Oakland is killing this draft

good pick most people had him as a late second to early third rounder, but with the qbs not coming off he dropped I will take him in the mid 4th. We still have plenty of amo to get back into the 5th or take DT, S, WR, OG or TE in the 6th and 7th

good pick most people had him as a late second to early third rounder, but with the qbs not coming off he dropped I will take him in the mid 4th. We still have plenty of amo to get back into the 5th or take DT, S, WR, OG or TE in the 6th and 7th

Anyone else going through post Al Davis depression?

Sounds like a joke but im dead serious. For the first time since i was probably 6, i cant tell you every players name on our roster, where they come from, what there potential is or how they affect this football team. For the first time, i cant tell you every potential draft pick in every round and who would work for this team and should be picked. For the first time, i cant tell you who we play this upcoming year and even begin to project how we match up. The very moment i found out Al Davis passed away i knew right then that my beloved team would change. What i did not expect is that my love or devotion to that team would change right along with it.

Im sitting in my computer chair looking around the room at the plaques, helmets, jerseys and pictures hanging on my wall. With each image or item, just looking at it or thinking about them you can feel the passion build in my gut. My walls arent just filled with Raider greats, below the plaque of the Assassin sits a poster of Jay Shroeder, next to Marcus Allens jersey hangs an autographed jersey from Jerry Porter. Even players who werent that great on teams that were forgettable, i still feel attached and strongly to them because they were Raiders, they were family. Why dont i feel the same connection to the current Raiders that i have with teams of the past?

You cant say its the mystique, winning or losing etc.... because im only 35. The last time the Raiders were truly great, i was only 6 years old, that was the tail end of their league domination. I got too see a few winning years like 90 with Bo and Marcas as well as the Gruden years 2000-02 but everything else between that was pretty mediocre. i dont have the great memories of those teams that pretty much dominated this league year in year out from 1967 to about 1983. Ive seen the films, ive watched many of the rebroadcast games but in the end, those arent my memories, those arent the things that had me bleeding Silver and Black for the last 30 years. If winning was the key, what made me a die hard Raider fan through all of these losing years?

You dont have to dig very deep to find out that im an Al Davis fan. Pretty much anyone on this site will tell you that. I often criticized Al for the things he did or the way he ran this team but it was often let go because in the end i knew that ever one of those decisions was made in the best interest of this team. Right or wrong, there was nothing Al did that did not have the Raiders best interest at heart. As all things do, i knew his time would pass, as his time came to pass even i knew and expected things to change. I, the biggest Al Davis supporter was actually looking forward to a new way of doing things. I was ok with a more mainstream, more modern approach to running this franchise. I was even getting to the point that i looked forward to the day of more consistent players, fewer boom or bust guys, fewer reaches and all of this in the hope that we would have fewer down or mediocre years. Its odd, about the time i thought i was getting on board, i just woke up one morning and for the first time, i didnt even care!

Let me say that again, I dont care! I dont care who we draft! I dont care who we sign! I dont care who we let go or who we decide to keep! I know its only march but right now, i dont care who we play because i truly dont care how many games we win!

WTF IS THAT??????

You see, after alot of soul searching ive come to this conclusion or theory.

-Im a fan of the players but the players arent the reason im a Raider fan.
-Im a fan of the mystique but thats not the reason im a Raider fan.
-Im a fan of the legend, the history and so on but thats not the reason im a Raider fan.
-Im a fan of the colors, shield and uniforms but thats not why im a Raider fan.
-Im a huge fan of Al Davis but again, thats not why im a Raider fan.

You see, after its all stripped away theres only one reason i can think of that i am and have been a Raider fan for most of my life. THE PASSION!

That passion that drives you to do things a little impulsively. That passion that at any moment you could sign any player that could potentially make your team better. That passion that regardless of the price tag, if that player could potentially improve your football team, the checkbooks open. That passion if a coach isnt doing his job, he will be replaced, at any moment. That passion that causes you to make decisions based on what makes you better now, not what may or may not be better financially down the road. That passion that regardless of what others say or think, you follow through with because you know its whats best for you. That passion where you beliefs are driven in what you feel, not what everyone else thinks it should be. A passion that allows you to accumulate players based on the potential you see rather than what others think......etc....etc.....I could go on all day with that.

