TheDirtyWord
Footballguy
The Ugly In 2006
Art Shell - The man hadn't been on a football sideline in years. Was overmatched by the press conference announcing his hire. Bill Simmons rejoices.
Tom Walsh - In an attempt to camoflauge his lack of recent coaching experience, Shell hires Walsh who had been away from the sport for close to 10 years to run his offense.
Aaron Brooks - In a situation where the coaching staff was going to have difficulty earning the respect of the team and the right to lead them, the front office determined that to complete the lack of leadership trifecta, they'd bring in perhaps the most uninspiring person in North America to be the QB.
Randy Moss - The man was disinterested even by his own standards by the draft. Showed up to training camp practically smoking a joint.
Jerry Porter - While certainly not a chior boy, the saga that dragged on all year starting during the min-camps crippled whatever remainder of a passing game the Raiders could muster.
The Bad in 2006
Offensive Line - Oakland QB's were sacked 72 times in 2006. At one point in the season, the Raiders simply had to remove the deep passing game from their playbook reducing it to the size of an index card. They make the Bad list only because they seemed to making an effort and showed emotions more resembling disappointment rather than disinterest.
The Good in 2006
That Defense! - They were 3rd in the NFL in overall defense. This was despite having to be on the field an average of 31:46/game. Of the top 13 ranked defensive teams in overall yards, The Raiders were the only one operating from a Time of Possession disadvantage.
Bottomline: In players like Howard, Huff, Asomugha, Routt, Washington, Morrison, Burgess - the Raiders have an extremely solid nucleus of young players to build around.
Hope for 2007
1) Aaron Brooks is long gone. I know Andrew Walter actually wound up playing more QB for the Raiders in 2006 - but you simply hoped he survived. The Raiders can't help but be better at this position.
2) Lane Kiffin was obviously a bit of a stretch as an HC hire, but he can at least claim to have been part of a football organization in recent times. Plus, he won't be viewed as a tired coaching retread type hire. Shell was an uninspriing choice out of that lot.
3) While as a Falcon fan, I'm not the biggest proponent of Greg Knapp - he's an NFL Coordinator and should be able to bring the Raiders offense out of the dark ages. HIs dependence on the run game should make better use of Lamont Jordan & Dominic Rhodes.
4) The cancers that are Jerry Porter and Randy Moss should be either a) no longer with the organization or b) neutralized to a large extent.
5) They have the #1 pick. They could potentially pick the best WR prospect to ever come along (more on that below).
6) Of the 9 teams picking at the top of the draft, the Raiders will be playing 5 of them (Lions, Browns, Dolphins, Vikings, Texans). Unfortunately they don't get to play themselves, but that means 5 of the top 8 as far as their concerned.
The #1 Pick
Alot of folks have the Raiders picking Russell. But I think by the end of this draft process - they'll have settled on Calvin Johnson. What I think the post season workouts have done is spotlighted just hnow elite a prospect Johnson is. Russell certainly is a fine prospect, but Johnson is emerging potentially as the best prospect the position has ever produced. I know it's just a drill/test, but when Gil Brandt says "I don't know if I've ever seen someone eclipse 11 feet" and Johnson broad jumped 11'7...you are talking about rare athletic ability. But that's a small component. Johnson simply is a LB with CB speed and small forward hops playing WR.
But that leaves a hole at QB. Again, this is completely speculative but why not re-unite Schaub/Knapp. Give up a 2nd rounder (and a Day 1 pick in 2008). Knapp/Schaub already have a working relationship. You can probably get Schaub for relatively cheap by QB payscale standards. I know recent rumors have Moss to Green Bay for Rodgers and this wouldn't be a bad move either. But there is no doubt, the Raiders should have a much better direction at the QB position by September than they did in 2006.
Summary
I'm not predicting play-offs here. But I'd be surprised if they Raiders were a joke in 2007. I could even foresee them putting together a 7-8 win season. So am I crazy...? Am I seeing things I shouldn't be...?
