What’s different between 06-07 and 08?

[yayarea_raider]

Originally Posted by neverlooking

All in one place, here is why we’ll be the surprise team of the NFL in 2008.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

nice write up. but don't leave out Bush, who I think should be throwing the football be 4 Mcfadden does...but we do have better receivers this yr, so that helps as our passign game was awful.


HOWEVER, ur point about the O-Line giving Russell time to throw this year is a little off. Kwame Harris? I sure hope Cable and work some magic on this guy. He's a good run blocker but sh!t, the guy has to be one of the worst pass blockers I've ever seen. You can make a case for him as he went through some different coaches in San Fran, but the fact remains that he couldn't hold his own on passing downs. The last thing we need is our 60+ Million Franchise QB getting clocked from his blindside. Cross your fingers on Harris, I know I am.

And our D-Line with Kelly now starting in Sapp's old position will hopefully be an upgrade. The fact remains that our rush defense was worse when Kelly startyed at DE last yr so idk whats gonna happen. I will admit, the 3 is where Kelly should've been playing from day 1. His play there in 05 when Sapp went down was definately above average. Hopefully that $ will give him some more inspiration too. But I bet he still doesn't talk to the press

sure it will be hard for opponents to throw on us...but the question is will they have to? If our rushing defense is like last yr it wont matter that we have the most expensive secondary in the league.

Let's hope D executes better and that players can hjit their gaps. I see a better pass rush this year as Kalimba Edwards should provide a spark opposite Burgess, and I see Richardson as a solid 1st and 2nd down DE against the run, I think he's only gonna get better. Scott I like, the guy we drafted. He's an interesting prospect. Maybe he'll get some reps in (if he works out) when Burgess needs a breather

[HITMAN]

Originally Posted by yayarea_raider

nice write up. but don't leave out Bush, who I think should be throwing the football be 4 Mcfadden does...but we do have better receivers this yr, so that helps as our passign game was awful.


HOWEVER, ur point about the O-Line giving Russell time to throw this year is a little off. Kwame Harris? I sure hope Cable and work some magic on this guy. He's a good run blocker but sh!t, the guy has to be one of the worst pass blockers I've ever seen. You can make a case for him as he went through some different coaches in San Fran, but the fact remains that he couldn't hold his own on passing downs. The last thing we need is our 60+ Million Franchise QB getting clocked from his blindside. Cross your fingers on Harris, I know I am.

And our D-Line with Kelly now starting in Sapp's old position will hopefully be an upgrade. The fact remains that our rush defense was worse when Kelly startyed at DE last yr so idk whats gonna happen. I will admit, the 3 is where Kelly should've been playing from day 1. His play there in 05 when Sapp went down was definately above average. Hopefully that $ will give him some more inspiration too. But I bet he still doesn't talk to the press

Why would Bush have the inside track as opposed to the teams first round pick who was projected by many to be the best player in this years draft?

There are several areas of concern for this team, I think anyone who has watched and understands football knows the success or failure of this team will be due to the offensive and defensive lines.

[Locdog]

Originally Posted by HITMAN

I didn't see a lot of facts, just a lot of opinion and that's fine...

I agree loc, over analysis in May... let's see a couple of pre-season games and at least the first four weeks of the season, we'll know exactly what kind of team this will be.

Originally Posted by HITMAN

Most likely... lol... we all have opinions and we all speculate, but I don't see how we can make accurate assessments on a team, in May when we don't know who will be on the final roster, who may or may not suffer an injury between now and then...

Originally Posted by Jitzfighter

Good point. Some teams are one injury away from a loosing season. If Manning goes down in week 1 with an injury and is out for the season, it's unlikely Sorgi is gonna lead the Colts to the playoffs.

Optimism is one thing, but I've been let down too many times to get overly excited before the season even starts.

yep, yep, guys and think about how our great coaching staff has to work closly with a fantastic owner who loves the defense....and just think about the fact that the raiders love to think out of the box when it comes to players out of position.

[or24]

Offensive success depends mostly on Russell and our defensive success mainly depends on Sands and Kelly. I'm betting on Russell, but even he will likely have growing pains, especially with Green and Harris protecting him. I hope Sands and Kelly can at least be solid, but I'm not counting on it. I hope our offense can carry the load this year.

[Favre=Picks]

Originally Posted by HITMAN

Agreed... you have to look at every possible scenario, before making bold statements about the success or perceived success of the team. Trying to determine what will happen in October in May isn't realistic.

All we can do is speculate right now, there isn't anything else to talk about. The other option is to stay in the off-topic forums, or not check out the site.

Everyone gets it, we don't know what is going to happen, but this could be used during the season too by saying "Sure we look good this week, but there is no way to predict what will happen next week".

That would pretty much render the site useless because there would be nothing to talk about. Saying the same thing in every thread is just a downer right now, we want to be positive fans.

I for one expect to win the Super Bowl every year, I am a Raider fan, its how I was raised.

[HITMAN]

Originally Posted by Locdog

yep, yep, guys and think about how our great coaching staff has to work closly with a fantastic owner who loves the defense....and just think about the fact that the raiders love to think out of the box when it comes to players out of position.

Like I said, many many variables that some fans choose to ignore. I've seen this heightened optimism turn ugly rather quickly.

[hanuma]

Originally Posted by HITMAN

I would agree, you can speculate until the cows come home, but there are a lot of variables that haven't been included in any of these threads... the chief among them INJURIES... everyone seems to ignore that one variable that can derail an entire season with some key injuries.

Yes, but they are out of anyones hands, nothing you can do about them. If you had to consider injuries all the time a place like this would be rendered redundant for discussing our future, something just as important as our past. It's like saying we can't say the Pats will have a good season because Brady and Moss might both get career ending injuries from over ambitious kama sutra sex with supermodels or smoothie-related injuries.

I think there are plenty of reasonable grounds for discussing what we've done well to strengthen for next season.
1. Got a more reliable Center in Wade.
2. Got a home run threat in McFadden.
3. Got major upgrades at receiver in Walker and Carter.
4. Got a solid tackler at safety.
5. Got one of the most talented corners in the league.
6. Moved Kelly to probably his best, most natural position.

[MileHighRaider]

Originally Posted by HITMAN

Like I said, many many variables that some fans choose to ignore. I've seen this heightened optimism turn ugly rather quickly.

I've never seen ugly in optimism.

[buckwild187]

There is no reason to believe the run blocking won't be just as effective as last year if not better. That alone, plus adding McFadden, makes us solid right from the start. Jamarcus is a project, but seriously, I would much rather have him under centre than any one of the clowns we've trotted out there the past 4 years.

[Favre=Picks]

Originally Posted by MileHighRaider

I've never seen ugly in optimism.

Thats right, people turn ugly, their optimism doesn't. Super Bowl or bust.

[HITMAN]

Originally Posted by Favre=Picks

All we can do is speculate right now, there isn't anything else to talk about. The other option is to stay in the off-topic forums, or not check out the site.

Everyone gets it, we don't know what is going to happen, but this could be used during the season too by saying "Sure we look good this week, but there is no way to predict what will happen next week".

That would pretty much render the site useless because there would be nothing to talk about. Saying the same thing in every thread is just a downer right now, we want to be positive fans.

I for one expect to win the Super Bowl every year, I am a Raider fan, its how I was raised.

I don't think everyone gets it otherwise we wouldn't continue to see threads suggesting success in May before we know the final roster, injuries etc. There's plenty to talk about even on this thread, some of us prefer to view it realistically and that's all we are doing commenting on the speculation.