this how? Do they sit in on the meetings or what? How a stupid ass thing to say.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
brown, unless you hear that from davis, kiffin, knapp, or ratham then it’s just the standard media BS, more likely you’ll see mcfadden get 1,100-1,400yds rushing this year and fargas get 400-700
April 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Opps I ment “what” I guess that was a stupid ass thing to say.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
kiffin himself said he would use mcfadden primarilly as a RB and later use mcfadden more in a recievig capacity; he’ll probably have 700-1,000 yards rushing and 100-200 yards recieving in his first 8 games, and hen likely have 400-800 yards rushing and 200-400 yards recieving in his next 8 games
April 30th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
DMAC is still very young. He’s not even 21 yet. Kiffin intends to bring him along slowly.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
If he can pull 1000 rushing and 500 passing yards… that’d be more than awesome…
April 30th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
WE NOW FIND OURSELVES IN THE DEAD ZONE. That’s the time right after the draft talk has burned out and before training camp begins. There’s nothing of any consequence to talk about. Baseball has started but who cares. Hockey is finishing up and again, who cares. Basketball is, I don’t know because I don’t follow Basketball. Must be time to go on vacation ’cause there’s really nothing else of interest to do. Maybe we need a NFL summer football season? Maybe we can take the NFL Scout teams that played overseas and start a summer league. Even that would be better than baseball – the most boring game in the world.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
lol … 500yds for DMAC … 1000 for Fargas … I guess he forgot about Bush.
I can’t stand all these so called expects ragging on the Raiders all the time. How AD went against the coaches and picked DMAC BUT nothing is said about the Rams owner Shaw who when against the coaching staff and scouts and picked Long instead of Dorsey.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
tonio, as you can see i set the minimums at 1100 rushing and 300 recieving, and you can expect at least 8 total TDs from mcfadden himself
April 30th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I gotta agree with Kirk.
Kiffin likes to bring his guys along with care and precision, however long it takes (see Russell, Miller, Henderson, JLH, Bowie) He definitely believes in not overloading rookies with too many complications, and letting them learn to do one thing well at a time.
I expect to see McFadden come in to run the ball initially, then doing a little bit of recieving out of the backfield, then maybe lining up as a reciever once in awhile, and then maybe next year tossing the ball once in awhile. He will bring him along carefully.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
That should provide JMac… close to 3k passing
April 30th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
This next season might be the deciding year for J-Rock’s career. I think that after all this preparation he is doing, and with all the weapons that have been assembled around him, he will either stumble right out of the gate, because he isn’t bright enough for the NFL, yet; OR he will catch defenses off gaurd and absolutely bludgeon the teams on our schedule.
I have actually heard a few BSPN talking heads proclaiming Jammy a bust already because he only started two games last season, I think these guys are gonna be eating those words by week 4.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
BBB…
I think you are right… we saw it with jammy too. I just hope the audience has patience
April 30th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftVLoFWZA7s&feature=related
Here is a video of Adrian Peterson in High School. To me, based on McFadden’s video’s…I have yet to see him to these things. When comparing the 2, AP just seems so much stronger. McFadden puts on the occasional stiff arm but only at the goal line or when going out of bounds. He seems to shy away from contact which makes him more of a finesse player with AP being more of an aggressive player. Don’t get me wrong, AP will probably break down faster in his career than McFadden because of it but trying to run away from people in the NFL is going to be tough.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
BBB…
#453 was a respond to #450
Regarding calling Jammy a bust is way to early, what about Leinert? or Cutler? the are always so fast to judge, but R-Bush is on his way to be a bust..
April 30th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Huff
Did you check out the Youtube I posted #433?
April 30th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
LMN,
educated football fans understand that some care needs to be taken with developing your franchise quarterback. Same goes for the other positions to some extent, the difference this year is that Kiffin already has a base and some of the pieces in place: Russell is gonna come out slingin, Miller is ready to roll, and the O-line will come to camp with a full year under their belt.
I just can’t believe that these so-called “experts” at BSPN would criticize the Raiders and Russell for only starting two games last season. They immediately lost all credibility when they pulled a statement that rediculous out of their arses.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Huff24…
all McFadden supporters say McFadden shouldn’t be compared to AP, they suggested somebody else can’t remmeber who right now…. I have no opinion on the matter, but AP he’s not!
April 30th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Huff,
AP, in my opinion is a better ‘running back’ than McFadden will be in the NFL. The difference is that McFadden will add way more recieving yards, and as I have been saying for a year now, AP will probably not last more than three years in this league. He is too violent of a runner, and will be hobbled and slow after just a few seasons of carrying the vikings on his back. McFadden is very durable, because he can run away from contact, and this should give him a better career, than AP.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
BBB…
absolutely right, but what can you expect of the BSPN, ohh their Draft tracker worked, thats a plus, but their opinions, them they can keep for themselves…
Yeah, this year Jammy is of course starter from Week 1, it is this year we are going to judge if he has learned anything, and in ‘09 we can expect much of him. I think Carson Palmer didn’t see any action in his first year, and Eli only some. Both I thik is better for it today! It is on a 16 week span you see if a QB has it! I liked Eli from start, he is just not Peyton, but who is?, I think he has his own way of playing of course not near the top, but when the media late ‘06 and beginning of ‘07 season started to call Eli a bust I strongly disagreed…
I rather have a longlasting fix than a quick one…
April 30th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Tommy,
I was just passing the message I dont believe theres a plan to get him 500 yards. What if he gets 500 yards at week 4. According to Clayton you shut him down till 2009.
Its a ridiculous comment by Clayton.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Peace out Domo not too sad to see you go
April 30th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
The Idiot that made the claim the dischargers will win the SB has either been out in the sun too long, or is smokin some good stuff that he shouldnt be smokin. Put the pipe down and take a long nap.
dischargers will NEVER, I repeat NEVER win a SB. the guy who said it is a hack and has zero cred.
1. Has he considred the injuries to SD lt, gates, hardwick, jamall williams etc.
2. LT=PU$$Y. crying on the radio, i can still feel pain when i run and cut.
3. the dt jamaal williams will not last to the middle of this season. His knees are shot. He has sugerys every year he is almost done.
4. hardwick the center is out for 6 mos, we are 1.5 mos into his surgery. he will miss the begining of the season.
5. gates big toe injury, not sure if thats an issue. some say yes some say no.
6. Pinnock the fullback is injured not sure don’t really care.
7. hester from lsu is an okay back but they could have had jamall charles go figure that one out. they have him slated to be a backup to lt bwahahahah….
8. They have a backup QB playing starting QB…nuff said
9. they fired lofton for reasons i still can figure out.
10. we have the discharger playbook ala Lofton
our WR coach.
10. the discharger head coach is a decent OCO but no head co.
11. Cooper to miss the first 4 games popped for drugs.
13. lt is still stewing for bress hates rivers.
14. Pillage and Plunder
I could keep going but my utter disdain for anything discharger makes me very angry…..
April 30th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Since we’re projecting stats, here are my projected stat FLOORS and CEILINGS:
Offense:
QB-JaMarcus Russell-3000-3500yds passing 20-30 TDs passing 10-16 INTs 200-400yds rushing 2-5 TDs rushing
RB-Darren McFadden-1100-1500yds rushing 6-16 TDs rushing 300-600yds recieving 1-6 TDs recieving
RB-Justin Fargas-400-700yds rushing 1-5 TDs rushing 50-200yds recieving 0-2 TDs recieving
RB-Michael Bush-300-600yds rushing 5-14 TDs rushing 200-500yds recieving
TE-Zach Miller-500-900yds recieving 5-10 TDs recieving
WR-Javon Walker-700-1200yds recieving 5-12 TDs recieving
WR-Ronald Curry-800-1100yds recieving 4-10 TDs recieving
WR-Drew Carter-300-800yds recieving 1-6 TDs recieving
WR-Arman Shields-100-400yds recieving 0-5 TDs recieving
Defense:
DT-Tommy Kelly-40-70 tackles 4-8 sacks
DT-Terdell Sands-20-60 tackles 1-4 sacks
DT-Gerrard Warren-20-40 tackles 2-6 sacks
DT-William Joseph-5-30 tackles 0-5 sacks
DE-Derrick Burgess-40-70 tackles 8-16 sacks
DE- Jay Richardson-20-40 tackles 2-6 sacks
DE-Kalimba Edwards-20-50 tackles 3-10 sacks
DE-Trevor Scott-10-30 tackles 2-8 sacks
MLB-Kirk Morrison-100-150 tackles 1-5 sacks 2-5 INTs
OLB-Thomas Howard-90-120-tackles 1-5 sacks 2-8 INTs
OLB-Robert Thomas-50-90 tackles 0-2 sacks 0-3 INTs
OLB-Sam Williams-20-50-tackles 0-4 sacks 0-2 INTs
CB1-Nnamdi Asomugha-30-60 tackles 2-10 INTs 10-30 PBAs
CB2-DeAngelo Hall-40-80 tackles 3-10 INTs 10-20 PBAs
CB3-Stanford Routt-20-50 tackles 1-6 INTs 5-15 PBAs
SS-Gibril Wilson-70-120 tackles 1-6 sacks 2-8 INTs 5-15 PBAs
FS-Michael Huff-60-90 tackles 0-4 sacks 2-10 INTs 10-20 PBAs
K-Sebastian Janikowski-70%-85% 15-30 TBs
April 30th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Yeah…theres no way you can compare AP to McFadden because they’re polar opposites. McFadden just runs away from everybody and hes so fast that he literally gets away. AP will punch you, claw you, fight you on his way to the end zone but have jukes and speed along the way. Hes a complete back to me with maybe a little too much aggression to go with it Marion Barber style but I’ve told my brother that Barber won’t have a long career running like that and he needs a compliment and Felix Jones is perfect for that otherwise Barber will end up like Eddie George and be broken after 5 years.
I think McFadden will be stopped 9 times out of 10 without a big play but it will be that 1 play that may net him 60-90 yards and will make his stats look alot better. Speed is great and all but hes going to get hit differently in the NFL and I’m curious as to how hes going to respond to it.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
TT – Those are really broad numbers.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
As excited as I am to see Dmc… I’m really interested in seeing what Bush has to offer… the “caged beast” as he described himself…
April 30th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Post 464 no JLH stats?
April 30th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
thec… I was wondering that too… I hope he performs this year…
April 30th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
JLH = NEED TO MAN THE F UP!!!!!
