2015 Oakland Raiders Thread (2 Viewers)

[Hankmoody]

When KC passing game is like a hot knife through butter you have a problem.

 

[32 Counter Pass]

When KC passing game is like a hot knife through butter you have a problem.

Defense has made enough stops for the Raiders to have a chance. The offense is letting the team down. Poor protection and no clutch catches...

 

[Hankmoody]

When KC passing game is like a hot knife through butter you have a problem.

Defense has made enough stops for the Raiders to have a chance. The offense is letting the team down. Poor protection and no clutch catches...

Yep, they tightened up impressively. First two drives they were like a sieve. That O is freaking MADDENING to watch.

 

[LawFitz]

Musgrave needs to go.

Del Rio too IMO, but he'll get another year or two to show that he's a bum.

 

[FreshiZ]

We keep signing George Atkinson, what's up with that? Michael Dyer looked like a better RB last summer and he just disappeared with the wind.

 

[joey]

Musgrave needs to go.

Del Rio too IMO, but he'll get another year or two to show that he's a bum.

We had some games where we came out very aggressive on offense. Then that changed for some reason. Any ideas?

 

[kaso]

Musgrave needs to go.

Del Rio too IMO, but he'll get another year or two to show that he's a bum.

I'm interested in knowing why you think Del Rio needs to get the boot?

 

[CGRdrJoe]

Ugh, I knew they were going to file to move but if they end up going back to LA then I'm out and searching for a new team.

 

[FreshiZ]

Ugh, I knew they were going to file to move but if they end up going back to LA then I'm out and searching for a new team.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

 

[Autumn Wind]

This is one time being an East Coast Raiders fan is a plus. I actually grew up with them playing in LA so if they move back there it's no big deal to me.

 

[massraider]

Don't care where they are. I was happy when they went back to Oakland, the fans deserve a team, but I'm not going to NOT root for them if they move.

I'm not even sure if I could NOT root for them. People can really stop rooting for teams that easily?

 

[joey]

east coast raider fan here as well. Didn't know the difference between Oakland and LA, honestly, when I was just 15 years old in 1982. Couldn't care less where they play, even now when I live only a stone's throw from Oakland. I just want the team I love to play great football and win a championship again so my kids can understand why I root for this team that has barely won a game over the past decade.

 

[Autumn Wind]

Don't care where they are. I was happy when they went back to Oakland, the fans deserve a team, but I'm not going to NOT root for them if they move.

I'm not even sure if I could NOT root for them. People can really stop rooting for teams that easily?

I tried. I spent most of last season trying to distance myself because I couldn't take it anymore. All that came out of it was that I'm still a Raiders fan but now I get extra misery rooting for my local team (Eagles).

 

[Toomuchnv]

Doesn't matter to me where they play....although I think if they uprooted to LA with a state of the art stadium, that has to make things more attractive for potential top free agents then the dump stadium that is Oakland.

 

[Chaka]

Musgrave needs to go.

Del Rio too IMO, but he'll get another year or two to show that he's a bum.

I'm interested in knowing why you think Del Rio needs to get the boot?

I don't think he needs to get the boot but both he and Musgrave have very short leashes in my world. I said JDR was a guy to take a team to regular 7-9 to 9-7 records and the occasional playoff berth but, while this season was nice the team still left a lot of meat on the bone and just because they went from 3-13 to 7-9 doesn't mean that next year they will make a similar jump. There is a lot to be optimistic about but I am still holding onto the word "cautious" in front of the "optimism".

I feel even less optimistic about Musgrave. Carr got his Y/A up to 7 this year but only barely. He only had 6 games over 7 (one was 7.02) and he finished the season with 5 consecutive games under 6 Y/A. The offense had a great three game run in mid season, but then scored 14, 13, 24, 20, 15, 20, 23 & 17 points over the final 8 games. Meh.

A lot of good things came out of this season (best season since 2002 IMO, above 2009/2010 where they went consecutive 8-8) but I am not confident in definitively saying that the ship is finally turned around and heading on the right course. There is a lot of work to be done and we still don't know if JDR, Norton & Musgrave are the guys to get it done.

 

[Chaka]

And it doesn't matter if they are in Oakland, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Timbuktu or the Eye of Jupiter. All that matters is that they finally get funding for a new stadium.

 

[massraider]

I have a tough time saying the coaches stink.