In no way am i saying the way Al Davis did things was the right way or the best way, all im saying is that "that way", that passion is why im a Raiders fan. The passion i have for this team stems from the passion that our previous owner had for it. A passion that lead him to do things that were sometimes right and often wrong but always in the best interest of winning and this team! 12 months a year it was exciting to be a Raider fan because any hour of any day in any week, something could happen. I am a Raider fan because of the Raider way. It may not be the right way but the win at all costs, other opinions be damned is what i live and loved about this team.

Now, we are like the rest of the league!

Predictable!

Boring!

Safe!

All in the hopes of having a better future that may never come!

Just like the rest of the league!


Thats depressing!


Am i alone in struggling to find our identity or even invest in the hope that we will ever have one again?

Mojokong


Even though Carson Palmer is now thousands of miles West, he remains on the playbill of the Marvin Era theater and will therefore continue to be chronicled within these pages. He was a major player in the early going of the saga and was largely responsible for making football fun again in this town, but he was dealt a heavy hand of great expectation which, through cruel twists of fate mixed with his physical limitations, he was never able to live up to. Here in Cincinnati he had a contract that was as sure as the setting sun and an owner who drooled over him, positively mystified by his face-of-the-franchise charm. Yet as generic and routine as Palmer portrayed himself to the outside world, he apparently also had a brooding side that unexpectedly lashed out when he announced his immediate resignation as quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals.

That must have been an emotionally challenging moment for Carson. Something frustrated him enough for him to leap into that wildly unpredictable void of a future rather than to carry on with his safe and blasé life with the Bengals. Whether it was the lackluster season his team turned in after the 2010 campaign, the fans, the city, his wife or all of it, has yet to be shared by the man himself, but it had seemingly built up over time before erupting into one giant and rash decision.

The Winning Trade

During the week Cincinnati hosted the Oakland Raiders last season, Carson Palmer was asked by the Cincinnati media about his reasons for leaving. Being an otherwise enigmatic character, the former 2003 first overall pick shrugged off the media's attempts for answers. “Just a culmination of things. Some things that I had learned that ownership ... just some things that built up over time, and it was just time for a change.”

If not for consecutive postseason appearances, the sting of his betrayal could have been more severe. However two draft picks inside the first two rounds over a two-year period, including this year's No. 37 overall pick, the Bengals clearly won the biggest headline trade in recent franchise history.

Had Carson not gone public with his frustrations, I think he would still be the Bengals quarterback today. Mike Brown wasn't going to cut him; he was going to pay him. He may not have resigned him once he became a free agent, but he wouldn't cut him. Palmer would have had A.J. Green to play with and be coached by Jay Gruden. Life wouldn't have been so bad here after all in retrospect.

I think he is happy in Oakland, though. He is a California dude, been there most of his life. He probably feels more comfortable operating in the Pacific Standard Time zone. Probably eats way better tacos on a regular basis. His daily life has likely become more comfortable for him.

The football side though isn't as sure of a thing outside the cozy and forgiving confides of Paul Brown Stadium. Here he could have coasted on decent numbers but lower win totals for a good five or six more years before some mutual departing decisions would be necessary, but already in Oakland his value is now being scrutinized.

When the Raiders traded for him, they signed him to a funky contract that paid him only $2.5m in the first year but double-digit numbers in the next three years. That means he makes $13m in 2013 with a cap number north of $15 million which forces the front office to fix their eyes a bit more firmly on the young and athletic backup quarterback, Terrelle Pryor, as the team's future at the position. The Raiders gave him a start in the season's finale and the kid didn't look too bad, a clear indicator what the thinking might be this offseason.

Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore just signed a two-year deal worth $8m and was considered the best QB available in this year's free-agent class had he hit the open market. Moore is a backup to Ryan Tannehill, and is likely one of the better-paid backups in the league.