April 30th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Tonio, in the words of Dominick Rhodes the Raiders really like Mike Bush.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Jeesh TT, if those stats are even close Oak will be in the playoffs.
Anyone here if SD is still interested in Jordan?
Does Kiffin have the time to let McFadden come along slowly? McFadden and Russell will sell seats so I bet he plays a bit more than 500 yrds. And what about Bush? Was that interview blowing smoke that Bush is 100% and a secret weapon? If Bush and Rankin tear it up in practice will Kiffin make them sit during the season or see if they can help keep the offense on the field? If the they can pound the crap out of the rock and score TD’s or if Oak can just keep scoring then other teams won’t be able to run on us making it easier on the defense with the opponet having to play catch up, which in turn keeps all our DB’s in business.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
huff, i meant to establish a ceiling and floor, not project exact #s, but all of the #s, should the player stay healthy, be somewhere in between those #s
and i forgot about JLH
WR-Johnnie Lee Higgins-200-500yds recieving 1-5 TDs
agains, the #s are broad to asteblish ROUGH CEILING and FLOOR, not neccesarrily projections but setting expectations and tempering expectations
April 30th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Keeps DB’s in business to give out the business…
April 30th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
raiderKC, i have us in the wildcard competition, which will be crowded in the AFC with CLE, NYJ, PIT, JAC, IND, HOU, BAL, TEN, and us; will we get in? maybe, but we’ll need to win 11 games to get in for sure, right now I’m expecting 9 or 10, setting the floor at 8 and setting the ceiling at 12, but I think 9 or 10 is most likely
April 30th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
JLH didn’t show much last year. If either of these kids from Richmond and SDST are worth a lick they’ll take his roster spot. And yes, if we’re scoring in bunches we’ll see if our CB combo is worth all that $$$.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
SD…
April 30th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
thec, i expect SD to win the division(for the last time) this year, we should be right there, but their scedule is almost as easy as ours
April 30th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
TT,
Do you think Asmounga & Hall are the types to play cover2 with ?
April 30th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
TT
I wouldn’t be so sure about SD.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Oak G… re: Rhodes quote.. that really is the most interesting point isn’t it… we’d heard before that he was back in form… Rhodes quote pretty much solidifies it… which to… is why Bush was surprised we were thinking of DMC… he knows he’s back… so … good for us …
very very good for us 
… Finally we’ll be back in the mix for runners in the AFC west… instead of sitting behind LT… Broncos… and LJ of the chiefs…
April 30th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Man DID YOU WATCH THE GAMES!
How many comments on here are not based at all on reality?
“Kiff should’ve given Rhodes reps instead of running Jordan into the ground.”
WRONG! Rhodes was suspended while Jordan was starting. Fargas got a few reps but Detroit, Denver and Cleveland were all close games. Not the time to throw in a few reps.
“Maybe DR asked for his release.” No sheet sherlock! He said it was a condition he laid out IN THIS BLOG! Read before you post.
“Kiffin mishandled the RB’s” Well, at NO POINT in the season were all three backs available.
First 4 games – Jordan / Fargas (DR suspended)
Then Fargas / Rhodes (Jordan injured)
Then Rhodes / Jordan (Fargas injured)
“He should’ve activated Bush to get some carries.” Remember he wanted to but injuries to QB, DE, OT and other positions meant they couldn’t have the luxury of 4 HB’s on a 53-man roster. Fargas got hurt and IR the week after Bush was eligible to be activated.
Rhodes is smart to go find someplace he’s wanted but nobody passes on M Bush or DMAC because they have a RB who couldn’t beat out Edge, Addai, Jordan, or Fargas.
NEWS FLASH: Rhodes, you didn’t sit behind Fargas because they were holding your suspension against you. You sat because Fargas outplayed you.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
gotcha tt,… do you think rankin can make it. can he be a PR/KR and he is a decent rb, and could definetly be a backup in a pinch, or injury.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I thought Kiffin mishandles alot of things last year, including who’s the QB each week. They carried 4 QB’s, there was a window to look at Bush.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
of course not KK, they are arguably the 2 best man-to-man cover corners in the NFL, nnamdi could be great in a cover-2 but i’m not sure about hall, man-to-man is always the best way to go if you can do it, and we can, so we will
April 30th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
We probably won’t see much of any young WR’s so I wouldn’t put too much focus on them. As we learned this last year, alot of our rookies didn’t contribute and I wouldn’t expect that to change. Kiffin has a Redshirt system that he has applied to this team and guys like Zach Miller got the start because there wasn’t anybody close to as good as him or who could start in place of him. The fact is, Javon Walker, Ronald Curry and Drew Carter will be the main benefactors of this offense and any other receiver would be lucky to see the ball.
This team has a group of WR’s with injury problems so its possible we will see someone play in that case but we have alot of money invested into our WR core. We also have alot of money tied up in the safeties so its “safe” to say that Branch won’t see much time there either unless injury occurs. Branch will primarily be our kick and/or punt returner this year in the same way that JLH was this year and that will probably continue to happen until Kiffin can find the right guy.
As far as DE goes…I have no clue. I don’t know much about the guys we have nor do I feel confident until they prove me wrong. We are definately going to need to score alot of points early in games to push the other team into passing against our secondary. That seems to be the most effective way for this defense to succeed.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
To Tommy Trojan, Coach on Wheels and BlackholePriest. I need your help. I read this blog everyday but I seldom write in it. I am a die-hard Raider fan and have been a season ticket holder since 1967 (I even went to games at Frank Ewell Field before that)but I have never been a football player although i am/was athletic.
Anyway, my best friend is also a Raider fan but not as much as me and he is very disappointed in the draft (no O-line or D-line help) and he thinks we won’t perform well because of that and because he doesn’t like Jamarcus. He has made me three different bets and I want to take them all. My problem is that I am so biased toward the Raiders and the improvements made in the off-season (draft and free agency)that I wanted your unbiased input as best you can because I have respected your blog entries even if you guys sometimes disagree with each other.
Bet #1- He bets me $5,000 that the Raiders won’t win 5 or more games this year. If its 4 games its a push and if they win three or less he wins.
Bet #2- He bets me with 4 to 1 odds in my favor $1,000 that the Raiders won’t win 7 games or more. If I win I get $4,000 and if I lose he only gets $1,000.
Bet #3- This one is tricky. He bets me $5,000 that the Raiders won’t win 7 games or more AND for the season exceed last year’s (2007) average rushing yards per game for all teams in the NFL. This bet only counts if Jamarcus (or Walter or a non-Vet Quarterback) starts at least 8 games and we don’t get a $3mil O-Lineman not currently on the team. His thinking is that teams let us run last year and will again this year because we can’t win. He thinks that with Jamarcus as a rookie or Walter or some other non-Vet that we couldn’t possibly win 7 games unless we were very successful at passing and thus we wouldn’t exceed the 2007 NFL average yds per rush and at the same time win 7 games. If Jamarcus (or another non-vet QB) does not start at least 8 games, or we get a $3mil O-lineman, or we don’t win 7 or more games, the bet is off and nobody wins. Essentially, I can only lose if we win 7 or more games but we don’t exceed last years NFL average yds rushing for the year.
I believe it is a slam dunk that we will exceed the 2007 NFL average rushing yards per game but I don’t really care if we do it by the pass or rushing. I guess the question here is: if we win 7 or more games (because if we win less than 7 the bet is off) do you guys think we will still exceed the 2007 NFL average rushing yards per game?
I know this sounds like a lot of money and it is for me (although if I lose all bets my kids still get to stay in college, i.e. it won’t break me) but it is meaningless money to him.
Lastly for Tommy Trojan- You are the numbers guy. So do you know what the 2007 NFL average yards rushing per game was?
April 30th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
rankin would have to EXPLODE in training camp to get a roster spot, we only need 3 RBs on the roster and he’s not beating out mcfadden, fargas, or bush, and he’ll have just as hard a time trying to get a return shot, branch is by far the favorite to return both punts and kicks and JLH looks like the main competition, honestly, I don’t think rankin has a chance in hell of making this roster, but he’s a decent camp option
April 30th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
What kind of bs was that?
April 30th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Anyone, Who’s the starting Center?
April 30th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Huff, I meant to include you too in #487 above as you are a respected blogger in my mind. To all others, I don’t mean to offend any others because I know there are numerous other quality bloggers, I just couldn’t mention everyone by name. Thanks
April 30th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
John Wade
April 30th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Daaraiders, you are playing with fire son. Why don’t you do something more worth while with your money than piss it away on the Raiders.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Kool Kell, good to see you back. Lay down some Dolemite for us my man
April 30th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Oh yeah. They passed right over Jake Grove eh. I’ll check him out.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Daaraiders – With all due respect. I’d love to answer your question but I never gamble so I’m really the wrong person to include, although I appreciate you including me. I’m very picky with money and I hate to lose it so I don’t gamble it. The NFL or the sports world in general is an ever changing business and its hard to predict. Vegas odds are probably the best to look at if you understand it because they are hardcore in betting. I did predict the Raiders to have an 8-8 to 10-6 record this year based on the schedule but of course, I’m biased however I really see an improvement in this team.
Anyways…I’m sure the other guys could help alot more but those are the only ways that I can help you. As good as the money sounds…its only great if you win and it sucks like hell when you lose. The question is…does losing $5,000 hurt you considerably because if it does, you may not want to do it because it may put you in a hole you can’t get out of.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Rankin would have to explode. I didn’t get to watch him play at all last year but by looking at his weekly stats he had 6 games where he averaged 3.3yds or less. He had 4 100 yard games…147 vs. Syracuse, 255 vs Stanford, 224 vs. Cal, and 145 vs Hawaii. I can’t imagine him making the team. Maybe he could be a practice squad guy, not too sure.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
You know…Jake Grove had a mysterious injury last year while Newberry started all year. I wonder if Kiffin was saving Grove for this next year? Its hard to say but the signing of Wade tells me that was a Cable move looking for the right guy.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I don’t think that’s Kool Kell. Thats some friggin imposter. Eff yourself.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
At this point…Bush might not even make the team so who knows. The team wasn’t comfortable enough with having Bush as the primary starter obviously and hes not getting paid alot and if Moses can be released as a 3rd round pick, the team might come to the conclusion that Bush isn’t healthy enough to play. We may end up with Echemandu or Rankin as the 3rd back instead. At this point, who knows?
April 30th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Daaraiders,
I can’t tell you what to do with your money, if it was me, I would take the bets, al of them, I already have a couple grand on 8+ wins, but I am aware of my finacial situation, not yours, I would take the bets, I can’t tell you to do the same.
