What’s different between 06-07 and 08? - Page 10 - Oakland Raiders Forum | Message Board

neverlooking · #**136** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by or24

Unproven talent. We went from Wheatley and Zereoue to Jordan and Porter and curry to moss and porter, not to mention the addition of Burgess from 2004 to 2005 and we won LESS games than we did the year before. We haven't had a qb in the past 5 years reach a qb rating of 80 or higher for a season. Russell is supposed to do that in his 1st year? Sure it's possible, but that's an awful lot of pressure for a guy at a position that can take up to 5 years to fully develop. Not to mention the Oline wasn't upgraded at all. Sims was a very good run blocker. He cleared out many lanes for Fargas. He's not a long term answer, but dumping him for Harris who is more expensive and possibly a downgrade was not a good move.

Valid points, but you got to consider the details:
Kerry, except for a few games like @Dungver '04, looked like he was in the tank again.
Brooks had no line and was hurt.
Walter was getting tackled as he got the ball.
McCown couldn't hit the Black Hole from the closest goal post.
Pepp didn't look too bad with the lack of practice time.
JRuss looked good, considering the rook factor and the lack of practice time.

This season:
The line is decent to good.
Jamarcus will have almost 4 months to get ready, and he'll he'll have pre-season games.
The receivers have Lofton.
The receivers will have a lot more field to get open in, as JRuss can hit them anywhere.
McFadden should terrorize defensive coordinators enough so he'll rarely see the blitzes seen by Brooks and Walter.
Tom Cable.
Walker is a proven deep threat.
Carter has been improving yearly.
McFaden can catch.
Miller has a year under his belt.
etc.

neverlooking · #**137** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pokeinrichmond

Tell me about it. Remember when the Raiders were blessed to beat Cleveland in Oakland after the Miami win. People were claiming were back. Playoffs. AFC West title. Man lets win 5 games before we start saying anything.

2003 - Bill Calahan can lead us baby to the superbowl, YEAAAAA! nope

2004- Norv Turner will open the Offense up. Kerry Collins will be the new Lamonica! Whatever happened to KerryIsTheMan?? Were back. YEAAAAAA! nope

2005- Nobody will be able to cover Randy Moss, Jerry Porter, and Ronald Curry. Norv will really open it up now. And we got strong arm Kerry Collins. YEEEEEEEEEAH. Nope.

2006 -Art Shell will return the nastiness back to the Raiders. Jackie Slaughter will make the line great. Tom Walsh will be what Norm Chow was to USC. YEAAAAAAAH.

2007 - We got the defense coming off a number 5 overall rank. No way Detriot would be able to score over 21 points in Oakland. No way some QB name Sage Rosenfulls could ever lead a Texan team to victory in Oakland. No way Ron Dayne would rush over 100 yards. No way Kolby smith would rush over a 100 yards. No way Rex Grossman would lead the Bears on a game winning driving. No Way. YEEEEEEEEEEEEA

Thats why we should just....wait and see.

2003 We knew we were seeing the guys get old, that's why Kerry was brougt in, cause Gannon was ancient for the average QB. It was Gru's team, and they were old.

2004 Noval was always a wild card, but he turned out to be same old Norv.

2005 Noval was always a wild card, but he turned out to be same old Norv.

2006 -The only thing I was sure of was that Art would have a good line. Nobody forsaw Eatmand and Slater screwing things up like they did. Brooks getting hurt ended the season.

2007 - McCown? I never wanted him. More than 1/2 of us here wanted Pepp to start (I can pull the poll results). Kiffin needed 10 games to mature.

2008 -
More Talent than any team since 2002
Established running game
McFadden.
MeAngelo - 100% upgrade at CB
Wilson - 100% upgrade at S
McFadden - home run threat and depth at WR
Walker
Jamarcus will be ready, rookie or not - 50% upgrade over McCown
Lofton at WR coach.
100% upgrade
etc.

Locdog · #**138** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 06:55 AM

russell would be lucky enough to not throw for a league high int this year....please guys i think some of you havent figured out that russell is going to have a very bumpy road.

kiffin will probably run the hell out of the ball just like last year. he's too fearful of his QB turning the ball over. if he does turn russell loose then watch the int number go up.

neverlooking · #**139** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by or24

It's pretty sad when all you have to look forward to is competing, not winning. It takes a good team to finish games. Neither our offense or defense is(or at least wasn't last year) capable of doing so. There were plenty of times last season where our defense blew the lead and where our offense couldn't muster up a score on the final possession. We were not an 8-8 team last year. Believe what you want. I'm not even saying 9-7 isn't impossible this year. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but 8-8 is very achievable. 8 wins is a good first step in making progress. However, I've said plenty of times before how we can't count on our defense and I think we will fall a bit short. I don't expect Russell to mount a bunch of comeback drives as a rookie. I'm expecting 6 or 7 wins.

6 or 7 wins would be a bad year. 8-8 would be OK.
The schedule is weak. We have a very good running game and a vastly improved pass defense.
9-7 would be OK.
10-6 would make me happy.

neverlooking · #**140** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kira22

Without reading tha entire thread....

- Stable QB. No more switching between tha weak armed McCown and Daunte. Note: JRock will still have his growing pains.
- Combined, tha best RB's in tha NFL
- Better receivers w/two guys with a ton of potential who are both big and fast
- Continued improvement from Zack
- OLine...hmmmm....still a concern. Still needa OT anda C imo.