But I don't have a tough time admitting that I haven't seen signs that this is a great staff. I feel like the defense pretty much played straight up all year long, which is fine when you have Seattle's personnel on defense. I think it's fair to question if Norton should have incorporated more zones, as we clearly didn't have three strong corners, which you have to have in order to play that way. Very little disguises, no exotic blitzes, when we won on defense, it was from winning individual matchups, and not from scheme, from what I recall.

I feel like we saw more cleverness and originality on offense, but Musgrave certainly wasn't an innovator. It more speaks to how vanilla I thought Norton was.

The flip side of that, of course, is the coaches should get some credit for coaching up players. How much credit? Who knows? Does Mack owe anything to the coaches for becoming a monster? Probably not too much.

But what about Carr? Or Crabtree? Or Autry? Or Penn? Or Amerson? We got some good performances from some surprising places, is this simply a function of the front office doing good work getting these players, or did some of these players blossom under certain coaches? We really can't know.

Regarding Musgrave, I saw some drives stall because of what I thought was less-than-stellar playcalling, but my impression is that a lot of drives stalled from player error. Musgrave doesn't coach our WRs to lead the AFC in drops. He didn't coach the O-linemen to start false starting the 2nd half of the year. Too soon to tell with him, and Del Rio and Norton as well. I tend to believe the coaches with the best players win.

I felt like the offense sort of hit a wall as the season went on, and I hope that was due to youth/inexperience, and injuries.

I feel like the defense improved as front seven talent came into their own a little bit. Of course, maybe we just played less impressive offenses in the 2nd half of the year.

Overall, I keep coming back to how young the team is. You can tell by looking at the depth chart, and trying to name players we should 100% replace. It's interesting, there are not a lot of obvious, we-must-replace spots.

• Three spots in the secondary. No doubt. Got to bring in a safety, and two corners. Add two corners to Amerson/Hayden/Carrie, and find three good ones. Maybe a replacement for Allen, but we don't know that for SURE.
• Linebacker? Smith/Heeney/Ball have all shown something. Not enough to say LB is set, we could use a top of the line starter. So let's say one LB.
• Defensive line? Mack/Autry/Edwards/Autry/Ellis/Williams all are contributors. You can pencil in Mack/Williams/Ellis/Edwards as your starters next year. Mayowa and Orr are potentially keepers. Could the team add another edge guy? Yes. Could they add another DT to the rotation? Yes. But not a glaring hole here. That's not counting Aldon, ehich I don't think we should count on, just pray for a nice addition in November.
• Offensive line? Let's assume Penn stays. Howard and Watson come back, and while neither are sure things, both have shown a bit. Definitely cannot say either is useless, as Howard has played well at two spots, and Watson pushed Howard to RG last summer. Webb appears to be a decent backup, at worst. OT is a prime spot for a draft pick, but maybe not for a bigger name free agent.
• Wide receiver? Yes, I think so. We need a true slot guy, or maybe a field stretcher, maybe a guy that can do both. But there are three guys we like here, with Coop/Crabs/Seth. Is Seth replaceable? Maybe. Maybe he develops into a great 3rd WR.
• Tight end? Not in my opinion. We have the all-around guy, we have a smaller pass catcher, and we have the barbarian blocker. Love what has happened at this position.
• Running back? We need a 2nd tailback.
• QB? seems like we set.

Not a ton of players that we KNOW aren't any good. Youth everywhere, which is exciting, but can also make for some mistake-prone football, which we saw this year.

I'll tell you what, cruising the Shark Pool, it's really nice that we aren't having these conversations about which coaches are available, and which are going where. Look at the Browns. That was us a few years ago. Zero chance of getting a top flight coach, unless it's through luck. Players with no hope really, their 1st round QB was wearing a disguise in Vegas a few days ago. Lordy.

 

[Autumn Wind]

Raiders fans complained for YEARS that the team changed coaches so much there was no chance for stability. Now Del Rio has a decent (not great, but decent by most measures) year but doesn't get them into the playoffs, and people are ready to ride him out of town. Unbelievable.

 

[DocHolliday]

Raiders fans complained for YEARS that the team changed coaches so much there was no chance for stability. Now Del Rio has a decent (not great, but decent by most measures) year but doesn't get them into the playoffs, and people are ready to ride him out of town. Unbelievable.

My thoughts exactly. This team needs some stability on the field and on the sidelines.

 

[raidergil]

Raiders fans complained for YEARS that the team changed coaches so much there was no chance for stability. Now Del Rio has a decent (not great, but decent by most measures) year but doesn't get them into the playoffs, and people are ready to ride him out of town. Unbelievable.

My thoughts exactly. This team needs some stability on the field and on the sidelines.