The NFL rushing average was 111 yards per game, or 4.1 yards per carry, both of which we will far surpass this season. You have to make your own financial decisions. If I were in the same situation I would do it, but whether or not you do it is entirely up to you. Of course, all of those bets you would be virtually assured of winning.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
John Wade, a 10 Vet, Starter, healthy, diciplined, physical presence in the middle.
That’l work.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Take bet #1 for sure, probably #2 as well, and give some thought to #3.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
TT-maybe Rankin will, either way he can return kicks with Hall or McFadden. JLH lost the job and if these new WR’s are any good maybe he’ll get cut. Shoot, they cut that DE from the draft during training camp last year.
I don’t see what all the fuss is over Fargas! He didn’t show jack his first 4 yrs, but does on a last place schedule and then is hurt on top of it. If Al didn’t land McFadden and if Bush wasn’t any good then I say yes to him. Loyalty only gets you so far. If this Rankin kid is any good, along with Bush being 100% then cut bait with Fargas. Oak needs to win now not in a few years.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
with branch, who is right there with desean jackson as the best KR/PR in the draft, it’s unlikely that branch will make the team
fargas is a decent runningback but more importantly he’s one of the leaders of our team, there is almost no way he will be cut
April 30th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
*it’s unlikely that RANKIN will make the team
April 30th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
TT – Why wouldn’t Branch make the team? Do you think Schweigert will stay as a backup FS? This team stockpiles Defensive Backs and I would bet he sticks around if he can contribute enough on special teams and I believe he will. We may even keep Huff, Wilson, Scheigert, Cooper and Branch because Cooper and Branch would be the main Special Teams leaders probably.
Fargas isn’t going anywhere. Its apparent AD is fond of him and he busted his butt for Kiffin. Plus, hes a veteran RB on this team and we don’t anymore of those with our current crop. I don’t count Jordan in this mix.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
TT – Ah. Gotcha.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
that aint koolkell. thtat is the scumf*ck that steals veryones names.I hope you die a bad death. stealign a mans name is wrong
April 30th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
jordan is only around as we attempt to finangle an 09 5th or 6th rounder from the saints, or maybe some other team looking for a power back or rotational RB, or perhaps we may be able to get an 09 conditional pick, most likely though he’ll get cut, and may end up in SD or DEN, but hopefully somewhere in the NFC
April 30th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
right now speiker, rodd, jackson, simmons, gunheim, and gray are the only UDFAs with a good chance to make the roster, and I’d say speiker is about as close to a lock as a UDFA can be to makie the roster
April 30th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
They have McFadden listed on the Raiders roster and his number is #20. I don’t recall that number being available before. Can anybody think of who had it last?
April 30th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
TT…
Spieker… =)
April 30th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
I could care less if Jordan ends up in the division. Whats he going to do? Hurt us? Please. Jordan would hurt his back eating a donut.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Seems to me bspn is not very pleased that McFadden ended up in the Raiders. You just get a feeling bspn would have loved to have McFadden drop to the NYJ so they could continue to sell him.
Not only did they hype DMC for months, but McFadden is also the most markeatable and charismatic player on this Draft, as his Nike deal will attest.
Let´s face it, McFadden is the face of this class. The Longs, Matt Ryan and Dorsey are allright but they are boring. McFadden on the other hand, you can just tell that he has “it”.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
LMN, what about spieker?
April 30th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
#20 was joe’s #, i guess this means I’ll still have to get another jersey to replace my current mcfadden jersey, but hey, at least I’ll get a tatum out of it
April 30th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
TT – You spelt his name Speiker instead of Spieker at first but you corrected it. He was just laying down the proper english law.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I don’t have a spelling problem, I just can’t type for shit
April 30th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
A DB named Colby wore #20 circa??? that’s a good one
April 30th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
You know…I really wanted Long on this team but now hes a Ram. Fuk the Rams and Fuk the Longs. Anybody on another team can just kiss my @$$.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
McFadden wants to go Barry Sanders on everybody.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
bob, the great thing about mcfadden is that he is marketable, he’s someone like LT, or AP, or Manning, or Romo, who everyone loves and wants to buy their jerseys, everyone loves the raiders jerseys and wants to find and excuse to wear silver and black, mcfadden gives them that excuse and will really help out our revenue, as well as our team, he certainly makes my job easier………..
April 30th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Neil Colzie, Ohio State 1975 DB wore # 20.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
McFadden is probably in the newest Grand Theft Auto 4 game. He can now run up and grab someone out of his brothers car and throw him out of it. Then he can proceed to stomp on him or beat him with a bat. Its your choice.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
You guys are exactly right with the marketing angle. And Bob, again, you can tell he has “it”. I really like you said that. I got the exact same impression. I don’t know if you guys realize how many Arkansas fans just became Raider fans. We were talking to a bunch of them yesterday. That’s a good sign.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Huff24…
We will get Long after the new CBA, then he is educated to the big leagues and we will reap all his talent!
April 30th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
TT…
you cant get everything, guessing McFadden and his number! =)
April 30th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
They have NFL Bloopers on NFL Network. Funny stuff.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
You ain’t Koolkell.steal another mans name is dead wrong. die fool
April 30th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
LMN – No…We will get Long when hes a 13 year vet and nobody else wants him. Then Al will reap 2 more years out of him and say….well heck…AD will be 13 years older at that point…he may not say anything at all.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
hahaha. nice to see loser fraud boy making new friends.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Colzie… an Oakland Raiders first round pick and died in a age of 47 in 2001… wow thats long back to find a #20..
April 30th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
oak, a big problem with the revenue was that we didn’t have a face to the team, because jamarcus russell is a QB and takes time to develope, and didn’t have nearly as much hype as mcfadden coming out he is not our franchises face yet, mcfadden is instantly our face, our best offensive player, and the 2nd best player on our entire team, nnamdi and morrison are fairly marketable but CBs and LBs don’t sell to the masses, especially not on a losing team, even fans who hate the raiders and have no prefference over arkansas or not will buy raider jerseys just because they love mcfadden, while we all hate these fair weather fans, we need their money to help build the team just as much as they need our wins to help them feel better about themselves, mcfadden sells, that’s just an added bonus that adds to getting the best player in the draft
April 30th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
LMN, i got most of our picks right, and thses were guys from richmond, buffalo, and SDSU, you’d think picking the # would be the easy part……………..
April 30th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Tommy, Okaglenn…yeah, the kid seems like a great guy, he´s just likable. And on top of that, the stuff he has had to overcome, that´s just admirable.
I really wish him well, even if he had gone to another team I´d be rooting for him.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
LMN, to be honest, i give AD 3 more years max, maybe only 1……………….
April 30th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Nice point TT. Who’s the face of the franchise???? You’re right. It’s not the defenders. It’s not Jam. It certainly wasn’t Porter. You know who the face of the franchise has been for the last five years??? Al Davis.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I thought McFadden would have went for #32 personally but I think his first choice was #25 because he wore #5. #20 it is.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Bob…
McFadden?
April 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
And of course…he didn’t choose #25 because of Fargas.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Post 537 hope he lives past that but we will win a SB in 3 so he will be around to see it.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Bob, you are exactly right. Except the part about him going to anothe team and rooting for him. Let’s no go crazy here
April 30th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
TT – I don’t think your career will be in the # Scouting Department. I’ll let you know ahead of time, you’re fired.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Almostlike rooting for c. long and what is up with howie putting on the rams hat…..I was numb when i saw that S#!T i understand its his soon and all but WTF…
April 30th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I’m sure of Al lives as long we haven’t won a SB, but he might drop dead the day after of happiness, thats some dangerous sh!t when you’ve bean miserable most of you life =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Adimchinobi Echemandu is back on the roster.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
KoolKell…
he has been for long, so I think Raider mac is right, the real Koolkell would know that
April 30th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Kell, if you spelled that right without looking you get an A+ bro
April 30th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
That’s phony KoolKell. what a loser. Let’s see some Dolemite spit KK!!!
April 30th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Milicia..540….Yes, McFadden
April 30th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
The real KK wouldn’t have cared how the guys name is spelled.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Didn’t Al Davis’s mother live to be well over 100, or is she still alive?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Thec,
Come on, as much as i hate the patsies or the steelers if they drafted my kid in the 1st round i would wear their cap too… no doubt about that, but I might have a raider t-shirt under the suit though =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Just imagine the huddle. Not including the offensive line.
Jamarcus Russell, Darren McFadden, Oren O’Neal, Zach Miller, Javon Walker and Ronald Curry.
What do you think of the personalities?
JR is the quiet leader, Walker is the talker, O’Neal is the grunter, Curry is the focus, Miller is the confidence…McFadden is the vocal leader?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
LMN, My brother your right….LOL
April 30th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
The last one to wear #20 (that mattered) on an opening day roster was Fargas. A couple years later he switched to #25.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Just imagine that same lineup going no huddle with MBUSH in the mix. cotrel you fV@K you better be sleeping with one eye open.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I think Al Davis will live to be over 100 and when three more superbowls.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
we can’t tell if mcfadden has “it” until we see him play against league competition. does this make me a “mcfadden hater”? hardly. is everyone who thinks this was a strange/poor draft a davis hater? no! we should all want the same thing: a successful season,(except for a few well-known characters). why do philosophical disagreements (such as whether one can rebuild a team while neglecting the lines), have to break down into raider nation members insulting each other’s intellegence? for the last 5 years we have divided ourselves and the rest of the league has conquered us. i at least respect people like Tommy Trojan and others who try to answer questions with research and statistics. but for many of you: as “raider friends”, who the fvk needs enemies?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
That was win three more superbowls.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Actually Al’s grandma is still alive, so you haters may have to chill for awhile.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Will he still be GM at 100, that’s the question.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Bob Marley…
I was against the picks of Jammy and McFadden, but Jammy almost won me over at the conference after, when he was asked what he has been doing the days before the draft, “I’ve been home at my Mama’s (Place)” with that thick soft southern voice like Elvis, then I thought oh well…
With McFadden, I reminded myself about how he was with the books, and then when I saw him in his suit, his size among regular people really said ‘Paow’ Well then I welcomed him =)
But if the characther things from schools is how he will be in Oakland and his sister is firm with him, then I think we now what our run is going to look for next 4-5 years, something I never been used to be honest =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
That 3 SB will make of for the ones that were stolen, tuck, and imaculate.