Art Shell - The man hadn't been on a football sideline in years. Was overmatched by the press conference announcing his hire. Bill Simmons rejoices.
Tom Walsh - In an attempt to camoflauge his lack of recent coaching experience, Shell hires Walsh who had been away from the sport for close to 10 years to run his offense.
Aaron Brooks - In a situation where the coaching staff was going to have difficulty earning the respect of the team and the right to lead them, the front office determined that to complete the lack of leadership trifecta, they'd bring in perhaps the most uninspiring person in North America to be the QB.
Randy Moss - The man was disinterested even by his own standards by the draft. Showed up to training camp practically smoking a joint.
Jerry Porter - While certainly not a chior boy, the saga that dragged on all year starting during the min-camps crippled whatever remainder of a passing game the Raiders could muster.
The Bad in 2006
Offensive Line - Oakland QB's were sacked 72 times in 2006. At one point in the season, the Raiders simply had to remove the deep passing game from their playbook reducing it to the size of an index card. They make the Bad list only because they seemed to making an effort and showed emotions more resembling disappointment rather than disinterest.
The Good in 2006
That Defense! - They were 3rd in the NFL in overall defense. This was despite having to be on the field an average of 31:46/game. Of the top 13 ranked defensive teams in overall yards, The Raiders were the only one operating from a Time of Possession disadvantage.
Bottomline: In players like Howard, Huff, Asomugha, Routt, Washington, Morrison, Burgess - the Raiders have an extremely solid nucleus of young players to build around.
Hope for 2007
1) Aaron Brooks is long gone. I know Andrew Walter actually wound up playing more QB for the Raiders in 2006 - but you simply hoped he survived. The Raiders can't help but be better at this position.
2) Lane Kiffin was obviously a bit of a stretch as an HC hire, but he can at least claim to have been part of a football organization in recent times. Plus, he won't be viewed as a tired coaching retread type hire. Shell was an uninspriing choice out of that lot.
3) While as a Falcon fan, I'm not the biggest proponent of Greg Knapp - he's an NFL Coordinator and should be able to bring the Raiders offense out of the dark ages. HIs dependence on the run game should make better use of Lamont Jordan & Dominic Rhodes.
4) The cancers that are Jerry Porter and Randy Moss should be either a) no longer with the organization or b) neutralized to a large extent.
5) They have the #1 pick. They could potentially pick the best WR prospect to ever come along (more on that below).
6) Of the 9 teams picking at the top of the draft, the Raiders will be playing 5 of them (Lions, Browns, Dolphins, Vikings, Texans). Unfortunately they don't get to play themselves, but that means 5 of the top 8 as far as their concerned.
The #1 Pick
Alot of folks have the Raiders picking Russell. But I think by the end of this draft process - they'll have settled on Calvin Johnson. What I think the post season workouts have done is spotlighted just hnow elite a prospect Johnson is. Russell certainly is a fine prospect, but Johnson is emerging potentially as the best prospect the position has ever produced. I know it's just a drill/test, but when Gil Brandt says "I don't know if I've ever seen someone eclipse 11 feet" and Johnson broad jumped 11'7...you are talking about rare athletic ability. But that's a small component. Johnson simply is a LB with CB speed and small forward hops playing WR.
But that leaves a hole at QB. Again, this is completely speculative but why not re-unite Schaub/Knapp. Give up a 2nd rounder (and a Day 1 pick in 2008). Knapp/Schaub already have a working relationship. You can probably get Schaub for relatively cheap by QB payscale standards. I know recent rumors have Moss to Green Bay for Rodgers and this wouldn't be a bad move either. But there is no doubt, the Raiders should have a much better direction at the QB position by September than they did in 2006.
Summary
I'm not predicting play-offs here. But I'd be surprised if they Raiders were a joke in 2007. I could even foresee them putting together a 7-8 win season. So am I crazy...? Am I seeing things I shouldn't be...?