- DLine...again another concern. Terdell needs ta step it up in tha middle and we only have one pass rusher capable of double digit sacks on a team that doesn't blitz very often. Not sure we'll even get 30 sacks.....way too low.....again. Top prioriety for '09 imo.
- Can Ed Hartwell stay healthy?? Great pickup if he can!
- Maybe tha best overall secondary in tha NFL!! I expect/hope for much better tackling than we got from our secondary last season.

Love tha switch from DE ta UT for TK
Love tha switch from SS ta FS for Michael

Still current needs in order imo:
DE
OT
C
QB, maybe LB if Ed and Sam don't work out

Expecting 7-8 wins
Thoughts on DMac.....Love tha pick!! Still wish we could've filled a bigger need however.

Many good points, but Wade at C is an upgrade.

neverlooking · #**141** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locdog

russell would be lucky enough to not throw for a league high int this year....please guys i think some of you havent figured out that russell is going to have a very bumpy road.

kiffin will probably run the hell out of the ball just like last year. he's too fearful of his QB turning the ball over. if he does turn russell loose then watch the int number go up.

No way. JRuss threw well last year without camp and without pre-season, and without getting his timing down with his WR's.
A guy like BMW couldn't make the squad this year, and I'd be surprised if we don't get a decent WR after June 1 to supliment what we have, if it turns out we need it.

We may run 60% of the time, but the more we run, the better JRuss' chances are to burn someone.

neverlooking · #**142** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locdog

russell would be lucky enough to not throw for a league high int this year....please guys i think some of you havent figured out that russell is going to have a very bumpy road.

kiffin will probably run the hell out of the ball just like last year. he's too fearful of his QB turning the ball over. if he does turn russell loose then watch the int number go up.

Also, Al doesnt' give a guy $68M to sit on the bench one year, and hand off the next. No way.

**HITMAN** · #**143** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 07:23 AM

This season:
The line is decent to good. - You hope they are decent to good. They haven't played as a unit and of all positions on the field the OL has to perform as a total unit, that doesn't happen in one off-season.

Jamarcus will have almost 4 months to get ready, and he'll he'll have pre-season games. - He's still technically a rookie, he will make rookie type mistakes regardless of his talent, and you fail to recognize that.

The receivers have Lofton. - You are banking that Walker is going to make it through the year healthy, that's an assumption you can't make in May, no one can, Lofton, may or may not be a good coach, but if your go to guy is injured it's really a moot point.

The receivers will have a lot more field to get open in, as JRuss can hit them anywhere. - Assuming the Offensive Line can protect him, as I stated earlier it's going to take a while for this unit to gel, it's the nature of free agency this isn't like Raider teams of the past when the OL was in place for nearly a decade. This has been a major concern for sometime now even with Cable the pass blocking wasn't exceptional... 41 sacks is about 30 to many

McFadden should terrorize defensive coordinators enough so he'll rarely see the blitzes seen by Brooks and Walter. - If you've read comments from Kiffin, McFadden is going to be worked slowly into the offense, he's not going to be expected to carry the load right out of the gate.

Tom Cable. - The Line was improved with a unit that pretty much was intact from the previous year, now you most likely will have two new starters, Cable is a solid coach, but you are assuming Harris is going to be a stud at LT, he's considered a bust at LT much like Gallery is.

Walker is a proven deep threat. - Yes, Walker is a deep threat, but as previously mentioned, you are assuming he's going to be healthy all year, that is certainly the hope of all fans, yet if he gets injured, there will be concerns.

Carter has been improving yearly. - 8 TD catches in 4 years isn't a lot of productivity, you are correct he's improving, but is he going to be the #2 guy? #3 guy? or #4 guy. You seem to have penciled him as the #2 guy and I'm more inclined to believe he'll be the 3rd or 4th option, so he's not going to be having monster numbers at least not the numbers you envision.

McFaden can catch. - Yeah, so can a lot of backs in the NFL, If he's being utilized as a WR, then a WR is going to be getting less production, because you will be relying on McFadden more out of the backfield, nothing wrong with that, but I think your assumptions may be a bit premature until we see what Kiffin's philosophy is this year.

Miller has a year under his belt. - Experience is always a key factor to the success of the team, but as I said, what will be his role? will he be a major key of the offense or will he be used more as a blocker with the addition of McFadden and Bush? Things change rather quickly in the NFL and a players role can change dramatically with the draft, free agency etc...

More Talent than any team since 2002 - That's your opinion, however there are still some unanswered questions going into this season. There is a surplus of untapped potential on this roster, it remains to be seen how talented they truly are.

Established running game - Established, perhaps and McFadden will certainly make it a better part of the offense, but it all hinges on the success of the Offensive Line.

MeAngelo - 100% upgrade at CB - Hall is a solid player, but he's not 100% better than Routt, an upgrade, but not 100% better.

Wilson - 100% upgrade at S - Wilson is also an upgrade, but 100%, remains to be seen.

Jamarcus will be ready, rookie or not - 50% upgrade over McCown - Ready in what way? He'll still be a rookie, and not many rookies other than Dan Marino came in and tore it up as rookies. Including Favre, Elway and some other great QB's.

**HITMAN** · #**144** (**permalink**) 05-13-2008, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neverlooking

No way. JRuss threw well last year without camp and without pre-season, and without getting his timing down with his WR's.
A guy like BMW couldn't make the squad this year, and I'd be surprised if we don't get a decent WR after June 1 to supliment what we have, if it turns out we need it.

We may run 60% of the time, but the more we run, the better JRuss' chances are to burn someone.

Threw well? he played in two games and most of what he did was very vanilla. He wasn't asked to do a great deal. There's no question the kid has a ton of talent and potential, but he wasn't being asked to execute the entire playbook last year. He'll be challenged this year and he'll still have timing concerns since all the WR's will be new except Curry.