Same here. Hated when we dumped Hue. Gotta let JDR & Reg work together. We were 3-13 the year before - what did everyone expect? We've had a couple real nice drafts & some big, smart FA signings. JDR may not be guy who wins us a SB, but I trust him to get us to playoffs - and he needs more than a year to prove it.

 

[ICON211]

I have a tough time saying the coaches stink.

But I don't have a tough time admitting that I haven't seen signs that this is a great staff. I feel like the defense pretty much played straight up all year long, which is fine when you have Seattle's personnel on defense. I think it's fair to question if Norton should have incorporated more zones, as we clearly didn't have three strong corners, which you have to have in order to play that way. Very little disguises, no exotic blitzes, when we won on defense, it was from winning individual matchups, and not from scheme, from what I recall.

I feel like we saw more cleverness and originality on offense, but Musgrave certainly wasn't an innovator. It more speaks to how vanilla I thought Norton was.

The flip side of that, of course, is the coaches should get some credit for coaching up players. How much credit? Who knows? Does Mack owe anything to the coaches for becoming a monster? Probably not too much.

But what about Carr? Or Crabtree? Or Autry? Or Penn? Or Amerson? We got some good performances from some surprising places, is this simply a function of the front office doing good work getting these players, or did some of these players blossom under certain coaches? We really can't know.

Regarding Musgrave, I saw some drives stall because of what I thought was less-than-stellar playcalling, but my impression is that a lot of drives stalled from player error. Musgrave doesn't coach our WRs to lead the AFC in drops. He didn't coach the O-linemen to start false starting the 2nd half of the year. Too soon to tell with him, and Del Rio and Norton as well. I tend to believe the coaches with the best players win.

I felt like the offense sort of hit a wall as the season went on, and I hope that was due to youth/inexperience, and injuries.

I feel like the defense improved as front seven talent came into their own a little bit. Of course, maybe we just played less impressive offenses in the 2nd half of the year.

I pretty much agree with all of this, especially the Norton observations. I don't think anyone thought JDR or the coordinators were superstar coaches when they were hired and I think the team certainly showed enough where they shouldn't be fired. Next year the talent should be even better than this year and hopefully the coaches learned something about what schemes and styles suit the current players.

 

[Chaka]

I was about to post that JDR deserves a ton of credit for improving on field discipline, because it really seemed like the team wasn't making stupid penalties and all that like they have for over a decade. Then I checked the stats and saw that the Raiders had the third most penalties in the league (fourth most penalties per play).

 

[BWill]

Anyone with some info about the Oak RB situation for next year?

I own Murray in a 20 team dynasty and am trying to shop him for a Top WR to a team lacking a RB. I know he was a top rusher this year, but he also got a hell of a workload. Is he in position to get the same opportunity next year?

 

[RaiderBones]

Anyone with some info about the Oak RB situation for next year?

I own Murray in a 20 team dynasty and am trying to shop him for a Top WR to a team lacking a RB. I know he was a top rusher this year, but he also got a hell of a workload. Is he in position to get the same opportunity next year?

The Raiders will look into bringing in another RB that can take some of the workload. The second leading rusher for the Raiders was their QB Carr with 138 yards.

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

Loved the FA analysis over the last 2-3 pages. The biggest factor for me isn't who we will ultimately land, but the fact that the Raiders are no longer dead-end poison for FAs, but a team on the rise and a much more attractive proposition to join than in many of the years' past.

I am not convinced Del Rio is an A-tier coach, but he's a players' coach, and I don't see how you could even entertain the notion that he should be gone now or soon based on his contribution to team turn-around.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

getting rid of JDR at this point would be foolish. they have the start of something, lets see where it goes.

and speaking of DB needs. i heard an interesting tidbit, carr and weddle are apparently good friends. i'd love to see weddle in silver and black.

 

[Chaka]

getting rid of JDR at this point would be foolish. they have the start of something, lets see where it goes.

and speaking of DB needs. i heard an interesting tidbit, carr and weddle are apparently good friends. i'd love to see weddle in silver and black.

I like Weddle and the intensity he brings to the field but he did have kind of a down year. I think he would be a great locker room addition, something I believe Reggie covets, but I am not sure he brings enough to the secondary on the field.

 

[DocHolliday]

getting rid of JDR at this point would be foolish. they have the start of something, lets see where it goes.

and speaking of DB needs. i heard an interesting tidbit, carr and weddle are apparently good friends. i'd love to see weddle in silver and black.

