Good article. Everything hinges on Russell too it's very true. If he can play half decent we will do well, if he struggles badly then we will go 4-12 again. I for one and firmly entrenched in the belief that Jamarcus WILL make us relevant again, given time.
Too bad the spending haven't been used on the Oline and Dline. It takes those two things to beat teams weekly and to beat a team like the Chargers. Just look at this video and tell me what you see besides Peterson
WTF I hate that ****. for all we know the media created the whole fukin thing, or at least most of it with this BS.
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Nine-year punter Shane Lechler said, "It's just good to relate with (the fans) because let's face it, we've been terrible the last five years, and for them to still come out and support us the way they do, my hats off to them."
Since this seems to be a positive thread, I'll stick this video in here instead of starting a new thread. Here's my man Hub Arkush (WHO?) , a "nfl insider", showing us some love:
thnx 401. great read. i think with the moves we have made, we can improve alot this season and at least have a decent record maybe 7-9 im hoping and the draft isnt even here yet so we can still make plenty of moves to make this team a contender
I have said this a few times in some other threads. Al knows what is happening with the current salary cap and the current CBA. Dammit, he brokered the deal.
It has been reported that the cap may even fall away at the end of the 2009 season. We will see, but the level of spending by the Raiders (Al) would suggest that he believes that the cap will either fall away or be seriously increased in the next couple of years.
The other thing to consider is that with the level of spending that has been done, if Kiffin is to be th HC in 2008 he would want to remarkably improve the 4-12 record from 2007. I believe that if Kiffin is the HC in 2008 and the team does not go deep into the play-offs, the Al has justifiable reason (in his mind) to fire Kiffin and let Lofton or Ryan take over.
Kiffin knows this, I am told. He really is in a catch-22 situation and one can sympathise with him, though he did bring a lot of this on himself. The other thing is that if your are Ryan or Lofton, would you really help Kiffin to be successful in 2008 knowing that you could take over a team on the rise in 2009? Stay tuned....
"Al Davis thought all owners were dilettantes with a new toy. He said to me many times through the years that owners are often the problem with their franchises, that too many of them think they can run things when they cannot, and the teams that succeed are the ones where the owner hires the best people he can and turns the game over to them."