Remaining Salary In Oakland
2013 $13 Million
2014 $15 Million
2015 (Voidable) $15 Million
2016 (Voidable) $15 Million

This forces the question: has Palmer reached backup status at this point of his career?

I still think he is a pretty decent player. His numbers were good last year (4,018 yrds, 22 tds/14 int, 85.3 rate), he's been healthy with Oakland, and he is well-trained for his position. Yes, his turnovers are a problem. Yes, he still throws too high too often, and yes, his mobility gets worse every year, but his arm is still strong and his mind still sharp and in this league, that will alone will find you a job.

But what kind of job?

If Oakland were smart, they wouldn't low-ball Palmer out of town. Sure, Pryor is an interesting player whose skill set fits in nicely into the perceivable future of the quarterback position, but you can hardly call the guy proven. Also, can Pryor take a season of hits? If that answer is anything other than a resounding yes!, than it would be prudent to have somebody around who can. Pryor might dazzle from time to time, and might even turn out to be a great player himself, but to go "all in" on the young man seems hasty.

I'm sure Palmer would rather not be a backup quarterback, and I think he would command a bit more coin elsewhere (Arizona?), but I think he might sign a contract around Moore's number and risk riding pine in Oakland because of how comfortable life is in California for him. It's not all that unlikely that the offense and the game itself is still too large for Pryor to lead his team to the playoffs any time soon and that Palmer could be reinstalled fairly early to salvage the season. Though, in fairness, I have read how diligently Pryor has prepared for this season and is working his way into serious contention in regards to the starting job. I would think Palmer would also be of tremendous value for Pryor as a person to learn from, and while I don't know exactly what kind of guy Carson is, I would also think he would help Pryor in this way.

Like many of you, I relished seeing him sacked numerous times by the Bengals when he returned to town last November, and felt vindicated after they kicked Oakland's ass all the way back to the West Coast, but I have made my peace with the man and would like to see him succeed again. The parallels between him and Drew Bledsoe continue to be spot on, and if that comparison carries on this way, Palmer will bounce around to a few different teams before hanging it up, but I would rather not see it that way. I would rather see Palmer stay a Raider and lead them back to respectability. I would like to see him win a playoff game and be remembered as a good quarterback in his later years. And someday, I would like him to tell us why he left Cincinnati they way he did.

No matter how it ends up, it will be detailed here. He is a polarizing figure in the annals of Bengal lore and invokes feelings of both gratitude for his many years of service here and betrayal for his abrupt and heartless departure. He is so predictable, so hum-drum as he heavily tows the company line, yet at the same time was so mysterious and surprising with his "retirement" that no one can know for sure what he will decide. For a pretty regular guy, he brings about a thick cloud of drama wherever he plays football. I'm not sure he wants it this way, but such is his life. The unpredictably mundane.

This is the thing with Pryor....

If there was ONE tangible thing he did as a passer....I'd be all in as him being our QB RIGHT NOW.

And you're right in that maybe we havent seen enough of him. Maybe he has such great poise or moxie ....that he just makes it work. Some guys are like that. Jake Delhomme, Bernie Kosar did that for years.

But just making a gut instinct.

I dont think Pryor will ever be as good throwing the football as RG3, Wilson, Kaep or Cam (if his head is screwed on straight)

I'm not even talking about accuracy/reading defenses with Pryor. Luck completed 54% of his passes. But he made so MANY big time throws. I can accept with inaccurate QB......that makes big time throws...

I can accept a QB who doesnt have a strong arm......but is deadly accurate.

Right now....Pryor doesnt have great arm strength or accuracy.


Thats fair to say right? We ALL know he has a long way to go with accuracy. I get that. I just want to see Pryor make some big time throws as well. If he was very accurate, but didnt have a huge arm...I'd be ok with that.

Before Claps/Okie bring up the arm strength argument.....I'd ask you guys this.....How many STARTING QBs does Pryor have a stronger arm than? Or at least DISPLAY a stronger arm than. I get the mechanical and footwork issues. But will he develop the muscle memory to overcome that.

