[HITMAN]

1. 2006, because of crappy O-line play, our starter, Brooks, went down, and AW was running for his life most of the season. Now, in 2008, Cable’s line and Kiffin’s system is able to protect the QB. (in 2007, we barely had a QB). We’ll have time to throw in ‘08.

They gave up 40 plus sacks last year with a guy at LT that was a lot better than the guy they signed in free agency, read any scouting report on Harris, he's great against the run but suspect against the pass, if he's having difficulty blocking in passing situations I don't see how they will have time to throw in 08'


2. We’ll hit what we throw at. In 2007, the QB had time to throw the ball, but McCown can’t hit a Raiderette on the lips with a kiss from 2 inches away. JRuss, in 2008, will be vastly better than the scatter-armed McCown. We barely had an effective passing game last year. The safest prediction about the team is that JRuss will make the passing game much more feared than it was in the past 2 years.

In order to make it feared you have to one have protection, there's no guarantee that will happen, the only thing you have said that is even remotely accurate is Russell has a stronger arm and unless he's getting protection even that won't matter in 08'

3. Touchdown threats in the Red Zone. In 2007, who scored TD’s? Which Raider did the defense have to key on? Answer: Nobody. This year, we have a big arm that can hit barely open targets, a WR coach that can teach them to get open, and DMac, a guy who can get to the endzone faster than Lynch can get out of his rocking chair. Speaking of fast, JRuss can release faster than McCown can grip the ball.

Another huge assumption. The Raiders were sixth in rushing remember and yet they failed miserably in the red-zone, yes, McFadden gives them a bonefide playmaker, but if you can't run inside the 20's it doesn't really help. The OL isn't the same OL as it was last year, it takes time for a unit to gel and we have no idea if Harris will be better than Sims. All reports are Harris was and is a bust, this will certainly be something to pay attention to.

4. 2007-Washington. 2008-MeAngelo. I don’t care if Hall becomes a bigger prima donna than Paris Hilton. If he shuts down opposing WR’s, several teams are gonna have to redesign their offenses to play the Raiders, and when they pass, they’re not gonna find a weak spot unless they throw against Fabs in Baltimore. Oakland will a hard team to catch up to when we’re up by 10 pts.

Remains to be seen, scheme has a lot to do with the success or failure of this team. Hall is a better DB than Washington, but you are assuming the front 7 is better too and it isn't.

5. 2007 – Stu. 2008 – Gibril. Duh. Upgraded from tentative to aggressive, from adequate to very good. No longer will a HB get 20 yards AFTER the safety gets to him. That could be good for 50 defensive yards per game, and it surely will replace the HB’s ****iness with fear. Shades of Ronnie Lott.

Comparing Wilson to Lott, far fetched at best, Wilson is a key improvement I'll give you that, but you failed to mention they still have Huff back there who isn't much better than Schweigert and that much as been proven.

6. 2007-Fargas was Mr. Guts, but he never outran defenses. 2008-McFadden. We haven’t had a HB threat like DMac since Bo. Defenses will be sweating when we’re on our own 20. I liked Nap, but he was small and fell down a lot when he ran his fastest. Even Jordan, who never saw a playbook he didn’t read, could hit Cable’s holes. McFadden figures to be a first down machine.

If that's all McFadden is to be is for first downs then I already see a problem. That means Fargas will be in most of the time, while a good player he's not nearly the back McFadden is. So we'll have to wait and see how frequently McFadden is used

7. 2007-barely any threat of catching passes out of the backfield. 2008-McFadden catching passes and lining up at WR. He’ll be terrorizing several of the slower linebacking corps next year, and for years to come. It will take him a while to throw a TD pass, though.

I don't know of many slow LB corps in the NFL, he'll have his work cut out from him, he'll make a nice adjustment, but again you are assuming McFadden will be in on most downs, when others on this site disagree, based on Kiffin's comments, we shall see.

8. 2007 – Mike Williams can’t catch, Porter can't get open. 2008 – Both Walker and Carter can catch better with one hand than BMW. Addition by subtraction.

Walker is a huge what if he's healthy and Carter has done even less than Porter. So unless you have a crystal ball and can say with 100% assurance that Walker will make it an entire season healthy, you can't just say they are better by addition. The potential is there but you are banking on a guy who caught 26 passes to be your go to guy.

9. 2007-Skinny Sapp. 2008-recovering Kelly. If Kelly is 90% healthy, it’s an upgrade over what Sapp had left last year.

If you think Kelly at 90% is better than Sapp, it's clear you don't really know football. Kelly at 90% means he's not up to his full potential, once again that nasty word gets in the way. Kelly might be good, but he certainly hasn't shown it and coming off an ACL injury, players aren't usually back to 100% until the second year after the procedure.

10. We were fairly competitive in 2007 with several glaring weaknesses and a stronger schedule. 2008 brings closed holes and a weaker schedule.

They haven't addressed the offensive and defensive lines at least not to the degree they should have. If you believe games are won or lost in the trenches, I don't see how any of the holes were addressed. Harris has proven nothing, Wade is an upgrade, but they are still unclear who will start and as a unit it takes time to gel you don't replace 2 people on the OL and expect them to work as a team in that short of time. Chemistry doesn't happen overnight.

11. Kiffin has one QB to focus on. No splitting time between a noodle arm and a rusty gimpy guy. Kiffin will have fun this year.

Kiffin will be under more scrutiny this year and to say he's going to have fun when I believe his job will be on the line. You are correct he's only got one QB to focus on, but what if that QB sustains an injury? what if he goes down even for a small length of time, who steps in and leads the team? You can't assume all will be well, you have to have a contingency plan and to date the Raiders don't.

12. Knapp will have fun. Knapp will enjoy working with a fully functional QB. Vick was really a HB.

Knapp might enjoy working with Russell, but like Kiffin the heat will be on this year and if Davis sees the least bit of struggling, we could see some disastrous things happen. I firmly believe if Kiffin and Knapp don't get at least 8 wins it's curtains, and even after all the free agent signings there's no guarantees the chemistry will be there.

As a side note, you calling people babies and suggesting they are kids is not only insulting, but unwarranted. People aren't trashing your thread nor are they spamming they are bringing up scenarios you have failed to address or even acknowledge.

If you truly think members on this site are jealous or cannot speak intelligently you may want to rethink that... just a thought!