I like Weddle and the intensity he brings to the field but he did have kind of a down year. I think he would be a great locker room addition, something I believe Reggie covets, but I am not sure he brings enough to the secondary on the field.

I totally agree about Weddle's ability now but think a vet to replace Woodson in that secondary may be necessary for at least the beginning of 2016. Draft secondary help. Have Weddle be a coach/mentor on the field until the rookie is ready to take over. At least that sounds good on paper.

 

[Chadstroma]

A couple of days ago, I looked over the expected Free Agent pool. I glossed over most of the positions as I think Reggie will again avoid the top tier big names and try to find value signings of his 'type' of player. I spent more time looking over the DB's as that is clearly our biggest need and if there is any position that I think he will stretch and get a top player in- it will here. Of the list and the names near the top the ones that I thought made the most sense were Weddle and Berry. Weddle is the locker room type of guy and I think could nicely fill in the spot left by Woodson. Berry makes sense as I think he is still playing back up to his potential after coming back and because of that likely get more bang for your buck in signing him (something I think Reggie really likes in FA market). I think he will make a good play at these guys and should have a decent shot at landing one of 'em.

 

[Chaka]

getting rid of JDR at this point would be foolish. they have the start of something, lets see where it goes.

and speaking of DB needs. i heard an interesting tidbit, carr and weddle are apparently good friends. i'd love to see weddle in silver and black.

I like Weddle and the intensity he brings to the field but he did have kind of a down year. I think he would be a great locker room addition, something I believe Reggie covets, but I am not sure he brings enough to the secondary on the field.

I totally agree about Weddle's ability now but think a vet to replace Woodson in that secondary may be necessary for at least the beginning of 2016. Draft secondary help. Have Weddle be a coach/mentor on the field until the rookie is ready to take over. At least that sounds good on paper.

I think Weddle can recapture some of his form if he gets more help from his defense which San Diego didn't offer the past couple years. Still I view him as more of a consolation prize if the Raiders don't/can't sign Eric Berry.

 

[Chaka]

A couple of days ago, I looked over the expected Free Agent pool. I glossed over most of the positions as I think Reggie will again avoid the top tier big names and try to find value signings of his 'type' of player. I spent more time looking over the DB's as that is clearly our biggest need and if there is any position that I think he will stretch and get a top player in- it will here. Of the list and the names near the top the ones that I thought made the most sense were Weddle and Berry. Weddle is the locker room type of guy and I think could nicely fill in the spot left by Woodson. Berry makes sense as I think he is still playing back up to his potential after coming back and because of that likely get more bang for your buck in signing him (something I think Reggie really likes in FA market). I think he will make a good play at these guys and should have a decent shot at landing one of 'em.

I think Berry is also a good locker room guy. At the very least he is hugely inspirational because of what he has overcome to get back to the game.

 

[massraider]

The other two safeties I would like to see visit in free agency are Rashad Johnson and Mark Barron. Barron plays that Deone Buchanon role in STL, a LB/S hybrid, and using him as a nickel LB is interesting. Not going to be expensive, either.

 

[massraider]

top 10 Raiders plays this year--with Vines

http://justblogbaby.com/2016/01/06/video-oakland-raiders-top-10-plays-this-season/

 

[32 Counter Pass]

A couple of days ago, I looked over the expected Free Agent pool. I glossed over most of the positions as I think Reggie will again avoid the top tier big names and try to find value signings of his 'type' of player. I spent more time looking over the DB's as that is clearly our biggest need and if there is any position that I think he will stretch and get a top player in- it will here. Of the list and the names near the top the ones that I thought made the most sense were Weddle and Berry. Weddle is the locker room type of guy and I think could nicely fill in the spot left by Woodson. Berry makes sense as I think he is still playing back up to his potential after coming back and because of that likely get more bang for your buck in signing him (something I think Reggie really likes in FA market). I think he will make a good play at these guys and should have a decent shot at landing one of 'em.

I think Berry is also a good locker room guy. At the very least he is hugely inspirational because of what he has overcome to get back to the game.

Landing Berry would be awesome but I find it hard to believe that the Chiefs would let him go. Great player and great story. Hell.let's sign him and Houston!. LOL I pegged Weddle way up thread. He is a pretty good thumper, not sure about his cover skills.

Let's not label Reggie a complete cheapskate either. He spent big money on Hudson. IIRC he bid on Suh, and before that Allen. He just didn't offer the outrageous contracts they were expecting. With all the positive vibes I think they are gonna attract some good FAs at a fair price.