6 SB would put us in the lead by 2.
Dischargers would have won zero….. I didnt hate them as much until i moved to sd
April 30th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Coinman, I was talking about McFadden´s personality, he´s got the “star” qualities IMO, that´s what I meant by “it” previously, some guys have it and some guys don´t. Of course, if McFadden is not a star on the field as well, it would do him and us no good.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
# LARDR76 Says:
April 30th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
The last one to wear #20 (that mattered) on an opening day roster was Fargas. A couple years later he switched to #25.
___________________________________________
Lets not hope he takes as long as Fargas to matter =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
coinman,
we’ve all got plenty of enemies on account of being raider fans anyway…………
April 30th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Coinman when we mean “it” we mean a sparkling personality. someone with charisma. Who’s attacking you??
April 30th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Thec…
did you follow the chagers in the 1960?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
McFadden and Russell were both SEC All-Academic award winners and honor students in college, but those got damn southern accents distort their intelligence, they’re actually really bright, and pretty charasmatic, except for that got awful sweater JR was wearing at the NC, to quote Troy Smith, “that’s a great representation of Alabama”…………………..
April 30th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
LMN,
No, I hadnt made my appearance on planet earth yet.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Thec…
“I didnt hate them as much until i moved to sd”
then what do you mean by that?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Hey Hey, tommy that sweater was a gift from me!!
April 30th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
TT…
to me southern accents just add charm, accents has nothing to do what is in a persons head…
April 30th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
LMN, I lived in the Bay area for 30+ yrs. I have lived in SD 10+ years. I did not like them when i lived in the bay, but once i got downhere it turned to all out hate……
April 30th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
i’m not saying it make him less intelligent, i’m saying because he is not uiversally understandable that he doesn’t seem as intelligent as he really is, and he is a bright kid
April 30th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
where the heck is raiderDogg or RaiderDell?
they were McFadden supporters no reason to hide =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Does it look like we sign DMAC on time?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Thec…
Ahhhh….. that ‘I’, did i not see =) now it all makes sense!
LOL
April 30th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
LMN,my typing sucks so bad lucky you understand any of this stuff. We meed spelchekar own thes blawg.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
well, i just called i in, i’ll have my #20 McFadden within the week, inlike you suckers…………..unless of course you get a customized jersey, but them again, it will cost you twice as much and take twice as long to get to you, despite you being a 1/10th(maybe less) of the distance from 1220(not that the jerseys are actually made at 1220, but i won’t go into the process…………) that i am, so in the immortal words of nelson muntz………..HAHA!
April 30th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
“because he is not uiversally understandable that he doesn’t seem as intelligent”
well that say a lot about those whom he seems like that… they could start with listening to what he says, and not what he sounds like…
Accent adding charm nothing else – or or steals it, if you saw jon stewart while the pope was visiting… “Let the children come to me” with a german accent sounds like, well wrong =) but it doesn’t say anything about whats inside the head…
Again it says more about the ones who think like that… I know this perhaps sounds holy to some, but thats just how I think, and probably most think =)
Ps. it was you who told me he was an honor student, So from start on I knew (from you) he had something between the ears =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Thec
I kno huh
April 30th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Thec…
there was nothing wrong, besides my eyes, perhaps =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Tommy Trojam, FU you elitist snob. How dare you make fun of someone’s accent.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Thec…
there was nothing wrong with your typing, besides my eyes, perhaps =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
LMN, i obviousl don’t think like that, or else i wouldn’t have emphasized their intelligence, but the general perception of the ignorant is that they are individuals of sub-standard intellect, which is dead wrong but this is part of the reason why………
April 30th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
ABP…
easy now.. he didn’t! he said to some he might seem like that…
April 30th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
paine, WTF are you talking about?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
do you guys read teh entire post are you all just skimming, (like i did thec’s post)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
TT…
well I guess its guys like adam schefter =) who think like that =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
TT – If Al can’t get a 5th or 6th rounder of Jordan next year, maybe he can get one for Fargas.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
i said they inability to understand their southern accents distorts their intelligence and creates the perception that they’re not intelligent, when in fact they are very smart, you obviously don’t like me paine and frankly i’m not too fond of you but you should read my comments before making such bold inferrences
April 30th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Tommy Trojan is a hypocrite and a liar! He doesn’t even have the intelligence to use capitol letters.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Repost!!
Ps. it was you who told me he was an honor student, So from start on I knew (from you) he had something between the ears =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
btw.. that means brains =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
if we were to deal fargas the absolute minimum would be a 3rd in 09, but the starting price, and hopefully ending price would be a 2nd, but he is one of our team captains and team leaders, he is one of the most respected plaers by both his teammates and the coaches, there’s no way he’s going anywhere
April 30th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
yes, paine, because their’s a direct correlation between typing affluence and intelligence……….now i see………
April 30th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
should say
*there’s
April 30th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Tommy, do you think you can get me a deal on one of those McFadden jerseys?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Could I? yes
Will I? no
April 30th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
LMN
I read the whole thing, but I have no life
April 30th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
i think i’m out for the night
April 30th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I would like a home jersey with his name spelled in all lower case letters. Perhaps it could even be misspelled.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
good night tommy
April 30th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Isn’t there an inflation going on…Ever since Obama was accused of being an elitist everybody saying it about everything?
and elitist is someone who believes in rule by an elite group, not somebody whop thinks he is superior! a peasant could be an elitist but was of course very unlikely =)
TT has never shown any thoughts here about the rule of law, not that I remember =) it was just a simple conversation about accent… no condemnations what so ever! form either of us… not intentionally!
April 30th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Oh isht the spelling & grammer police r back
April 30th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
# Tommy Trojan Says:
April 30th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Could I? yes
Will I? no
_________________________
muhhahaha, good one =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
408…
yup thats him =) im just the name police or what you will call it… and that is a bad gig =)
April 30th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
It was mentioned earlier that Branch might not make the team?
That had to be a typo …
Guaranteeing UDFAs, but not Branch? That’s odd!
April 30th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
a peasant could be an elitist but was of course very unlikely =)
What the hell does that mean? Is that even English? It certainly is not a coherent thought.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
LMN
LOL… my beloved SHARKS r tryin 2 get eliminated =(
April 30th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Pansy boys come out to play!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
A peasant could think that the lord of the Manor was better to lead, in fact thats was why the feudalism was going on for so long…. that also why the rule of the mob alway fail… because everybody want to lead… democracy is the nice middle way =)
April 30th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Someone comes to a blog, complains about the the spelling and grammar of others on the blog, and about how their innability to live up to his standards negatively affects the general perception of a group he claims to be a part of. This person then proceeds to claim that said individuals lack intelligence and are elitests, while at the same time calling them hypocrites. It’s priceless……..
April 30th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
TT…
Lol well said =)
April 30th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
jhill, it should have said “rankin”, not “branch”……….it was a typo
April 30th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
PAIN
with all due respect LMN isnt even comunicating in his native toung so lay off. geez cant we just talk bout the raides without all u so called masters of grammer & spelling complainin?
PLEASE
April 30th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
i fail to see the corellation between honesty, truth, and capitol letters. Is this sentence somehow more holy than that previous?
April 30th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
408…
thats icehockey right?
1 hour left and then I have time off until monday =) NICE!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
sharks 2 dallas 1 go RAIDERS
April 30th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
TT-KC dealt their locker room leader to the Vikes for big trade value, Fargas can go and let someone else step up as a leader.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Griffith is more important than Fargas as a leader, Fargas is ‘just’ a workhorse – a good one even but not a leader
April 30th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
La Milicia Negra, thank you for sharing with us your 7th grade education. I suggest you go back to school. Maybe you could finally get that GED. Then you could try to explain to me your theories on Medieval social history. Until then, stick to football.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
fargas won’t collect a third of the deal allen did, he’ll fetch a 2nd at best
April 30th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
and we’re the ignorant, arrogant elitests?
April 30th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
ABP…
thanks i take that as a compliment =)
April 30th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Tommy Trojan, thanks for your input on my bet with my friend. Yes I can afford to lose the money involved and I also believe they are very good bets for me, as you confirmed.
Although I grew up in Oakland I now live in Manhattan Beach and fly with my kids to all the home games. What city do you live in down here?
April 30th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
who is this ABP character, anyway- and what does he provide to this blog?
April 30th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
he leads by example, he’s the model “locker room guy” and he’s well respected by the coaching staff, he’s the ideal role model for the youngest team in football
April 30th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Daaraiders,
SD right now
April 30th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
role model and leader is not the same, not to me that is
April 30th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Huff, thanks for responding to my note to you on my bet with my friend. I can respect your personal views on gambling but I enjoy it (I go to Vegas 3-4 times a year)and yes I can afford to lose the money.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Coach on Wheels and BlackholePriest, any thoughts on my post #487?
April 30th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Coinman, I like to think that I bring an air of respectability to this blog and to Raider Nation. You can think of me as your “arbiter elegantiae”.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
TT, what part of SD area. I live in Chula Vista
work in mira mesa area.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
To all my fellow bloggers, salvere iubeo!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
http://www.raiders.com/Team/Default.aspx?id=146&soryBy=number
Other rookies were added to the roster on Raiders.com
April 30th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
arbiter elegantiae is an elitist =) so whats your problem with other elitists?
April 30th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
ABP: attacks regarding concepts and theories are defensible, even useful, but i don’t see how purely personal attacks or insults add anything beneficial to the discussions here.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
i’m about 5 miles outside of la mesa
April 30th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
ABP… you are hard to welcome, but heck!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I guess you fobs are not keen enough to realize I was being ironic. I am an elitist and proud of it. Good night and pleasant dreams.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Coinman…
Hear Hear!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
If getting rid of Fargas means help on the cap, the heck with role model. Al can hire me, I can be a great role model for a lot less $$$
April 30th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Some reporters really make me sick. their blatant manipulation of facts to prove a point gets so out of hand it insults my intelligence and really makes me wonder how someone so stupid can get a job for a major newspaper like the SF Chronicle.
Read this nonsense.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/29/sports/s131636D77.DTL
The 2005 draft was far from a bad one for Oakland. This idiot decides to leave out Stanford Routt and Kirk Morrison which in anyone’s opinion (except for his bull crap position) are solid 2nd and 3rd round picks. Andrew Walter was exactly what 3rd round quarterbacks are…..solid backups. Ta boot he still really hasn’t had a shot to prove himself behind a line that might give him more than a half a second to throw the ball. Fabian Washington was a low profile athlete. he was fast and could jump high. a classic al davis pick. of the 12 cornerbacks (yes 12) taken in the first 2 rounds only one’s made it to the pro bowl.