Claps/Okie...you guys AND me...Believed in JaMarcus probably longer than we should have. But why? The same reason Chargers fans held out hope with Ryan Leaf. Dude had a cannon of an arm. That was the thing held out hope for some Raider fans. Obviously it didnt work out and he failed miserably. But there was SOMETHING he did THROWING that gave us hope. Its the reason 49ers had hope in Kaepernick before he played...Its the reason Greg Cosell (who isnt high on running QBs) had hope in Cam Newton potentially. Accuracy was a big reason for Pete Carroll believing in Russell Wilson.

I ask this to you as well Uptown...since we know about his accuracy issues.....What QBs does he display a stronger arm than?

Maybe Pryor will advance those skills in the off season....but he needs to show something to the coaches that gives them a reason to play.

This is the thing with Pryor....

If there was ONE tangible thing he did as a passer....I'd be all in as him being our QB RIGHT NOW.

And you're right in that maybe we havent seen enough of him. Maybe he has such great poise or moxie ....that he just makes it work. Some guys are like that. Jake Delhomme, Bernie Kosar did that for years.

But just making a gut instinct.

I dont think Pryor will ever be as good throwing the football as RG3, Wilson, Kaep or Cam (if his head is screwed on straight)

I'm not even talking about accuracy/reading defenses with Pryor. Luck completed 54% of his passes. But he made so MANY big time throws. I can accept with inaccurate QB......that makes big time throws...

I can accept a QB who doesnt have a strong arm......but is deadly accurate.

Right now....Pryor doesnt have great arm strength or accuracy.


Thats fair to say right? We ALL know he has a long way to go with accuracy. I get that. I just want to see Pryor make some big time throws as well. If he was very accurate, but didnt have a huge arm...I'd be ok with that.

Before Claps/Okie bring up the arm strength argument.....I'd ask you guys this.....How many STARTING QBs does Pryor have a stronger arm than? Or at least DISPLAY a stronger arm than. I get the mechanical and footwork issues. But will he develop the muscle memory to overcome that.

Claps/Okie...you guys AND me...Believed in JaMarcus probably longer than we should have. But why? The same reason Chargers fans held out hope with Ryan Leaf. Dude had a cannon of an arm. That was the thing held out hope for some Raider fans. Obviously it didnt work out and he failed miserably. But there was SOMETHING he did THROWING that gave us hope. Its the reason 49ers had hope in Kaepernick before he played...Its the reason Greg Cosell (who isnt high on running QBs) had hope in Cam Newton potentially. Accuracy was a big reason for Pete Carroll believing in Russell Wilson.

I ask this to you as well Uptown...since we know about his accuracy issues.....What QBs does he display a stronger arm than?

Maybe Pryor will advance those skills in the off season....but he needs to show something to the coaches that gives them a reason to play.

What about the Rams? Have you ever seen the Staples center when the Lakers aren't good? Dodgers games are pretty awful too. Giants fans are often lined up around the block before games at all entrances and the place is almost full by first pitch. Many times the Dogders are lucky if the stadium is half full by the third inning. The Clippers got no support when they weren't winning. I'm just saying that the Raiders are no more likely to get support down there when they are losing than they are in Oakland. They are probably less likely to get support when they're bad. We would have nearly as many problems if Al had never moved the franchise in the first place, and we would probably have another stadium by now anyways.

By Levi Damien on Feb 12, 6:09p
The Raiders have a few needs to fill this off-season. These are those needs:
The next major date this offseason will be March 12. That's when the new league year begins and therefore free agency opens up.
The Raiders have a great many positions that could use filling, upgrading, or depth. Here is my breakdown of what those positions are.

Defensive Tackle
Raiders stand to lose both of their 2012 starting defensive tackles this offseason. Richard Seymour was lost to injuries last season and the team voided his contract last week. Tommy Kelly's salary cap number is far too high and he is likely to be cut as well. Their departures leave the team very thin at the defensive tackle position. The only proven starter remaining is Desmond Bryant who is set to be a free agent himself. The team is already desperate for a starter and if they lose Bryant they would need two new starters.