 

[Chadstroma]

A couple of days ago, I looked over the expected Free Agent pool. I glossed over most of the positions as I think Reggie will again avoid the top tier big names and try to find value signings of his 'type' of player. I spent more time looking over the DB's as that is clearly our biggest need and if there is any position that I think he will stretch and get a top player in- it will here. Of the list and the names near the top the ones that I thought made the most sense were Weddle and Berry. Weddle is the locker room type of guy and I think could nicely fill in the spot left by Woodson. Berry makes sense as I think he is still playing back up to his potential after coming back and because of that likely get more bang for your buck in signing him (something I think Reggie really likes in FA market). I think he will make a good play at these guys and should have a decent shot at landing one of 'em.

I think Berry is also a good locker room guy. At the very least he is hugely inspirational because of what he has overcome to get back to the game.

Landing Berry would be awesome but I find it hard to believe that the Chiefs would let him go. Great player and great story. Hell.let's sign him and Houston!. LOL I pegged Weddle way up thread. He is a pretty good thumper, not sure about his cover skills.

Let's not label Reggie a complete cheapskate either. He spent big money on Hudson. IIRC he bid on Suh, and before that Allen. He just didn't offer the outrageous contracts they were expecting. With all the positive vibes I think they are gonna attract some good FAs at a fair price.

I wouldn't call it cheapskate, I would label him measured. He doesn't get into bidding wars and get emotional with making sure we keep or get players. He is pretty close to "Hey, this is what we are willing to pay- want to come over?" and not deviate much. That means we will miss out on the top tier FA's like Suh because other teams will break the bank to land the big name. The thing is that historically that does not bring together winning teams- if it did the Redskins would have had several SB wins over the last couple of decades. Mac very much follows the GB philosophy that he spent so much time in. Focus on the draft and use the FA pool to help fill holes with smart signings and it seems the big signings often are not that smart. Over the years there are only a few big name guys GB signed and both paid off hugely- White and Woodson. So, the philosophy does allow for you to make that big splash, big name signing but more times than not you are looking at FA for guy to fit the system and what you want to do- not the best available FA.

 

[Toomuchnv]

Musgrave needs to go.

Del Rio too IMO, but he'll get another year or two to show that he's a bum.

I'm interested in knowing why you think Del Rio needs to get the boot?

I don't think he needs to get the boot but both he and Musgrave have very short leashes in my world. I said JDR was a guy to take a team to regular 7-9 to 9-7 records and the occasional playoff berth but, while this season was nice the team still left a lot of meat on the bone and just because they went from 3-13 to 7-9 doesn't mean that next year they will make a similar jump. There is a lot to be optimistic about but I am still holding onto the word "cautious" in front of the "optimism".I feel even less optimistic about Musgrave. Carr got his Y/A up to 7 this year but only barely. He only had 6 games over 7 (one was 7.02) and he finished the season with 5 consecutive games under 6 Y/A. The offense had a great three game run in mid season, but then scored 14, 13, 24, 20, 15, 20, 23 & 17 points over the final 8 games. Meh.

A lot of good things came out of this season (best season since 2002 IMO, above 2009/2010 where they went consecutive 8-8) but I am not confident in definitively saying that the ship is finally turned around and heading on the right course. There is a lot of work to be done and we still don't know if JDR, Norton & Musgrave are the guys to get it done.

I don't get the continued knock on Carr's YPA. I really think it is an overrated stat. Carr ended the season with more yards and a higher completion percentage than Aaron Rodgers with nearly identical passing attempts. You don't see anyone bashing A-Rod for this year because....Jordy Nelson.

Could it be that the NFL is changing offensively and the YPA stats could be historically on the downward trend due to offenses running more dink/dunk type of passing attempts?

I am optimistic about this team. They are young and getting better from year to year. With the cap space and Reggie's draft prowess this team is headed to some playoff runs and division wins.

And OMG leave the coaching staff alone. The best thing for a young team is coaching continuity. Something Oakland hasn't had in over a decade and desperately needs.

 

[ICON211]

Musgrave needs to go.

Del Rio too IMO, but he'll get another year or two to show that he's a bum.

I'm interested in knowing why you think Del Rio needs to get the boot?