I get so tired of a gross collection of misleading yabber. I mean do your job, goldberg. your job is to inform people. at least do so on a factual base rather than formulating a collection of bs to try to prove some theory.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
and latin jargon does little to enhance your credibility on a FB blog
April 30th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
KC…
Fargas is cheaper to keep than to let go right now, Jordan has a higher ‘08 salary as i recall anyway =)
April 30th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
drop em both
April 30th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Nah hta wouldn’t be a good idea.. then we would have 3 rookie runningbacks
April 30th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
now i’m finally out
April 30th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I’m sure Bush has been reading the playbook and practicing, McFadden is smart so if he’s signed quickly he should be ready to go. Eukenuba should know the playbook too.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
2 fkkk ups by to rookie rb’s and its 3rd and 25
April 30th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
bush has been allowed to practice, by rule
April 30th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Bush hasn’t been allowed to practice, by rule
April 30th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
It seems like there should be some team out there with depth at DT or DE who could use a quality RB. I certainly am not in favor of giving Fargas away, but if we could deal from a possition of depth to a possition of need, as long as both player were of comparable quality.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
“We’re going to send Jessica Simpson to the Democrat National Convention,” he said in reference to the perception that Simpson created a distraction for the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Tony Romo.
______________________________
Muhahhaha thats almos as good as his remark to the pope..
“awesome speech, man” =)
April 30th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
618 …
Ok, you had me worried!
April 30th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
of course right before i’m about to leave, I’m getting a call :/ so i’m stuck here
April 30th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
DaRaiders
Can I get in on that as well??? Meaning taking your buddies money?
April 30th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Hell Raiders, sorry dude but I believe it is a favorable bet for me(at least I think so) because he wants some action and wouldn’t mind me winning his money.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Daaradiers.. whats the bet about ?
April 30th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
post 487 i presume..
bet 1 is a slam dunk… personally i think we will get 7 wins this year, but so I thought last year too.. but I still say bet 2 is okay, though is a lot of money, but it looks nice.. bet 3 though i wouldnt take that one because to many ‘ifs’
April 30th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
YES!! then I finally got the last call, and im ready to go, pheeeuw =)
April 30th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
o/~ The Number Of The Beast o/~
April 30th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Nahh its Pantera – Walk on the iPod =)
Thanks to everybody who made this long slow day tolerable.. C Ya =)
April 30th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Slamameda outsider…
i’ve been at work for 10 hours, absolutely nothing to do than watching champions league and blogging here =) im on my way out now, my shift is should have been over an hour ago :/ but at least i’m going to Sweden later today and im off work until Monday… NICE… I just need a bit of sleep before we drive
April 30th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I dont know what holiday you are talking about, sorry to dissapoint you, but spanish holidays isn’t my strong suit…
April 30th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
It is amazing how much better this team will be next year. So many improvements….
Wilson, Hall, Huff at FS, Branch returning kicks, Russell, McFadden, Bush, a new center, we may actually have a real football team. One problem though is that Kiffin and Ryan aren’t good in game coaches. Kiffin constantly gambled and lost on fourth and short, and Ryan played the most ridiculously predictable vanilla defense I have ever see. I think we could have won four more games last year, if Kiffin had gone for field goals on fourth and short, and Ryan had blitzed more in the fourth quarter of games. I hope they learned from the experience.
In any case we really are going to be a lot better next year.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Well see ya guys, Monday or perhaps before I drive off
April 30th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
If Huff is moved to FS…Can Wilson dominate TE’s the same way that Huff does?
Also…Wilson has been very successful FS…can he be just as good at SS?
April 30th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Looks like we’re not the only optimistic ones, NFL.com had a poll question on their AFC West draft evaluation page, the question was: Which team will win the AFC West in 2008?
The results:
Chiefs-10%
Broncos-12%
Raiders-32%
Chargers-46%
This was on a general NFL site, to be specific THE NFL site, in which the vast majority of NFL fans are well documented Raider Haters, and we still commanded enough respect to have a 32% vote of confidence. These are results closer to what you expect on a Raiders site, so at least it’s nice to know the league is taking notice as well.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/story?id=09000d5d8080d763&template=with-video&confirm=true
April 30th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
To add to that the fans also gave us a B- on our draft – Not so bad considering all the hate
April 30th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
last i checked we had a B, but so did just about everyone else, even SD got a B-, so it’s safe to say the opinions were fairly diverse, which makes the poll results more significant, not they mean anything or tell us anything we didn’t already know, but it shows the other teams are either showing a little respect or indicating a hint of fear, either way………
i’m out for good tonight
April 30th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Youll have a Good one Nation
As Greg Papa would say TouchDown
RAAAAAAAIIIIIIDDDDDDDEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
April 30th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Norv is bound to tear the Charger building down at any moment so theres always a chance we beat them out this next year.
QB Jamarcus Russell – Phillip Rivers
RB Darren McFadden – LaDainian Tomlinson
FB Justin Griffith – Andrew Pinnock
WR Javon Walker – Chris Chambers
WR Ronald Curry – Vincent Jackson
TE Zach Miller – Antonio Gates
LT Kwame Harris – Marcus McNeill
LG Robert Gallery – Kris Dielman
C John Wade – Nick Hardwick
RG Cooper Carlisle – Mike Goff
RT Mario Henderson – Jaromey Clary
There is no reason we cannot compete with this when you consider the cut blocking system and Tom Cable as our Offensive Line coach with Kiffin’s mind vs. Norv and our coaching staff on offense.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
If your going to WAR what are getting there in?….
A. Lamborgini
or
B. “a freaking” TANK
Personally, im going with the TANK thus I would have picked Dorsey. He’s the new Sapp and we all remember what the original Sapp did to us! but dont worry we’ll probably get Dorsey in about 8 years so he can finish his career in silver and black! Al your a GOOF, your obviously trying to make up for the Allen debockle!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Slamameda outsider…… good one, i like that lmn.
is that pendejo still in here?
April 30th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I think picking McFadden has more to do with Kiffin than with AD but AD couldn’t deny Kiffin of such a prospect. Kiffin knows how to use McFadden and Kiffin has to be thinking selfishly as he has to prove to AD that he can make this offense work and that he should have a say in who the defensive coordinator is. I guess he wanted to score as many points as he could to save his job and leave Ryan to figuring out how to stop the run on his own. In the end, Kiffin can score more points than the other team and force them to pass against Asomugha, Hall, Routt, Wilson, Huff, Howard and Morrison. Its not my kind of game but I guess it will work.
At least we can score within 90 seconds with the speed of McFadden and the arm of JR.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
in too deep, i know we all remember what the original sapp did to us. but can you imagine what a new and improve lt mixed with adrian peterson type of back running behind a ZB system is gonna do to them!!??!!
can you say touchdown RRRRRRRRRRRRRRAIDERSSSSSSSS!!!!!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
huff, whats up brother,how you been these days bro?
April 30th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Hey Raider Nation…In To Deep….”The Best Defense is a Good Offense”….(Not an original thought)
Al loves his histary…but…” making up is hard to do”
Dorsey will play for the Raidaas when “all the luvin’s gone in KC”
April 30th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
huff ive been laying low and i respect most of what you say but i think your reaching on this one. this pick is’nt logical we needed defense period end of story. + why and sam hell would they roll over and let dorsey go to kc by default. this was Al trying to recapture the past. + you know deep down Kiff has zero pull with Al he’s hanging on by a thread!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I think picking McFadden has to do with Kelly’s contract, and Al wanting to win now. Mcfadden also helps Russell, who is after all a rookie quarterback.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Huff24…Amen on #683
April 30th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
maybe we trade Fargas for DT Albert Haynesworth . They have’nt made a deal yet.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
R8R_ERN #690…never happens
April 30th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
when we start scoring and our defense is not out on the field for half the game, all yall complaining about our pick will be the first ones yelling how much you love the guy.
with our backfield rotation defenses will be worrying more about the run and not the pass. thats when JR flings one down the field for 6.
can anyone say…… bootleg!!??!!
better yet…… screen, screen!!!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
once again I want a (TANK) damn-it! and if your honest with yourselves so did you guys. so now what’s there to do? but to chill and hope we got the second coming of marcus allen. oh yea, those stiffs we got on the D-line better learn real quick how to bring it on every play or their goin’a regret they ever took those big time contracts! have fun gents…OUT!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
#693..LOL….OOOOUUUUTTTT
April 30th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
South Tex Raider…I think You Be spot on
April 30th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
TT-#464- Looks pretty damn reasonable.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
its gonna be all right nation brothers, its gonna ooooooooh tay!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
RaiderLen- I know… just wishing.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
R8R_ern…I’m relatively new to this Blog, but I’ve grown to respect TT’s insight. I hope He’s right on the High side of those projections.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
#698…one of the GREAT things about Raida fans is the idea of anything is possible….lol
April 30th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
By the way MY conditioning to this maddness started in the late 60’s when the Raiders started pulling Wins out of their collective ASS in the 4h quarter of games.
Loved it…
April 30th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
It would take 2 Justin Fargases to pry Haynesworth away from Tennessee right now.
#692, Tex — I didn’t like the pick, but I know if he’s great, I’ll love it.
Doesn’t matter if it’s DMac or another player, this year or any other, it’s always the same: “Welcome aboard, now prove you belong here.”
April 30th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
true that. i have to admit i was hoping we go defense but i welcome whoever we draft year in year out, as long as they help us win im cool with it.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Check out Matumbo Goldberg — hilarious!
clipstar.com/videopage.jsf?video=4_7551_185
April 30th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
“Huff24 Says:
April 30th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Norv is bound to tear the Charger building down at any moment so theres always a chance we beat them out this next year.
QB Jamarcus Russell – Phillip Rivers
RB Darren McFadden – LaDainian Tomlinson
FB Justin Griffith – Andrew Pinnock
WR Javon Walker – Chris Chambers
WR Ronald Curry – Vincent Jackson
TE Zach Miller – Antonio Gates
LT Kwame Harris – Marcus McNeill
LG Robert Gallery – Kris Dielman
C John Wade – Nick Hardwick
RG Cooper Carlisle – Mike Goff
RT Mario Henderson – Jaromey Clary
There is no reason we cannot compete with this when you consider the cut blocking system and Tom Cable as our Offensive Line coach with Kiffin’s mind vs. Norv and our coaching staff on offense.”
