Oakland Raiders offseason moves have improved the offense as training camp approaches

Thoughts from the Dark Side

June 21, 2008

Oakland Raiders offseason moves have improved the offense as training camp approaches

14 Comments

Recommended (0) | Share

Al Davis was aggressive in rebuilding the Oakland Raiders this offseason. He upgraded most of the need positions through free agency, bringing in a plethora of fresh faces. With their first pick in the draft, the Raiders look to have upgraded their already strong rushing attack. Questions do remain for the Raiders as there are health questions surrounding Javon Walker, but overall this looks to be a vastly improved team almost across the board. I have been focusing on the individual camp battles, and will resume that series in the near future, but it was time to step back and take a look at the team in the macro rather than the micro.

Quarterbacks:

2007: Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper split time before finally giving way to JaMarcus Russell in the last game of the season. Both Culpepper and McCown were hot and cold, and neither could take the team and make it their own.

2008: Barring injury, this is JaMarcus Russell's team. He will make rookie mistakes, because he is essentially a rookie, but there will be consistency at a position where it is vital.

CHANGE: IMPROVED

Running Backs:

2007: LaMont Jordan started the season strong before sustaining an injury in week four that he never really recovered from. Justin Fargas took over and exploded for over 1000 yards, before falling with his own injury. Dominic Rhodes finished the season with two strong games.

2008: Dominic Rhodes is now a Colt and Jordan is just hanging in limbo but will be gone by the opening of the season. Fargas is expected to return at full strength, and the Raiders have added the dynamic Darren McFadden and Michael Bush to the fray. The speed and versatility of McFadden adds a fresh dimension to the Raiders attack.

CHANGE: Improved

Fullbacks:

2007: The Raiders had Oren O'Neal emerge as a bulldozing blocking fullback, whilst Justin Griffith was an above average blocker and a threat to handle some carries and catch a few balls out of the backfield.

2008: Griffith and O'Neal are expected to resume their roles for the 08 season, with O'Neal now the proud owner of a year's NFL experience.

CHANGE: SAME

Wide Receivers:

2007: The Raiders broke camp with four receivers, three of whom were possession receivers and the other was a rookie burner in Johnnie Lee Higgins who never could really get playing time or impress the rare times he did. This was a huge weakness for the Raiders in 07, despite dropping Mike Williams for Tim Dwight.

2008: Jerry Porter is history. That alone is an improvement. The Raiders added Javon Walker and Drew Carter as deep threats that were missing last season. Ron Curry, who has been the Raiders most consistent receiver for the last couple years returns.

CHANGE: VASTLY IMPROVED

Tight Ends:

2007: Zach Miller emerged as a dependable receiver over the middle and showed that he can be a forceful blocker. John Madsen showed strong potential as a receiving threat.

2008: Miller and Madsen both have another year experience and a chance to gain chemistry with Russell through training camp.

CHANGE: SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT

Offensive Line:

2007: The offensive line under Tom Cable far exceeded their expectations. Robert Gallery found a home at left guard. Paul McQuistan showed that he could be a solid right tackle.

2008: Jeremy Newberry and Barry Sims are both gone. John Wade has been brought in to be the center, and Kwame Harris looks to be the left tackle. Newberry was a gamer, but an injury waiting to happen, so Wade should be an upgrade. Sims was one of those guys who never seemed to be very good, but somehow played well enough to keep his job. Harris, on the other hand, was run out of San Francisco on a rail, and the only hope for him is some of the Tom Cable magic.

CHANGE: SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT

The Raiders don't appear to have regressed in any of their positions, and have had at least some apparent improvement in nearly all of them. Look for the Raiders offense to be much more explosive than last year, taking advantage of Russell's strong arm and the speed of the new arrivals at receiver. McFadden will also likely be a major receiving threat out of the backfield, as well as moved around to help create mismatches. Even if Cable's magic works on Harris, don't look for a close of the 99 Rams, but look for the Raiders to put points on the board.

Feeling some optimism here at TFDS

Tags: NFL, Oakland Raiders, Raiders

Discussion

14 Comments on "Oakland Raiders offseason moves have improved the offense as training camp approaches"

Posted by Patrick Patterson, June 22, 2008 12:47 AM

Adrian- If the Raiders improve the line, McFadden and Russell work out, it is possible in a couple of years to reach that status. Way too many variables to predict that in the near term.

Posted by Thoughts from the Dark Side: Oakland Raiders offseason moves have improved the offense as training c, June 22, 2008 5:21 AM

[...] Read more. Posted in Blog, Oakland Raiders | [...]

