[sameo98]

A few thougths on Rob Ryan's Q&A here from the S&B Report?:

Q: Is Tyvon Branch about to put Stuart Schweigert on the unemployed list?

Rob Ryan (RR): We think he’s going to be a safety for us. He’s going to be a good, solid player. You talk about his versatility, I mean, that jumps off the tapes when you’re watching. He’s a hard-hitting young man. He’s really fun to watch. We picked him off a lot of tapes. We’ve seen just about every game they’ve played this year and really we’re excited about him, and I know our special teams coach Brian Schneider is really excited about his returnability also.

Q: Do you see a guy like that on tape and decide he’s a safety or talk to his coach?

RR: We do all the research there is, talk to all his coaches. We want to find out as much information about a young man as possible. The two guys that we picked on defense, they’re both real solid character people, guys that we really think are serious football and we’re excited about them.Both of them have redeeming qualities and we really like the way that young man hits. It’s fun to see a guy throw his body around and tackling. We know we had an issue there and we’re looking to upgrade and I think we did that with that pick.

It was funny how he maneuvered around the Stu question but ended up answering it anyway at the end of the second question.

Q: Does Trevor Scott have any clue how to play defensive end after two years?

RR: I think that’s the thing, when you see that young man, you do see potential. To me, he’s getting stronger every day. You can see even his weight is going up, his strength is going up, every day. It’s interesting, they moved him from tight end where he’s obviously a good player for two years, but really took off for two years of pretty good production as a defensive end. Hopefully he’ll be the next Gerry Philbin.

Q: Is he a right end?

RR: We’ve seen him at both. He played in the all-star game where my father coached. Unfortunately, they got clipped in the end on a nail biter. But, this guy’s a really good talented young guy. Keith Millard will really make something special of him, I hope.

So it looks like the drafting of Trevor Scott was based more on potential than his actual performance at the position of DE. Now I understand why we're still signing DE's as he is an in-house project. Hopefully we can get good quality mileage out of Spires and Edwards.

Q: Yeah, well Fabian Washington is fast. Why the hit job after three years?

RR: I think we think we have better players here. He was a fine player for us and we wish him the best. I’d like to really talk about the players that are here and we’re excited about what we have coming up this season. Obviously, you add DeAngelo Hall and the production of Stanford Routt and Nnamdi with Chris Johnson – it’s exciting.

There has got to be something dramatically different between Washington and Routt besides there speed that causes the coaches to praise Routt so much as a backup and throw Washington away for a draft pick. They both aren't the greatest at the position but I wonder if Routt has better character and playmaking qualities than Washington has shown. Of course, Washington's off the field drama doesn't help...

Q: What do you have in William Joseph and Kalimba Edwards?

RR: I think we’ve got two guys in my mind that are proven players that we’re excited about. It’s not everyday that you can add players that have been in the league and have been successful in this league and we added two very fine players.

I've gotten a totally different perspective from the fans of the teams they've come from. They've been labeled as lazy, slow, and uncaring busts at there positions, especially Joseph as he was drafted #1 for the Giants. Hopefully, they have some drive this year and our coaches can do something to get that spark back in their eyes. Until then, I'm tempering my expectations of them.

Q: Will Michael Huff’s role change a lot? Will he be more of free or has Schweigert won the job back?

RR: Well really guys, I’m just going to leave that for now. We’ve got so many calls to make and I see Knapp ready down here so I’ve got to get some more free agents. But we’re excited about those guys. And again we’re very confident about where we’re at on defense and I think it’s going to be better than it’s ever been here, for me, that’s for damn sure.

Did he seriously just avoid this question like the plague?

[cheapshotartist]

He really did not say much of anything except the DE we drafted was a project. I wish we would just use our draft picks on football players who are ready to play now!

[neverlooking]

He want's hitting at whoever's at S next to Wilson.
He may get it.

[ismail86]

I don't think people realize how good of a player Tyvon Branch really is. Mark my workds after this year, Branch and Wilson will combine for the toughest safety duo in the league. Branch is going to really turn some heads this year. Moving Huff to corner may be in the making, also using huff on 3rd and long plays would be great as well. Branch and Wilson are both run stoppers and sure tacklers. Huff is more of a coverage guy. This was a fantastic move on the Raiders part.

[GdaMac]

Originally Posted by ismail86

I don't think people realize how good of a player Tyvon Branch really is. Mark my workds after this year, Branch and Wilson will combine for the toughest safety duo in the league. Branch is going to really turn some heads this year. Moving Huff to corner may be in the making, also using huff on 3rd and long plays would be great as well. Branch and Wilson are both run stoppers and sure tacklers. Huff is more of a coverage guy. This was a fantastic move on the Raiders part.

