raiders offseason failures

[66RAIDER66]

I think, as most of you do, that we had a tremendous off season.

But, playing devil's advocate

I was wondering what could have been addressed that wasn't.

1. A reliable back up to Jordan is needed - just ask Pittsburg how potent a 1-2 punch at RB can be. (even made up for having to start a rookie QB - IMO Ben did not win those games he just didn't lose them)

2. OLB - We all hope S Williams is the real deal but lets face it we have not seen production yet. Brayton is out of position and I feel we are doing a real disservice to his development even trying to play him there.

3. TE - we are left with two pass catchers and no dominant run blocker. This is a concern in Turner's power back offense.

Anyone agree / disagree or think of anything else that we should have done?

[Twin84AirRaid]

1.I would of liked to see them add another RB, but Crockett and Fargas are capable. I just hope Fargas can stay healthy.

2.I would of liked to see them add another OLB who is accomplished. I like Sam Williams, but health has been a conern. I agree with you here.

3.Courtney Anderson is a solid run blocker at 270lbs. and has learned Norv Turner's complex run blocking system quite quickly.

[DiehardRaider]

We still haven't improved our pass rush. That's my biggest gripe.

Other things that bother me:
- We haven't gotten a solid RB to spell Jordan.
- If Collins goes down, we're in trouble

[PatriotHater68]

Pit had 2 great rb's so they barely threw the ball. We will be primarily throwing the ball so the 2nd rb wouldnt get many touches.

[R8erfan]

We still haven't improved our pass rush. That's my biggest gripe.

Yep, addressed the crap out of the offensive side of the ball, but have not done enough {IMHO} to address the defensive problems.

[66RAIDER66]

We still haven't improved our pass rush. That's my biggest gripe.

Other things that bother me:
- We haven't gotten a solid RB to spell Jordan.
- If Collins goes down, we're in trouble

If Burgess and S. Williams are players and can stay healthy (neither ever has), that would go a long way to improving our pass rush. So I have to say the Raiders tried in this regard.


If Collins goes down I'm not sure we would be any worse off than if 90% of teams in the NFL lost their QB. If we have a solid running game we can call plays designed to protect our replacement (Tui - I would presume). Our receivers are the type that can catch or compete for balls that are not perfectly thrown. I'd feel better about losing Collins now than I would have felt about losing Gannon in previous years.

[DiehardRaider]

Face it - we don't have anything close to a Dwight Freeney or Terrell Suggs on our team.

And why do people think that Sam Williams can rush the passer??? He had a total of 4 sacks in his entire college career and he has 0 sacks in the NFL. He's NOT a pass rusher and he will do nothing to help us there.

[punisher]

1. Agreed
2. The line backers are a concern and needed to be addressed but it was not. We need to get solid play and a injury free year from Williams but, I do look forward to seeing them play.
3. Norv system is what Dallas did in their hayday. They had Novacheck(sp) he was not a dominate blocker but he could catch. That may be a prob but I see C Anderson and Teyo as a better blocker then Novacheck ever was.

[66RAIDER66]

Pit had 2 great rb's so they barely threw the ball. We will be primarily throwing the ball so the 2nd rb wouldnt get many touches.

I do not believe we will be primarily throwing the ball. Certainly we will throw it more than Pittsburg did because they were protecting a rookie QB and they had two horses.

I feel that Randy will complement the running game by keeping teams out of 8 man fronts, and we will definitely throw him the ball, BUT Norv Turner has run a power back offence everywhere he has been. I expect him to run it here too. It is also important at the end of games where we are protecting a lead.

In my opinion it is all about balance. Pittsburg became too much a running team and was exploited by NE in the playoffs, I don't want that.

You are absoluely right that our second team runner would not get many touches unless injury occurs. I still think we need a guy in the same mold of Jordan. Maybe we already have him in Fargas maybe not.

[66RAIDER66]

And why do people think that Sam Williams can rush the passer??? He had a total of 4 sacks in his entire college career and he has 0 sacks in the NFL. He's NOT a pass rusher and he will do nothing to help us there.