Posted by OG KUSH, June 22, 2008 10:15 AM

awesome article pat.. you really got it down to a science my man! yer very correct, the speed and strength of the offense has so much improved on many levels.. the most common thing i hear people say is 'dude the raiders didnt need anymore RBs Al is stupid!' ... that may be true(both comments hah).. but the raiders DESPERATELY LACKED playmakers.. and dmac was the most dynamo athlete in the draft .. and people seem to also forget that michael bush was once the #1 ranked runningback in the 07 draft before the injury.. and is now ready to prove that he was the best in his class. there may be a few question marks on this offense.. but i think they will turn into right answers for more raider victories.. as tom cable will turn these somewhat mediocure lineman into one pass/rush blocking machine.. and with kiffen/knapp at the helm ready to fire away, this will be a good season.

JUST WIN BABY!

Posted by OG KUSH, June 22, 2008 10:20 AM

p.s. im in LOVE with the versality of michael bush just as much as DMAC .. i know the college defenses make it look like a cake walk... but i mean look at this speed for how big he is.. its amazing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QhEFxYxTXrk

Posted by Adrian, June 22, 2008 11:38 AM

Great Article Pat. Dont we wish this team could be a scoring machine like the 99 Rams, hopefully as the year goes by our offense keeps improving.

Posted by Grilla RFL, June 22, 2008 5:44 PM

Raider for life.

Posted by silver&black88, June 22, 2008 7:00 PM

hopefully, all the potential problems will turn out to be ok and this unit can gel and put up some desperately needed points this year. or at least keep the defense off the field; which was half the reason we got run allo over. another bonus would be ending retarded articles like this

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=426767

Posted by OG KUSH, June 22, 2008 7:06 PM

okay pat what about the defense.. ! (or rob)

Posted by pat T, June 22, 2008 8:29 PM

The only a couple of things that worries me about our offense is pass protection, J.R's accuracy, and the players staying healthy... And i doubt that were the 2nd coming of the "Greatest show on turf", but i think our defense could turn out to be pretty good... We already have our DB's in place, we have that speedy free safety that ranges from sideline to to sideline(Michael Huff), we also have that physical in the box strong safety(Gibril Wilson)... As well as potentially the best corneback tandem in the league(N. Asomoghua & D. Hall)... We have two of the best young LB's in the league, OLB(Thomas Howard) speedy and very good tackler... MLB(Kirk Morrison) speedy as well hard nosed tackler... And on the D-line we have one of the best DE's in the league(Derrick Burgess), at the other DE we have an open competition(Greg Spires, Kalimba Edwards, and Jay Richardson)... And at DT we have (Terdell "turd" Sands) a HUGE guy with a whole lot of potential at the nose guard position, but he hasn't exactly lived up to that potential just yet(im hoping he will), he had a great year in 2006 when he was in need of a contract... At the 3 technique we have Tommy Kelly who is coming off a reconstructive knee surgery, but he's someone who also seems to potential to be great, very versatile, strong, quick, but we are yet to see a full good year from him, he should be pretty good though, barring any more major injuries... We have pretty depth(Gerard Warren & William Joseph)... So our main needs are obviously a man eating DT and a physical quick SLB...

GO RAIDERS!!!

#10

Posted by sizzlingcell, June 23, 2008 12:00 AM

Great article, glad to have something positive to read amoung the depressing Javon Walker stories...Go Raiders, check out my band at www.sizzlingcell.com or myspace.com/sizzlingcell if you can.

#11

Posted by Patrick Patterson, June 23, 2008 12:43 AM

OGKush- Patience, I will look at the Defense before camp. Probably once I start looking at the camp battles on that side of the ball.

#12

Posted by OGKUSH, June 23, 2008 7:42 AM

oh i know i was just kiddin man, you guys always put out new articles everyday! but right on looking forward to it.

#13

Posted by OGKUSH, June 23, 2008 11:00 AM

yes pat that is the only thing i think the raiders lack.. a patrick willis type guy.. because with someone like that.. it'll take a lot of pressure off capt kirk and howard.. and i really think the d-line will do their job this year (much like in 06) .. which means keeping their hands in the qb's face .. and collapsing the pocket more often to force the qb to scramble so derrick can hunt him down.

#14

Posted by pat T, June 23, 2008 4:21 PM

No i never said we need a new MLB i think even though undersized he still makes plays when given the oppurtunity (tackles) when the DT can keep blockers off of him... I said we ned a SLB (Patrick Willis plays MLB) and i think Sam Williams can be that right guy if he can manage to stay healthy... And your wrong OGKUSH the D-line's job, the D-line's main job is to take up blockers for the LB's to make tackles... And then its pass-rushing... So no in 2006 the D-line didn't do their job because we were torched all season when people ran all over us... Our defense hasn't really had trouble getting pressure on the QB(other than last season when Derrick Burgess was injured) its stopping the run, thats our problem and thats something every D-linemen on our squad needs to improve... But having Wilson should help us out alot...

GO RAIDERS!!!