I don't think he needs to get the boot but both he and Musgrave have very short leashes in my world. I said JDR was a guy to take a team to regular 7-9 to 9-7 records and the occasional playoff berth but, while this season was nice the team still left a lot of meat on the bone and just because they went from 3-13 to 7-9 doesn't mean that next year they will make a similar jump. There is a lot to be optimistic about but I am still holding onto the word "cautious" in front of the "optimism".I feel even less optimistic about Musgrave. Carr got his Y/A up to 7 this year but only barely. He only had 6 games over 7 (one was 7.02) and he finished the season with 5 consecutive games under 6 Y/A. The offense had a great three game run in mid season, but then scored 14, 13, 24, 20, 15, 20, 23 & 17 points over the final 8 games. Meh.

A lot of good things came out of this season (best season since 2002 IMO, above 2009/2010 where they went consecutive 8-8) but I am not confident in definitively saying that the ship is finally turned around and heading on the right course. There is a lot of work to be done and we still don't know if JDR, Norton & Musgrave are the guys to get it done.

I don't get the continued knock on Carr's YPA. I really think it is an overrated stat. Carr ended the season with more yards and a higher completion percentage than Aaron Rodgers with nearly identical passing attempts. You don't see anyone bashing A-Rod for this year because....Jordy Nelson.

Could it be that the NFL is changing offensively and the YPA stats could be historically on the downward trend due to offenses running more dink/dunk type of passing attempts?

I am optimistic about this team. They are young and getting better from year to year. With the cap space and Reggie's draft prowess this team is headed to some playoff runs and division wins.

And OMG leave the coaching staff alone. The best thing for a young team is coaching continuity. Something Oakland hasn't had in over a decade and desperately needs.

Disagree, I think YPA is a very important stat. This was Rodger's worst year as far as YPA. I agree that the loss of Jordy was a huge reason his YPA was down and their offense really struggled this year. He is usually over 8 YPA and their offense in years past was unstoppable. If anything I think it shows what a meaningful stat YPA really is.

 

[CalBear]

Could it be that the NFL is changing offensively and the YPA stats could be historically on the downward trend due to offenses running more dink/dunk type of passing attempts?

No. The Data Dominator only goes back to 2002, but in that data set, 2015 is the highest YPA (7.25), followed by 2014 (7.20). Back in 2002 it was just 6.73 YPA. So the trend is in the opposite direction.

And YPA is important because it's the best differentiator of good QBs from mediocre QBs, and from the best years of good QBs from the worst years of good QBs. Everyone would agree that Rodgers had one of his weakest seasons this year; it's also his lowest season in YPA.

That said, 6.96 for a second-year player isn't too bad; of the second-year QBs since 2005, Carr's 2015 season ranks 11th, and the only real warning signs ahead of him are Derek Anderson and Josh Freeman. Everyone else turned into at least a decent QB.

 

[massraider]

Whatever. That stat has been beaten into the ground.

It's one indicator. One tool. Like completion percentage, TD percentage, 3rd down conversion percentage, and wins.

Is it better than a lot of other stats? Maybe. Can too much be read into it? Sure.

For real, when did this one stat become the final word on this ONE quarterback?

 

[DocHolliday]

Seems stupid to debate Carr at this point. Carr is the Raider QB for 2016. End of story.

Carr missed some throws. Carr made some stupid throws that lead to INTs. Carr may not develop any further or even digress next season. That is not important in this offseason. The Raiders have to address the glaring needs (D and Oline).

A more important discussion that is linked directly to Carr is Cooper. Cooper's drops hurt Carr's numbers. Can Cooper improve his hands this offseason? How badly is his foot injured? Did Cooper really hit a rookie wall?

I am not really worried about Cooper but trying to show that every player can be scrutinized. Cooper performed just about how I figured. I think Cooper and Carr both improve next season and become a great QB/WR combo for years. It comes back to the D and that secondary for me. The Raiders have to improve that D if they are to make the playoffs in 2016.

 

[CalBear]

Whatever. That stat has been beaten into the ground.

It's one indicator. One tool. Like completion percentage, TD percentage, 3rd down conversion percentage, and wins.

Is it better than a lot of other stats? Maybe. Can too much be read into it? Sure.

For real, when did this one stat become the final word on this ONE quarterback?

Who said it did?

Carr's other stats aren't stellar either. He finished 17th in completion percentage, 14th in passer rating. He was 8th in TDs but also 8th most in INTs. Statistically he was pretty mediocre in 2015. Mediocre is OK for a second-year QB; he improved over 2014, and if he improves again in 2016 he'll be in pretty good shape.

 

[CalBear]

A more important discussion that is linked directly to Carr is Cooper. Cooper's drops hurt Carr's numbers. Can Cooper improve his hands this offseason? How badly is his foot injured? Did Cooper really hit a rookie wall?

