What’s different between 06-07 and 08?

[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.

[ak007spidy]

Well Said!!!!!

[MileHighRaider]

Originally Posted by neverlooking

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.

Nice write up but you missed a big point.

Not only do we have McFadden, but we have Bush (and Fargas).

BOTH are going to pound the rock. McFadden has awesome break away speed, but Bush can't be overlooked by defenses.

BOTH can catch extremely well out of the backfield.

BOTH can throw the ball very well.

I'm anxious to see how many two-back sets we line up. As a DC, what do you do? We can run hard with either guy. We can send McFadden (arguably either) in motion as a receiver. We can toss, roll and throw with either one... to either one (or one of our highly improved receivers as you pointed out).

This will be a problem for defenses. I like giving opposing defenses problems.

[neverlooking]

Originally Posted by MileHighRaider

Nice write up but you missed a big point.

Not only do we have McFadden, but we have Bush (and Fargas).

BOTH are going to pound the rock. McFadden has awesome break away speed, but Bush can't be overlooked by defenses.

BOTH can catch extremely well out of the backfield.

BOTH can throw the ball very well.

I'm anxious to see how many two-back sets we line up. As a DC, what do you do? We can run hard with either guy. We can send McFadden (arguably either) in motion as a receiver. We can toss, roll and throw with either one... to either one (or one of our highly improved receivers as you pointed out).

This will be a problem for defenses. I like giving opposing defenses problems.

Yeah, I left our some stuff.
I hope Bush will be a hammer.
I think Miller will be even better since JRuss will be throwing to him.
I think Wade will be a big upgrade at center and will be good for JRuss.
I think Robert will be a moster at LG where he'll make a huge impact.
I'm guessing that out of all the questionmarks we've gotten, some will pay off like DBurg did.
I'm hoping Ryan will use the improved secondary to help the run defense and the coverage underneath.
I'm hoping Kiffin comes up with plays to take advantage of the big arm and the big legs he has.
I'm assuming that Cable will build on his incredible job from last season and find a guy who's at least as good as Sims was, and perhaps much better.
I'm hoping the defensive helmet radios will let us beat the NE Rats ;)

[neverlooking]

I forgot one more thing:

13. More sacks. We'll be on the QB more frequently because the CB's will cover longer. In 2007, opposing offenses didn't have to keep an outlet HB. They could always throw to the guy Washington was supposed to be guarding. He'd break down easier than one of Bo Jackson's bats! MeAngelo will hold on longer than Shane's hangtime on the moon. Maybe even Sands will get a sack!

[max powers]

great points. lets all hope it all plays out like that during the season.

[Jitzfighter]

Q) What’s different between 06-07 and 08?

A) We won't know the answer to that question until the '08 season has been played imo....

[HITMAN]

Originally Posted by Jitzfighter

Q) What’s different between 06-07 and 08?

A) We won't know the answer to that question until the '08 season has been played imo....

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.

[Raidersabc123]

Great post good facts

[Locdog]

Originally Posted by neverlooking

Yeah, I left our some stuff.
I hope Bush will be a hammer.
I think Miller will be even better since JRuss will be throwing to him.
I think Wade will be a big upgrade at center and will be good for JRuss.
I think Robert will be a moster at LG where he'll make a huge impact.
I'm guessing that out of all the questionmarks we've gotten, some will pay off like DBurg did.
I'm hoping Ryan will use the improved secondary to help the run defense and the coverage underneath.
I'm hoping Kiffin comes up with plays to take advantage of the big arm and the big legs he has.
I'm assuming that Cable will build on his incredible job from last season and find a guy who's at least as good as Sims was, and perhaps much better.
I'm hoping the defensive helmet radios will let us beat the NE Rats ;)

i think your tinkin too much man......just let it go and follow the journey like a river into the ocean.

[Locdog]

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.

September 8Th is when we will hear....

moo!!!! moo!!! moo!!!

[HITMAN]

Originally Posted by Raidersabc123

Great post good facts

Originally Posted by Locdog

i think your tinkin too much man......just let it go and follow the journey like a river into the ocean.

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.

[HITMAN]

Originally Posted by Locdog

September 8Th is when we will hear....

moo!!!! moo!!! moo!!!

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...