As much as i like the raiders, it will be the Def that will make the difference. We can say whatever we want, they run a better Def compare to us. And the player fit wl in their system. We have 3-4 player and we will play 4-3.
When i said before the draft that our players are 3-4, i receive shit. Williams, Edwards, Richardson played 3-4 at OSU, Akbar Biamila, Kelly can be a 3-4 DE, then we drafted Trevor Scott that could play rush LB.
So our Def will be weak this year, again. Unless they all adjust, and RR is a good DC… muaaahahahaha
April 30th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
The Discharge had an absolutely excellent chance to run to the Super Bowl. The problem was, the was the last two years. LT is now leaking oil badly, Gates has big foot problems and Jamal Williams is most likely done. That’s their three best players. They’re toast. They shoulda done it two years ago. The front office and the head coach had a complete Chernobyl. And people think we have problems here.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
DMC take the ball from JR, run on the left, the hole is quickly closed by Castillo and Williams, DMC cut outside, before the end of his cut, a bulldozer named merrimanoid hit him and knock him out till the end of the game. Hope fully MB come in and will try to break the bulldozer
April 30th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
We can all use a pick-me-up…
Here, maybe this link works better. It’s a friend’s video short, with Anthony Anderson in it:
http://www.clipstar.com/videopage.jsf?video=4_7551_185
April 30th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
i don t see LT and Gates done yet. Maybe in 2-3 years. But they really need to renew their line on both side of the ball, plus get a new QB. JR is by far better than Cry me a River.
So untill we stop LT, chargers will be better.
Our offense will no be enough to beat them
May 1st, 2008 at 12:00 am
highly unlikely.
JR puts it in the pocket of DMC and then pulls it out, secondary has bit on the fake, pump to the left and fling to the right to walker and
TOUCHDOWN……..RRRRRRRRRRRRAIDERS!!!!!
May 1st, 2008 at 12:01 am
Cam — I don’t see RR creating that kind of intensity. Nasty defense is gonna have to come from the players’ initiative, ‘cuz RR sure can’t fire them up that way.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:02 am
Rivers sux, LT is done, Gates is done, and Jamal Williams is done. They only had a lst and 5th, 6th and 7th choices this draft. they needed to replace Williams. They didn’t.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:02 am
RaiderLen: i was there then too. i think it spoiled me, but i’ve hung in anyway.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:04 am
Coinman — same here. 60’s, and suddenly football and a team called the Raiders started appealing to me. An epiphany.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:05 am
its time to payback the discharge from the schlooong…..with interest!
DMC is the new LT, now our back will gain 100+ yards on them twice a year for 7 years straight.
and the gates are closed…… its miller time!
May 1st, 2008 at 12:09 am
I look at LT’s TD and rushing figures, and I know the truth…
As awesome as he is, those numbers are at least 50% because of the Raiders defense the last five years. By the time LT really is done, he will be considered one of the 3-best RB’s of all time — mainly because of those numbers.
Tomlinson should buy Rob Ryan a vacation home for the contributions he made to LT’s career.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:11 am
lol, true
May 1st, 2008 at 12:15 am
That’s it for me — out ’til tomorrow.
Check out that video, it’s great!
Later.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:20 am
ten years ago, in my town, there was about an even split between winers and Raiders gear. now, winers gear is rarer than hen’s teeth. but i must concede one thing: i’ll never buy another current player’s jersy. just too much player movement these days. in the old days, you pretty much knew who was going to retire in S&B!
May 1st, 2008 at 12:26 am
Wow, Jerry. You entirely leave out Rhodes’ take on Davis v. Kiffin, where he drops a huge bomb, insisting that Kiffin has been snipped and that Davis is running the show.
Congrats, Davis homers. With your guys’ incessant bitching and rallying of the troops, you’ve beaten Jerry into submission.
Thank god there’s still one real newspaper willing to tell the truth about this organization, the Chronicle.
Jerry, you coulda been a contenda.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:33 am
Oh, and to respond in advance, believe me, I’ve taken it to the Chronicles comments section a long time ago. I’m done with this blog. The violins on the titanic approach by all of the homers in here, along with Jerry’s caving in to your guys’ demands, has made this place worthless.
Jerry, I’ll check back in from time to time to see if you’ve gotten your huevos back. As long as you’re catering to these homers, though, forget it. I’ll go to the Chronicle staff to get the dirt on the inner politics in Alameda that have contributed to the Raiders being the worst franchise in the NFL over the last 5 years.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:45 am
Alameda Insider,
Nice cheap shot at La Raza.
But to complete the analogy, how about Mexicans get in the spirit of right wing american tradition, by becoming impotent and taking viagra at age 35?
LMN, props to you for condemning AI’s slurs. As far as the rest of you? Your absence of a response is noted. Guess racism only gets to you guys if it includes criticism of Al. Most diverse fan base…my ass. At least not in here. More like a good ol boys club that has no use for minorities, unless they can outrun a secondary…
May 1st, 2008 at 12:58 am
Something that very seldom gets recognized amid all of the Xs and Os and performance stats is the nature of people.
for example, take the Raiders Dfense. To a man they have known that their counterparts on offense were not going to produce game in and game out for the past several years. One can say that it is their job to perform no matter what, but I say that it takes a very special character to willfully perform anything to the utmost of one’s ability when it is known beforehand that the effort will be futile.
Somehow, those ol’ Monsters of the Midway (revisited) during the Butkus era were able to play with that abandon knowing full well that they were going to end up with a 3-13 or 4-10 record.
Most usually people tend to back off a bit (not quit completely like some West Virginian wide-outs) when the foresee nothing to be gained by going full bore.
I can easily see that the Raider’s Defense will be a much better unit this upcoming season not only because of the additions of Gibril and DeAngelo, not only because Kelly and Burgess may be healthy, but also because they know that the Offense will finally be capable of putting some points on the board.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:38 am
M: i’ll concede that there is much logic in what you say. i pled for improvements in the lines first, and a trade down to get a left tackle to save russell’s life-and that is exactly what the raiders did NOT do. they got another “once in a generation” running back and three project players i had never heard of. but it’s done, and if al wants to rebuild his team backwards, then he will. the raiders have been my team since childhood, and i’m not changing now. maybe we’ll get lucky with injuries and be that “team of the year” that always seems to emerge out of nowhere nowdays. i think al’s wrong, but if i’m on the titanic, as you say, i’ll just have to learn the other verses of “nearer my God to thee”. and there’s always the chance that he knows something we don’t. we’ll see…
May 1st, 2008 at 1:56 am
Next year we will draft the fastest player like we do every year. Stop the mock draft. whatever pick we will be, we will get the fastest
May 1st, 2008 at 2:34 am
when did we develop this obsession with “fastest”? we had cliff branch, but we also had the precision of fred biletnikoff. what about strongest, smartest, best hands, best routes, etc. and etc. don’t these factor in?
May 1st, 2008 at 2:53 am
remember james jett? what great speed. what awful hands! how many game-winning passes did he drop?
May 1st, 2008 at 3:57 am
According to the coaches, speed is the most important.
I would say, speed is important, but if you dont know what to do on a field, the speed is useless. I prefer someone slower that can anticipate the play, the catch or whatever than a fast player that is always trying to catch up the play he should do
May 1st, 2008 at 5:22 am
# Alameda Insider Says:
April 30th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Oh,..Hey,..La Melissa Negro,..big holiday next week huh?…how ya celebratin?…I think I will celebrate myself by,..well lets see,…maybe I will get in the spirit of Mexican tradition by mowing someone elses lawn.
# Alameda Insider Says:
April 30th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
This isnt your blog greaseball,..its Jerrys,..Jerrys blogging, not you loser,..you are posting in Jerrys blog,…La Melissa Negro,…I will pop in here in a day or so,…see you then.
__________________________________________________
Slamameda Outsider…
you’re right, and thats a first… This is not my blog, this IS Jerry Mac’s blog, i meant chatting (or posting as you said)… No I don’t have a blog, God forbid, that would be a disgrace…
I guess your remarks about the lawns and holiday reamrks was directed towards the spanish speaking part of your country… as I said its not my strongsuit, but your tone was not to be mistaken, I hope some day you get in trouble for talking like that. I guess doing your lawn would do you good, perhaps thats something you can figure out… I still wait for Chad Johnson Or Boldin…Hahaha….. and the part that there’s 7 slamameda outsiders using your name, yeah right, well get another name perhaps one less pompous… try again boy…
No reason for you to pop in here in the next few days, I’m going to sweden, but heck you dont even know what that is, you probably think its hte capital of Ikea LOL now when I think about it, There is NO reason for you to pop in here ever….
May 1st, 2008 at 5:31 am
This post is directed at the moderator. Regarding the above post, #729, I am requesting that Alameda Insider be banned from this blog. He is a racist. He does not represent the views of Raiders fans, nor should your fine paper allow such inflammatory and insensitive comments to appear in this blog.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:33 am
ABP…
yo… what on earth are you doing up so late?
May 1st, 2008 at 5:34 am
I live in Chicago, it is 7:30 here.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:35 am
ahh, okay =)
May 1st, 2008 at 5:43 am
well…
have a nice day in united bluff =) i’m going to a cup final before I go, then I’m outta here, hope you all have nice – and my team will be winners in 3 hours time =)
May 1st, 2008 at 7:03 am
With the Raiders having no apparent hesitation in cutting Rhodes, the next question becomes: What’s so hard about letting LaMont Jordan go?
The 29-year-old running back, who joined the Raiders in the offseason of 2005, is primed to rake in $4.7 million in 2008, or $2.95 million more than Rhodes would have made. If Jordan miraculously makes it past next season, he’ll earn $5 million in 2009.
Wednesday, the San Francisco Chronicle indicated one reason why Jordan also hasn’t been shown the door alongside Rhodes.
“The Raiders are holding onto Jordan, a league source said, because some in the organization believe they can still get trade value for the man who ran for 1,025 yards in 2005,” Chronicle staff writer David White wrote.
It’s very unlikely, however, for a team to trade for a man who has had back-to-back seasons with fewer than 600 yards and four touchdowns.
So just cut him and get it over with, before he starts getting advice from ex-way-too-long-of-a-Raider Tyler Brayton.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:31 am
Is it young in here, or is it just the Raiders?
With newsmaking slowing to a crawl out of team headquarters, let’s take a moment to think about the Raiders’ youth movement heading into rookie minicamp next weekend.
When the Raiders played in the Super Bowl six seasons ago, it was with a veteran team filled with players on their last legs. Indeed, Sebastian Janikowski, Shane Lechler and Ronald Curry are the only players from that team who are still in Oakland.
