Friday, May 23, 2008

Up To Speed- Oakland Raiders


The Raiders struggled to do a lot of things last year. Running the ball wasn't one of them. Justin Fargas came out of nowhere last year to average 4 1/2 yards a carry, and lead the Raiders to the 6th ranked running game in the NFL.

The team stunk in just about every other area though. Their passing game ranked 31st, their run defense did too. So, with the 4th pick in the draft, you would expect the Raiders to shore up one of these weaknesses.

Of course, these are the Raiders, and personnel decisions that make sense are not what they do best. They used the 4th overall pick in the draft to choose Arkansas running back Darren McFadden. This pick can go one of two ways. McFadden will either be Adrian Peterson, in which case this pick is a stroke of genius, or he'll be Reggie Bush, in which case it isn't.

McFadden is the second offensive skill position player the Raiders have used a top 5 pick on in as many years. The other guy, QB JaMarcus Russell, enters this year with everything to prove. Last year was a waste for him. He missed pretty much all of the preseason in a holdout, and didn't see significant playing time until Week 16. He posted a 55.7 passer rating, and already is on bust watch.

Russell will have a new target to throw to this year in newly signed WR Javon Walker. Walker was hurt most of last season, but he should still be an upgrade over the departed Jerry Porter.

One area that is a definite strength for the Raiders is their secondary. The Raiders ranked 8th in the league in pass defense last year, and went out and got one of the league's best corners in former Falcon D'Angelo Hall. They also signed former Giants safety Gibril Wilson, whose 4 INTs and 7 PD's earned him an insane contract from an insane old man.

As for that 31st ranked run defense, the Raiders did nothing to upgrade it, and if you can't stop the run, you've got no chance in American football, especially when you face LT, LJ, and whoever the Broncos are rolling out at running back in 08 twice a year. The Raiders have invested premium draft picks in their offense each of the last 2 years, and the offense still doesn't seem like it will be any good. Darren McFadden may be fun to watch, but the Raiders won't be. Now you're up to speed on the Raiders.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

curious to know where you info is coming from. If you do some research you could find real answers instead of being a follower and posting the same old stuff everyone else is. This article is very strong on opinion, yet lacks nothing that was not already said on other blogs... ridiculous.

GRRM Jr. said...

my info came from your mom..after i did her.. in the butt...

seriously what is there to say that isn't already said on the 10,000 other sports blogs? i dont hang around nfl locker rooms..all i have is the same news everyone else has and my own opinion on it..do you want me to say the raiders are going to win the super bowl just because its different and not on other blogs? I won't because that's fucking retarded..

i'm curious to know what kind of "research" you're talking about that would reveal any profound truth about the raiders other than that they suck really really bad...

thanks for hating on my blog..next time post the link to your own so i can go piss on it.

np

GRRM Jr. said...

I think "thec" is Sean Salisbury...probably looking for a job here.

dook!e said...

The funny thing is.. i don't think anyone else (espn) is saying the same things about Vince Young, I mean Jamarcus Russell.

I think thec is a Raiders fan. And by fan I mean buttrammer.