Bob Sanders turned Indy's run defense around when he came back in the '06 playoffs, right? Now he's a special player, but hard hitting safeties can make run defense better.

[crizpynutz]

Originally Posted by ismail86

I don't think people realize how good of a player Tyvon Branch really is. Mark my workds after this year, Branch and Wilson will combine for the toughest safety duo in the league. Branch is going to really turn some heads this year. Moving Huff to corner may be in the making, also using huff on 3rd and long plays would be great as well. Branch and Wilson are both run stoppers and sure tacklers. Huff is more of a coverage guy. This was a fantastic move on the Raiders part.

I posted a whole lot on draft day when we picked him and a ton of peeps here were all doom and gloom. I live in CT and watched all the home games UCONN played.....Branch is a football player and he'll contribute right away. If Huff doesn't cut it, he could lose his position. Then again, Branch is a rookie, so we'll see if he can live up to his own ability too.

[Silver&Black151]

Originally Posted by ismail86

I don't think people realize how good of a player Tyvon Branch really is. Mark my workds after this year, Branch and Wilson will combine for the toughest safety duo in the league. Branch is going to really turn some heads this year. Moving Huff to corner may be in the making, also using huff on 3rd and long plays would be great as well. Branch and Wilson are both run stoppers and sure tacklers. Huff is more of a coverage guy. This was a fantastic move on the Raiders part.

i am really starting to believe in him more and more every day....

[guydon]

any way you look at it it is good to have this many options. At least RR has correctly identified the problem poor tackling (or soft D).and he wants what we want, a hard hitting and agressive D

[Mykle VanHausen]

Originally Posted by ismail86

I don't think people realize how good of a player Tyvon Branch really is. Mark my workds after this year, Branch and Wilson will combine for the toughest safety duo in the league. Branch is going to really turn some heads this year. Moving Huff to corner may be in the making, also using huff on 3rd and long plays would be great as well. Branch and Wilson are both run stoppers and sure tacklers. Huff is more of a coverage guy. This was a fantastic move on the Raiders part.

Damn straight.

I can remember battling people on here draft day and after over this guy. They laughed at drafting him for Special Teams till I quoted Mayock saying "He's maybe the best gunner in the League DAY ONE."

Then some felt he was a wasted pick and "another typical Al Davis DB move."

Once some started looking they realized, "We may have something here..."

I mentioned him as an Eddie Royal foil and yes, he wasn't drafted specifically for Royal, since he's so much more, but I'll wager they'll square off this year...

Nailed it about our secondary. Wilson may be the missing part on the infernal machine at Safety. Leading tackler at the position.

Reviewing last years games, Huff impressed with his coverage of the best TE's in the League.

This year may free him up and be a break out finally.

I'd say at Free Safety, but according to Ryan, they don't have that designation.

[Mykle VanHausen]

Originally Posted by crizpynutz

I posted a whole lot on draft day when we picked him and a ton of peeps here were all doom and gloom. I live in CT and watched all the home games UCONN played.....Branch is a football player and he'll contribute right away. If Huff doesn't cut it, he could lose his position. Then again, Branch is a rookie, so we'll see if he can live up to his own ability too.

Yeah, he could be a valuable FOOTBALL player! Good selection, but like you mentioned, you never know.

we'll have to see if the rook progresses.

[Raidersabc123]

Thanks Nice info

[migman33]

i was thinking today that on passing downs we have Huff covering the TE's like usual and bring in Branch as the other safety opposite Wilson. So in fact we would have 3 safeties on the field at once, what yall think? We have so many options now on defense just like we do on offense!

[MANDINGO]

well this sounds good , i like huff but i want the best player on the field and if branch is that guy so be it.

[POKE]

He did not give one straight answer to any of those questions. And he flat out dodged that Mike Huff question.

How about just telling the truth. Why can't we ever get a straight answer out of anybody in Oakland Raiders Management?

[Gawdzilla]

Originally Posted by migman33

i was thinking today that on passing downs we have Huff covering the TE's like usual and bring in Branch as the other safety opposite Wilson. So in fact we would have 3 safeties on the field at once, what yall think? We have so many options now on defense just like we do on offense!

Someone mentioned that Ryan used to run a "strong nickel" type defensive scheme once in a while with a different team, which apparently involves an extra strong safety. So yeah, it is certainly feasible