It seems pretty unlikely that Cooper's drops hurt Carr's numbers more than Cooper's catches helped them. Cooper is credited with 10 drops, which is not great but is only about 5 drops above the mean. Julio Jones had 7, Demaryius Thomas had 9. Five more catches wouldn't have made a huge difference.

 

[Toomuchnv]

Musgrave needs to go.

Del Rio too IMO, but he'll get another year or two to show that he's a bum.

I'm interested in knowing why you think Del Rio needs to get the boot?

I don't think he needs to get the boot but both he and Musgrave have very short leashes in my world. I said JDR was a guy to take a team to regular 7-9 to 9-7 records and the occasional playoff berth but, while this season was nice the team still left a lot of meat on the bone and just because they went from 3-13 to 7-9 doesn't mean that next year they will make a similar jump. There is a lot to be optimistic about but I am still holding onto the word "cautious" in front of the "optimism".I feel even less optimistic about Musgrave. Carr got his Y/A up to 7 this year but only barely. He only had 6 games over 7 (one was 7.02) and he finished the season with 5 consecutive games under 6 Y/A. The offense had a great three game run in mid season, but then scored 14, 13, 24, 20, 15, 20, 23 & 17 points over the final 8 games. Meh.

A lot of good things came out of this season (best season since 2002 IMO, above 2009/2010 where they went consecutive 8-8) but I am not confident in definitively saying that the ship is finally turned around and heading on the right course. There is a lot of work to be done and we still don't know if JDR, Norton & Musgrave are the guys to get it done.

I don't get the continued knock on Carr's YPA. I really think it is an overrated stat. Carr ended the season with more yards and a higher completion percentage than Aaron Rodgers with nearly identical passing attempts. You don't see anyone bashing A-Rod for this year because....Jordy Nelson.

Could it be that the NFL is changing offensively and the YPA stats could be historically on the downward trend due to offenses running more dink/dunk type of passing attempts?

I am optimistic about this team. They are young and getting better from year to year. With the cap space and Reggie's draft prowess this team is headed to some playoff runs and division wins.

And OMG leave the coaching staff alone. The best thing for a young team is coaching continuity. Something Oakland hasn't had in over a decade and desperately needs.

Disagree, I think YPA is a very important stat. This was Rodger's worst year as far as YPA. I agree that the loss of Jordy was a huge reason his YPA was down and their offense really struggled this year. He is usually over 8 YPA and their offense in years past was unstoppable. If anything I think it shows what a meaningful stat YPA really is.

Using that logic you could also argue that Carr'so ypa went up this year because his wr's/te'so are better than his rookie season. My feeling is his numbers will improve more in the upcoming years as his weapons get better.

This is why I feel the YPA stats is overrated....it typically has more to do with the weapons around the QB then it does the QB.

 

[Hankmoody]

We got us a weapon!

 

[flysack]

Guys, I'm not a fan of the Raiders nor do I watch them at all. I have question though, only you guys can answer.

How do you have two All-Pros on defense (one who is the first person to win the award at two separate positions in the same year) and also one of the better rated QBs in the game with two standout WRs and a decent RB - how does this team lose so many games?

Is it a massive talent dependency? Everyone else on the team is horrendous?

Is it terrible coaching?

Is the owner trying to trash the product long enough to convince the NFL that they should move to LA (instead of SD or STL)?

What is it?

ETA: I'm a Bills fan. Trust me, I know about losing with talented teams. We blamed the owner a bit, and the coaching a lot.

 

[32 Counter Pass]

A couple of days ago, I looked over the expected Free Agent pool. I glossed over most of the positions as I think Reggie will again avoid the top tier big names and try to find value signings of his 'type' of player. I spent more time looking over the DB's as that is clearly our biggest need and if there is any position that I think he will stretch and get a top player in- it will here. Of the list and the names near the top the ones that I thought made the most sense were Weddle and Berry. Weddle is the locker room type of guy and I think could nicely fill in the spot left by Woodson. Berry makes sense as I think he is still playing back up to his potential after coming back and because of that likely get more bang for your buck in signing him (something I think Reggie really likes in FA market). I think he will make a good play at these guys and should have a decent shot at landing one of 'em.

I think Berry is also a good locker room guy. At the very least he is hugely inspirational because of what he has overcome to get back to the game.

Landing Berry would be awesome but I find it hard to believe that the Chiefs would let him go. Great player and great story. Hell.let's sign him and Houston!. LOL I pegged Weddle way up thread. He is a pretty good thumper, not sure about his cover skills.