Five losing seasons later, the Raiders keep getting younger in hopes of building something that will be worth lasting. The average age of their projected starters is 26.4 years old. Last season’s opening-day roster was 27.4 years old, including three starters older than 32-year-old coach Lane Kiffin.
Next season, they’re expected to start just three players in their 30s: center John Wade, right guard Cooper Carlisle and right tackle Cornell Green — and Green could very well lose out to Paul McQuistan, 25, or Mario Henderson, 23. They started five 30-plussers in 2007
To get an idea where the youth is being served, look at the dynamic positions where the Raiders are most young.
Quarterback JaMarcus Russell will still be 22 when camp starts, while running back Darren McFadden will be 20. Fans are free to salivate over the longerm potential they have in the huddle together.
At cornerback, there’s 26-year-old Nnamdi Asomugha and 24-year-old DeAngelo Hall. If the Raiders can persuade Asomugha to take a long-term deal, their man coverage will be set for years.
Outside linebacker Thomas Howard, tight end Zach Miller and defensive end Jay Richardson all check in under 25.
All this youth doesn’t necessarily make the Raiders better. Russell is going to take his lessons the hard way early on, possibly at the entire season’s expense. Think how long it took Eli Manning to nail it.
Still, it beats trying to milk one more run out of aged players well past their prime. When the Raiders pulled Jeff George out of nowhere for a days of camp in 2006, you knew the season was doomed.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:26 am
Where did everyone go? Did the comments section get shut down? What did AI and MR do now?
May 1st, 2008 at 8:29 am
hello is there anybody out there
May 1st, 2008 at 8:33 am
Anybody see ESPN first take this morning? They had an interesting take on McFadden’s fumbling problem. Someone had asked McFadden about it, and he said that alot of his fumbles were attributed to taking the direct snap from the wildhog formation. That makes sense too because he had to hand it off to Felix Jones, or hold it like a quarterback, rather than lock it in. Something to think about in regards to the alleged fumbleitis of Darren McFadden.
“Pillage and Plunder in 2008″
May 1st, 2008 at 8:39 am
Jerry we need a new post
May 1st, 2008 at 8:46 am
Goodmorning all … 408… what topic would you suggest for the next post?
May 1st, 2008 at 8:49 am
Tonio
The main thing on my mind is signing McSkinny Legs & locking up Nnamdi long term. What say you?
May 1st, 2008 at 8:59 am
NATION!!! People, i know it has been a LONG time since we could hold our heads high. but let’s be real for a moment. If DMC can acknowledge the NATION in lieu with SEC, well let’s live up to that!!The future is NOW! And we DO have the best fresh-junior class!Iknow there are “special” athletes out there, some are in the spotlight, and many are not. however, we have three of the best from the past four years in college competition. taking that up to the NFL remains the “concern.” DMC, JR, and BUSH WILL be very SPECIAL!Kiffin DRAFTED and brought back BUSH for a REASON. I have no specualtion when it comes to that decision. Bush is in shape, healed, OVERLY ANXIOUS to get in PADS, i’m sure!As for our O-line, i look at it this way..If I had NATION wide SCRUTINY and NO FAITH in me as a professional…then i have to PROTECT two of (what should/will be) best QB/RB combo…I would find it in myself to grow some balls and DO MY JOB!Young, eager, and FULL of talent, and you cant keep up with them, not to mention keep them off the IR…Those boys (DMC/JR) Will become the LEADERS of this offense/TEAM THIS year! My ONLY real concern about our roster is #21! The most tenured RAIDER on the roster, leaving us next year….DEFENSE back in TOP 5! Offense top 3 in rushing, JR passing rate very admirable! RAIDERS PLAYOFFS BOUND! thank you!
May 1st, 2008 at 9:02 am
La Milicia Negra, thanks for your input on my bets in post #487. I have decide to take all three bets, including number 3 becasue all the ifs in that bet just mean there is no bet if any of the ifs happen. I also took another bet from him with 20 to 1 odds in my favor that the Raiders wouldn’t win 7 or more games for $100. i.e. if the Raiders don’t win 7 or more games I lose $100 but if they do win 7 or more games I win $2,000. Thx
May 1st, 2008 at 9:07 am
Allright, just for fun, let´s look at Glenn Dorsey´s profile as posted on NFL.COM…
Keep in mind this is just the negatives and the final overview, I said “just for fun” so I left out his positives because that´s no fun:
“Lack of ideal size might limit him to one-gap schemes….generates good penetration, but for some reason, he fails to seal the deal on the quarterback (has only seven pressures in 51 games).
Good complimentary type, but by declining postseason all-star invites it leaves one to wonder if he can dominate at the next level or is a player who was covered up by the LSU gang-tackling scheme (Tiger defensive linemen in the past have not lived up to their college billing in the NFL).
Compares To: WARREN SAPP-Oakland…While both have made a nice living off their explosive initial step, Dorsey does not have the same game-changing ability Sapp displayed during the prime of his career.
Let’s face it, Dorsey is a good sanitation man (takes out the trash by handling multiple blockers, thus freeing a teammate up to make the play) but if statistics tell the true story, he had just 13 sacks, 27 stops for losses and seven quarterback pressures in 51 collegiate games.
While we will follow the party line that he could develop into another Sapp, he also could be a clone of a former LSU Tiger, Anthony McFarland.
Injury history:
2006: Played most of the season with a stress fracture in his right leg, as he was forced to receive a painkiller injection prior to each game. Also had to wear a bone stimulator 18 hours per day until he was cleared to practice in 2007 spring drills.
2007: Limited in fall camp with a sore hamstring…Suffered a right knee sprain after an illegal chop block, missing most of the second half vs. Auburn…Had to wear a huge brace on his right knee and left the Alabama game briefly in the second quarter when he re-injured his knee…Sat out most of the Mississippi clash with a sore lower back.”
NFLDRAFTSCOUT.COM for NFL.COM
Let´s hope it´s accurate, I can definitely live with the next Anthony McFarland in KC.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:13 am
Yeah and L.ong weas the pick that most of us wanted!But as I have said b4 now that McFadden is a RAIDER I’m pulling for him to live up to the hype! Marcus hes not but @ least we have something for defences 2 fear
May 1st, 2008 at 9:17 am
for any of you curious as to why LMN has a Danish holiday, it is a global holiday today, International Workers Day. The world’s “Labor Day”. So feel free to abscond from work if you want to.
nice article in the Trib about Nnamdi today.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:25 am
I don´t know about you, but these phrases would make me nervous:
“Stress fracture in his right leg, painkiller injection before every game, bone stimulator for 18 hours a day, a huge brace on his right knee..”.
All before playing a single down in the NFL.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:28 am
so do you think McFaddens the guy?
May 1st, 2008 at 9:28 am
bob… who is 744 in reference too?
May 1st, 2008 at 9:29 am
M… link the Nnamdi article if you can
May 1st, 2008 at 9:29 am
NATION, WHAT IS UP?????? I wouldnt touch him with a 100 yard pole. He has the “possibility” of having a very short shelf life IMHO.
We made the right choice IMO.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:35 am
Nnamdi article: http://www.insidebayarea.com/raiders/ci_9117213
May 1st, 2008 at 9:37 am
tonio
why cant I ever paste a link in here? Do you say abracadabra first or what?
May 1st, 2008 at 9:41 am
744 is talking about 741
May 1st, 2008 at 9:42 am
^^^^ special
May 1st, 2008 at 9:44 am
state of raiders rerun on BSPN
May 1st, 2008 at 9:45 am
Dorsey was only the pick if the Raiders thought Kelly was the answer at DE. Adding Dorsey would not have guaranteed that we would stop the run. The key is whether Terdell Sands can form a better partnership with Kelly than he did with Sapp.
I am one of the minority who don’t entirely blame Sands for last season’s difficulties. I think Sapp came back too light and had lost too much power. Sapp, for the first time in his career, was being managed by a single OG and not being double-teamed. That left Sands often facing both the other OG and the Center – and he was simply outnumbered and over-run. The DT in the 3-technique has got to put sufficient pressure on the Oline to occupy two linemen. If he fails to do this, as Sapp failed last season, the other DT is bound to struggle. Sands will be much improved if Kelly lives up to expectations.
Add to that, we still have a DE in Burgess who is relatively weak against the run and a LB corps whose strength is in the open field and not tight against the line.
I think Jay Richardson is going to be a key player for us next season. Assuming Burgess and Kalimba Edwards are going to share the right side role, Richardson will have to shore up the left side. He showed a lot of promise last season and we need to see more progression. The lack of cover behind Richardson is a real concern. Trevor Scott has a real shot at making the roster and we probably should still be on the look out for a run-stopping veteran DE.
The other big bonus would be to see the best of William Joseph, Josh Shaw or Gerald Warren. We not only need depth at DT, we still might need to move Kelly outside in run situations.
I know it is disrespectful, but I think we will be better off without Sapp next season.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:46 am
whos this clown ex donkey talkin bad about our Nation
May 1st, 2008 at 9:47 am
Tonio,
glad you found the link. I read it in newsprint and so I did not have the link info anyway.
Asomugha is a man who should be signed long term with no hesitations to keep him around as long as possible
May 1st, 2008 at 9:54 am
I totally agree about Nnamdi… he’s needed and worth it
May 1st, 2008 at 10:06 am
There is a nice read on McFadden,in the 4/28 issue of Sports Issustrated. I don’t know if it is on their .com thingy or not,haven’t looked.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:10 am
ANYONE KNOW A WEBSITE W/ DARREN MCFADDEN ON THE ROSTER?
May 1st, 2008 at 10:11 am
TT OAKGLENN HUFF- COMMON PEOPLE IN HERE… IM SURE YOU GOT THE WEBSITE WITH MCFADDEN ON THE ROSTER
May 1st, 2008 at 10:19 am
What do you mean with him on the roster? our roster …or his college roster?
May 1st, 2008 at 10:22 am
Tonio… #749 thanks. Cut the check AL.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:36 am
Ahmen 909 … he’s home grown…and needs to be forever in the Nation…
May 1st, 2008 at 10:44 am
Have we signed Grady, Takeo or Roosevelt yet?
May 1st, 2008 at 10:47 am
Man… I’d love to get Grady back in the fold…
May 1st, 2008 at 10:55 am
I agree with Scottish on Jay Richardson, the guy has ideal size at 6′6 280 and proved as a rookie that he can play in he NFL.