Is this right?

I thought he was drafted and we moved up in the draft because this guy was supposed to be pass rush specialist? A fast LB/DE tweener.

Wow, I guess I may be thinking of someone else drafted that year?
Things that make you go HMMMM...

[PatriotHater68]

The rb we need is Wheatly as long as he proves he is healthy again. I was watching the clips of 2004 season and that reminded me of how good he can be. He is not good enough to start but to compliment Jordan, I would like to see Wheatley back in silver and black.

[66RAIDER66]

3.Courtney Anderson is a solid run blocker at 270lbs. and has learned Norv Turner's complex run blocking system quite quickly.

I coached Oline for 11 years and believe me C Anderson is not a SOLID run blocker yet. He improved and has the size and desire but he has a long ways to go. Our best run blocker TE last year was Jolley. I will say though that rookie TE's have a lot to learn (pass routes, and run blocking schemes and techniques) and he does look like he has learned it very quickly. I like the kid a lot and hope he can continue to improve.

[RckyMtnR8R]

Sam Williams:

"Recorded 145 tackles with four sacks for minus-19 yards and 13 stops for losses of 36 yards in 45 games" (Raiders.com).

He did only have 4 sacks in college but was CONSTANTLY in the backfield.

Year Team G Total Tckl Ast Sacks Int Yds Avg Lg TD Pass Def
2003 Oakland Raiders 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0
2004 Oakland Raiders 9 27 22.0 5 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 3
(NFL.com)

Sam was injured his first and second year. He palyed in only 10 games his entire time with the Raiders and only started 4 games before being injured again in 04. He has 27 tackes in VERY limited play. Three passes defensed. The guy has speed but two major injuries has hindered his progress (torn labrum, just like Gannon, and an ACL in his rookie year).

IF, and this is a BIG IF, he can stay healthy Sam Williams has the POTENTIAL to be a great speed rusher. He is another Al Davis project, but when seeing him play I am very impressed. He's almost always in the right spot, probably one of our better coverage LBs WHEN HEALTHY.

Courtney Anderson:
How many rookies come to the NFL and immediatly BLOCK well? Not many that I know of. His blocking got much better as the year went on. The guy has GREAT hands for a big man.

Teyo Johnson:
I like this guy. But I am not sold on his blocking ability and am perdicting that he will not play as much as Courtney. He has great hands, and has improved in his blocking, but he needs to add some bulk.

QB Situation:
Walter Andrews and Tui are servicable backups. I was a big Tui fan During the Gruden Callahan era, but I don't think he has the arm that either Kerry or Walter does. That's going to hurt him. I would be suprised if we traded him during training camp this year. Walter Andrews is a rookie and that does bother me. But he can make the throws in this offense no problem.

RB situation:
Fargas needs to step up this year and PROVE he can be something other then a special teams guy. Again when healthy he's show promise, but he he take the pounding? So far no. Crockett really impressed me towards the end of last season and I kept asking myself "Why did you wait so long to put crocket as HB Norv?" I am comfotable with him in the backfield (but we need to sign another fullback for sure).

LBs:
I think most of us are going to be suprised with Brayton. He has slimmed down and has a work ethic. If anyone can make the transition from DE to LB, I feel Brayton can do it. Just watching him at CU makes me think this, last year was his first year standing up. Give him a little slack. He was too small to be a DE and to big to be a LB. He's now at LB size (looking at pictures from the mini camp).

Jay Foreman and Kirk Morrison along with Danny Clark are ?'s Danny is one hell of a middle lineback and never got the credit he deserved IMO. Kirk Morrison has the ability to start now. Jay Forman is my biggest ? even with the rookie in there. I hope they can supirse a lot of people. We'll see in pre-season.

[UtahRaider]

i say our defense needs work but good breakdown

[RckyMtnR8R]

I am not saying our defense is going to be a top echelon defense. But what we have is at least average. Plus I think some of our players are going to suprise a lot of us. Just trying to be optimisitc :-)