Middle Linebacker
The team gave up on Rolando McClain last season and they are expected to cut him this off-season. When McClain was suspended last season and didn't play in the final five games, the Raiders signed Omar Gaither to take his position in the lineup but he is not a solid starter. They must find a new middle linebacker this season whether it be a proven starter or selection in the upcoming draft.

Defensive Back
There was a great deal of turnover among the cornerbacks on this team last season. The starters coming into the season were Shawntae Spencer and Ron Bartell, both of whom were lost to injury by week two. Spencer was placed on IR and is not expected back and Bartell was cut. Since then, the team has gone through several different corners including switching Michael Huff to corner. Huff could stay at corner or he could move back to free safety. What the team decides to do with him will decide which position they need between either cornerback or free safety.

Wide Receiver
Finding a number one receiver has to be a high priority for this team. None of the receivers on the current roster have shown enough to prove they can be that guy. There is of course former number seven overall pick Darrius Heyward-Bey who has disappointed and is a likely cap casualty. After that, there are several receivers including Denarius Moore, Rod Streater, Jacoby Ford, and Juron Criner who have yet to step up and take control as the team's top receiving target.

Right Tackle
Carson Palmer was under a lot of pressure last season from the right tackle position. Khalif Barnes is set to become a free agent and even if he is re-signed, the team would like to find an upgrade and/or future replacement at the right tackle position.

Defensive End
The Raiders had very little semblance of a pass rush last season. This improved in December but they still finished the season without a pass rusher over 4.0 sacks. The two starting defensive ends are Lamarr Houston and Matt Shaughnessy who had 4.0 and 3.5 sacks respectively. Shaughnessy and his backup Andre Carter are both set to become a free agents and it is not for certain the team will re-sign either or both of them.

Tight End
Brandon Myers caught a lot of balls last season but that was more a product of the offense as well as the lack of downfield options. He has also struggled with blocking. There is no indication David Ausberry will be stepping up to be a factor in this offense. The Raiders must try to bring in a strong threat at the tight end position.

Running Back
This is the last year of Darren McFadden's contract. Even with him on the team, he has never played a full season. Behind him, there isn't a great second option. Marcel Reece and Mike Goodson showed some flashes last season but that was in the zone blocking scheme and the team is switching back to power blocking. A starting caliber back to share carries with McFadden, take over when he is injured, and replace him in 2014 is needed.

Quarterback
The starter is Carson Palmer until further notice. What the Raiders need is depth and/or another young QB to develop. Matt Leinart was the primary backup last season but he is a free agent and may not be brought back. They have Terrelle Pryor but there is no guarantee he is ready to step in and lead this team. A third QB is needed.

Punter
The Raiders have been spoiled by the greatest punter of all time on their roster the past 12 years. Shane Lechler has been paid very well for his services too. But the new regime appears unwilling to pay him as much as he has made the past few years and Lechler is likely to move on. They have former undrafted free agent signee, Marquette King, waiting in the wings but there is no reason to believe the job is his to lose. Unless Lechler is re-signed, the team will bring in competition for the punting job.

I certainly hope the Raiders stay in Oakland and return to glory in that city. I certainly DO NOT want to see the Raiders move to Los Angeles. That city does not support the Raiders (or any NFL team) with real passion. I just don't think it will work. Give me a real blue collar city (like Oakland) to support the Raiders. I don't know, maybe I'm just longing for the days when a team and its city really were one. Players lived in and took part in the community. Money and free agency have changed everything.

But I digress...lets get a stadium built in OAKLAND and lets see the Raiders return to glory in OAKLAND!

I am a Gunny with almost 14 years in. I go to SDSU right now and I earn my commission in May. To be a Recon officer you usually start in the Infantry MOS 0302 or Inter (Ground or Human) then you can get into the Recon pipeline if you so desire and can pass the training. Some of my best friends were Recon operators and instructors and are going to commission soon or just commissioned. If you have questions about the Marine Corps, or getting a commission, or whatever, hit me up with a PM and give me your # and I can give you a call and hopefully answer some questions and give you an idea of what you want to do. Semper Fi!!