Let's not label Reggie a complete cheapskate either. He spent big money on Hudson. IIRC he bid on Suh, and before that Allen. He just didn't offer the outrageous contracts they were expecting. With all the positive vibes I think they are gonna attract some good FAs at a fair price.

I wouldn't call it cheapskate, I would label him measured. He doesn't get into bidding wars and get emotional with making sure we keep or get players. He is pretty close to "Hey, this is what we are willing to pay- want to come over?" and not deviate much. That means we will miss out on the top tier FA's like Suh because other teams will break the bank to land the big name. The thing is that historically that does not bring together winning teams- if it did the Redskins would have had several SB wins over the last couple of decades. Mac very much follows the GB philosophy that he spent so much time in. Focus on the draft and use the FA pool to help fill holes with smart signings and it seems the big signings often are not that smart. Over the years there are only a few big name guys GB signed and both paid off hugely- White and Woodson. So, the philosophy does allow for you to make that big splash, big name signing but more times than not you are looking at FA for guy to fit the system and what you want to do- not the best available FA.

We are in agreement. My hope is the Raiders will be able to attract those top tier FAs now that it appears the team is trending in the right direction.

 

[32 Counter Pass]

Guys, I'm not a fan of the Raiders nor do I watch them at all. I have question though, only you guys can answer.

How do you have two All-Pros on defense (one who is the first person to win the award at two separate positions in the same year) and also one of the better rated QBs in the game with two standout WRs and a decent RB - how does this team lose so many games?

Is it a massive talent dependency? Everyone else on the team is horrendous?

Is it terrible coaching?

Is the owner trying to trash the product long enough to convince the NFL that they should move to LA, not SD or STL?

What is it?

ETA: I'm a Bills fan. Trust me, I know about losing with talented teams. We blamed the owner a bit, and the coaching a lot.

There are a lot of answers to your questions. At the top of the list is that they are very young: a second year QB, a rookie WR, and lots of youth elsewhere. It was a new staff so there was a lot of learning throughout. And yes, the team still does not have enough talent to compete at the top level. The back end of the defense needs a major rebuild.

The notion that the owner is trying to degrade the brand to convince the NFL to allow them to move might be one of the most ridiculous things ever posted on this board. The team had 5 losses by 7 or less points. Your comment about Mack being named app pro to two positions is simply headline news. He is still only one player on the field, not two.

 

[Hankmoody]

one of the better rated QBs in the game

No. That's why. Carr looks good, and we're happy to have him, but he's got a looooooooong way to go before using the words "one of the" anything. He's showing good progress, and I would take him over anyone in the last 3 years not named Jameis, but he's not anywhere near ready to carry a team, and that's what it would take to win 10 games. We have a terrible secondary, the pass rush is inconsistent (although mostly because of that secondary), Cooper hit a wall around week 11, we need an answer at TE to contribute (might have it, but continued development needed), Murray is pretty ordinary, the Oline has moments but needs consistency (hmm there's a trend).

Mostly though, Carr just needs to keep progressing. We lost 5 games by 6 points or less. Total collapse in last minute against CHI and PIT to allow game winning FG drives, winnable games vs. DEN and KC where Carr throws a horrible pick 6 in the 4th quarter of each. Play like pros for an extra 25 plays and that's an 11-5 playoff season.

 

[32 Counter Pass]

Wow! The team has their best season since 2011 and people want to lynch the staff? I am not gonna say JDR is the guy to lead the team to a super bowl, but let's not put the cart before the horse. We have to first get the talent to compete for playoffs before we can talk about super bowls.

Did you guys not see a difference in the performance on the field? This team lost 5 games by 7 points or less. We need to get more talent on the roster before we can fairly judge the staff.

 

[Chaka]

Guys I never said that YPA is the be-all-end-all in QB metrics but it is undeniably important. It is the difference between a game manager and a difference maker. It implies a higher COMP% and better INT% rather than suggesting just throwing everything deep and missing most of the time or throwing tons of INTs.

Carr improved a lot this year and no one recognizes that more than I do. 7 YPA is solid, not spectacular, but solid and I give him, Musgrave, Crabs and Coop a lot of credit for that. But they also faded in a big way over the last five games, all under 6 YPA which is terrible.

I think they should keep the coaching staff together because continuity is important and because they will stay (no one is hiring Musgrave or Norton to be a HC I guarantee that) and because I expect Coop and Walford improve I expect to see a jump next season. I think all the pieces are there but you'll have to forgive me that I don't put the cart before the horse.