We might be sleeping on him a bit, he should only get better Richardson with experience, Richardson could be a pleasant surprise next season.
Here´s a sample of his scouting reports from the 07 Draft:
“A solid athlete with good size, speed and growth potential, Richardson showed flashes of big-time ability last season. Has plenty of upside potential.”
“4 year player who may just be scratching the potential of what he can do. A player who can line up anywhere on the defensive line, he shows a lot of upside.
Experienced starter on an elite program. Has lined up at many positions. Has a great frame with room to improve. Very versed in coverage, pass rushing, and run stopping.”
“Richardson is a big, mobile lineman who has played both defensive tackle and defensive end during his college career. He has a large frame that should allow him to carry additional weight. He gives good effort and has the short-range quickness to make plays along the line.
Richardson is best suited for the strong-side end position in a 4-3 defense. He has the body type and mobility to play end in a 3-4 scheme, but he has no experience in that system. He’s an excellent late-round gamble.”
Some of the concerns:
“He needs to develop his technique before he can regularly compete with NFL linemen”.
“Marginally productive on the college level”
“Might not transition well into the NFL”.
- Seems to me he answered most of those concerns as he did compete and transitioned well into the NFL. As of now, he proved he belongs but he needs to keep improving and take the next step.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:02 am
JRich may end up being an above average player in this league. He has one helluva bull rush that no OT seems to be able to stop. He just lacks the pass rushing moves. He gives max effort all the time which you got to love. (I think he is playing the wrong side …he’s a base end and should be playing LDE vs ROT …but that’s my personal opinion.)
May 1st, 2008 at 11:02 am
Bob… makes you think about what Sapp said… about our personnel vs our scheme
May 1st, 2008 at 11:08 am
“As for Oakland’s leaky defense, Sapp reasoned that Al Davis has put together “a team with 3-4 personnel, but they’re running a 4-3 system.”
May 1st, 2008 at 11:13 am
Tonio…
I don´t see it like that:
“Richardson is best suited for the strong-side end position in a 4-3 defense.”
Maybe he could play 3-4 but he´s never done it so there´s no way to tell.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:17 am
Seems we’ve (they’ve) been trying hard to create both systems on our d…never quite settling on one or the other…
May 1st, 2008 at 11:20 am
Kiffin’s first 2 drafts, not including picks acquired via trade:
1st. Jamarcus Russell, Darren McFadden
2nd. Zach Miller, DeAngelo Hall
3rd. JLH, Mario Henderson
4th. Michael Bush, Tyvon Branch
5th. Jay Richardson, Gerard Warren
6th. Oren O’Neal, Trevor Scott
7th. Jonathan Holland, Chaz Schilens
that is a really good core group of players that Kiff assembled in two years, add to that the FA acquisitions:
Justin Griffith
Cooper Carlisle
Jeremy Newberry/John Wade
Tony Stewart/Fred Wakefield
Cornell Greene
Jon Alston
Seth Wand
Rashad Baker
Gibril Wilson
Kwame Harris
Javon Walker
Drew Carter
Kalimba Edwards
Kiff is building an entirely new team from 2006, that is a really impressive turn-around, considering all the dead weight this team has been carrying since the “gruden bowl”. There were some growing pains last year, which is expected, but don’t be surprised if this team comes out next year no longer cloaked in that culture of losing, which has plagued us since 02.
Pillage and Plunder in 2008
May 1st, 2008 at 11:24 am
wow… well put together BBB… that’s a strong core of (mostly) young players… with them and Kiff growing together…once we get traction… we should be in contention for a good 5 to 8 years on this core alone…
May 1st, 2008 at 11:28 am
What IT Does Nation
May 1st, 2008 at 11:32 am
i am stoked !!!!
Raider Up, Nation…
May 1st, 2008 at 11:36 am
Ronald Curry is the only player remaining at his original position from the 2006 team (Gallery moved to gaurd, and has played well) Kiffin has COMPLETELY remade the offense.
He thought this defense was already good, so much less was done, but Kiffin is starting to put the pieces in place on defense to; a few GREAT starters, a few decent rookies, and a few good back-ups have all been added. Next step would be to see what Rob Ryan can do this year, and then re-build the line to suit whoever is D-coordinator in 2009.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:37 am
Bob Marley Says:
May 1st, 2008 at 9:25 am
I don´t know about you, but these phrases would make me nervous:
“Stress fracture in his right leg, painkiller injection before every game, bone stimulator for 18 hours a day, a huge brace on his right knee..”.
All before playing a single down in the NFL.
——————————————————-
Is this about Glenn Dorsey??
May 1st, 2008 at 11:38 am
It’ll be interesting if RR can get it done with what we now have… especially with the db’s … This being the last year of his contract… and with his … “I can get a job in no time” attitude…
May 1st, 2008 at 11:42 am
we will have the same def cord next year that we have now-Al Davis.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:45 am
Sederick Ellis
2003: Suffered a left ankle fracture in fall camp, but played briefly vs. Brigham Young (9/06) before accepting a medical redshirt.
2006: Suffered torn cartilage in his right knee in practice after the Arkansas game (9/10) and underwent arthroscopic surgery on Sept. 12 that forced him to sit out the Nebraska (9/16), Arizona (9/23) and Washington State (9/30) games.
2007: Had fluid drained from his right knee after the California clash (11/10) and had to sit out several practices leading up to the Arizona State contest (11/22).
Glenn Dorsey
2003: Sat out three games as a senior in high school with an ankle sprain.
2006: Played most of the season with a stress fracture in his right leg, as he was forced to receive a painkiller injection prior to each game. Also had to wear a bone stimulator 18 hours per day until he was cleared to practice in 2007 spring drills.
2007: Limited in fall camp with a sore hamstring … Suffered a right knee sprain after an illegal chop block, missing most of the second half vs. Auburn (10/20) … Had to wear a huge brace on his right knee and left the Alabama game (11/03) briefly in the second quarter when he re-injured his knee … Sat out most of the Mississippi clash (11/17) with a sore lower back.
“My conclusion is that Dorsey is no more injury prone than Ellis”
May 1st, 2008 at 11:48 am
And DMC… had a shoulder injury early on in college right?
May 1st, 2008 at 11:52 am
Darren McFadden
*Known Injuries:* Ankle injuries slowed him early in his career and a dislocated toe plagued him as a junior but he has yet to suffer a major injury that has kept him out of action for an extended period of time.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:54 am
D Rhodes comments are ringing true for some reason. He said McFadden is great potential, but not a need. Need to stop the run. Must have been frustrating for Rhodes to watch on the sidelines opposing RB’s chew up the yardage game after game. Also his Kiffin comments are damning, saying that McFadden was not his pick.
I think that Dorsey would have been great with Kelly. Sapp said we run the wrong defense.
SOMETHING AINT RIGHT!!
May 1st, 2008 at 11:55 am
RunDMC is in the house! Like Sapp said ‘…looks like Al is making his last horrah.’ Only one way to go, and I like the moves the team has made.
I’m In!
May 1st, 2008 at 11:55 am
Small DT’s with good motors & pro bowl careers: Bryant Young 49ers, John Randle Vikings.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Massive DT’s with no motor:
Ted Washington
Jabba the Hut
May 1st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I think the D will bounce back this year. They were embarrassed last season and I think those guys are proud enough to do something about it.
First, Richardson is going to be a monster. I expect Morrison to have improved his skills in stopping the run. Sapp was too light — if he wasn’t busting into the backfield off the snap he was a non-factor. Gibril replacing Stu is a major upgrade. DeAngelo will be much better vs. the run than Fabian. Thomas Howard is entering his prime (scary). Michael Huff may finally break out too. Burgess will presumably be healthy again. Not to mention the supreme difficulty teams will have passing vs. Hall, Nnamdi, Huff, Wilson, Morrison & Howard. And I think Rob Ryan & Co. will finally mix things up a bit as a response to struggling in ‘07 with such vanilla schemes.
The offense has added several big-play threats in McFadden, Walker, Carter & Schilens. Michael Bush — a beast — finally gets to play. And there’s Curry and Miller to move the chains.
This team could be 11-5 or 5-11. JaMarcus’ play will decide which.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Kiffin basically came out and said McFadden wasn’t his pick. That puts him in a tough spot because if McFadden is great, it makes Kiffin look like he’s a poor talent evaluator. If be bombs Kiffin may be blamed for not using him right.
Of course, if the Raiders start winning again nobody will care or hold it against Kiffin one way or another.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Dominic Rhodes is a cry baby, we paid him a ton of cash to come here and all he did was pee himself in a taxi cab and get suspended for 4 games and then complain like a little school girl because he got punished for it.
When we sign you as a free agent and we pay you more than any other team will, we expect you to make an immediate impact and not come to town to party get drunk and get suspended then complain about the way your benched because you let the team down.
What a victim, cry me a river you loser. Lets see who takes him and how much they are wiling to pay him.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Rhodes is whining, but really not that much. Most of what he says seems true, he’s just ticked that he’s been let go — and now he’s competing against Shaun Alexander for a job offer, too.
His whining will only cost him $$, because owners don’t really like players with opinions — but they’ll put up with them if the guy’s a star. Rhodes isn’t a star, and his next job won’t be for $2 million per year, either.
Rhodes was lucky Al gave him the first contract figures when we already knew he was to be suspended. After re-working the deal, Rhodes was fortunate to work for an owner who kept his word to let him look for a better situation. But, he’s walking away from what’s probably his last, relatively “big money” contract. He’ll realize that someday, and wish he’d stuck around — even to work part-time.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Chris — Didn’t Kiffin also say he knew long ago that McFadden was the right pick? Regardless of who made the pick, Kiff’s gotta make it work. I’m thinking he’s not too worried about covering his a$$ where the draft’s concerned — GM’s make the picks in war rooms everywhere, and the coaches better make the pieces fit.
We saw what Kiffin helped do with LenDale White and Reggie Bush…..I’m positive he’ll do something great with McFadden and a healthy Bush/Fargas combo.
(And I’m one of those who think we should’ve plugged the D-line first)
May 1st, 2008 at 11:31 pm
SO… did the NFL officially change “touchdowns” to “home runs”? Otherwise, why would they call McFadden a “Home Run Threat”?
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Sports Illustrated has a great article and story about DMAC on the 4/28 issue.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Kiffin never said DMC was the pick….Kiffin has said DMC was the pick all along and if he wasn’t there they would trade down.
You guys know damn well….Kiffin wanted DMC….Kiffin is an offensive guy!
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