Raider Defense - What's up with FBG rankings for them? (1 Viewer)

[Lambert]

It's natural to see a lot of variation in the rankings, and I know some positions are harder to predict than others. Having said that, looking at the FBG expert rankings, I'm puzzled by the huge variation when it comes to the Raiders D. Some seem to view the Raiders as a top tier defense (3rd or 4th), while others have them practically at the bottom of the barrel.

I tend to think the Raiders are going to create a lot of turnovers, and should be helped by the fact that their offense can't possibly be any worse than it was last year. They seem like a nice sleeper defense for 2007.

Thoughts? Comments? Observations?

 

[Lambert]

bump

 

[videoguy505]

The "Trade for LJ" subscriber article says expect LJ to start the season poorly due to SOS--like when he faces the Raiders in 7, yet the SOS it's based on says his matchup vs. the Raiders is one of the better ones for him. I PM'd JB about it, he disagrees with Clayton's assessment of the Raiders run D this year. So, yeah, I guess the staff is pretty divided on it. Depends which writer writes the material as to how to use the FBG tools this year on the raiders.

 

[Lambert]

The "Trade for LJ" subscriber article says expect LJ to start the season poorly due to SOS--like when he faces the Raiders in 7, yet the SOS it's based on says his matchup vs. the Raiders is one of the better ones for him. I PM'd JB about it, he disagrees with Clayton's assessment of the Raiders run D this year. So, yeah, I guess the staff is pretty divided on it. Depends which writer writes the material as to how to use the FBG tools this year on the raiders.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. The thing I'm still trying to figure out is why the opinions diverge so dramatically. The experts are always going to have different opinions, just like us subscribers. But this difference seems to go a bit beyond the typical range of views where Expert A ranks Westbrook as the #4 RB, and Expert B has him down at #10.

 

[Tirnan]

The "Trade for LJ" subscriber article says expect LJ to start the season poorly due to SOS--like when he faces the Raiders in 7, yet the SOS it's based on says his matchup vs. the Raiders is one of the better ones for him. I PM'd JB about it, he disagrees with Clayton's assessment of the Raiders run D this year. So, yeah, I guess the staff is pretty divided on it. Depends which writer writes the material as to how to use the FBG tools this year on the raiders.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. The thing I'm still trying to figure out is why the opinions diverge so dramatically. The experts are always going to have different opinions, just like us subscribers. But this difference seems to go a bit beyond the typical range of views where Expert A ranks Westbrook as the #4 RB, and Expert B has him down at #10.

I think the opinion differences come mainly from one thought "Will the offense be able to keep the Defense off the field for at least 20 minutes per game". I think the Def is strong, but my faith in the offense is very weak. This is coming from a lifelong Raiders fan. Kiff is making great strides putting our organization back together, but I don't see our offense as something to be feared this year.You can have a great Def, but for fantasy purposes you die anyway if they are on the field 3/4 of every game. I rank Raiders D as top 5 potential upside that can be had late as far as Def picks. Its an all upside pick, but don't pin your hopes to the Silver and Black as your primary Def. Disclaimer, I play in specific roster fills required during drafts, all these require 2 Defs. I like OAK as paired with a top 12 DEF.

 

[strong]

The "Trade for LJ" subscriber article says expect LJ to start the season poorly due to SOS--like when he faces the Raiders in 7, yet the SOS it's based on says his matchup vs. the Raiders is one of the better ones for him. I PM'd JB about it, he disagrees with Clayton's assessment of the Raiders run D this year. So, yeah, I guess the staff is pretty divided on it. Depends which writer writes the material as to how to use the FBG tools this year on the raiders.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. The thing I'm still trying to figure out is why the opinions diverge so dramatically. The experts are always going to have different opinions, just like us subscribers. But this difference seems to go a bit beyond the typical range of views where Expert A ranks Westbrook as the #4 RB, and Expert B has him down at #10.

I think the opinion differences come mainly from one thought "Will the offense be able to keep the Defense off the field for at least 20 minutes per game". I think the Def is strong, but my faith in the offense is very weak. This is coming from a lifelong Raiders fan. Kiff is making great strides putting our organization back together, but I don't see our offense as something to be feared this year.You can have a great Def, but for fantasy purposes you die anyway if they are on the field 3/4 of every game. I rank Raiders D as top 5 potential upside that can be had late as far as Def picks. Its an all upside pick, but don't pin your hopes to the Silver and Black as your primary Def. Disclaimer, I play in specific roster fills required during drafts, all these require 2 Defs. I like OAK as paired with a top 12 DEF.

Their opponents were on the field 31:40 per game. I have little doubt Kiffin and the new offense will deduct a minute from that.

 

[PahtyTom]

I have them in a ton of leagues. With their schedule, I actually projected them as the 2nd highest scoring defense this year.

 

[Tirnan]

The "Trade for LJ" subscriber article says expect LJ to start the season poorly due to SOS--like when he faces the Raiders in 7, yet the SOS it's based on says his matchup vs. the Raiders is one of the better ones for him. I PM'd JB about it, he disagrees with Clayton's assessment of the Raiders run D this year. So, yeah, I guess the staff is pretty divided on it. Depends which writer writes the material as to how to use the FBG tools this year on the raiders.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. The thing I'm still trying to figure out is why the opinions diverge so dramatically. The experts are always going to have different opinions, just like us subscribers. But this difference seems to go a bit beyond the typical range of views where Expert A ranks Westbrook as the #4 RB, and Expert B has him down at #10.

I think the opinion differences come mainly from one thought "Will the offense be able to keep the Defense off the field for at least 20 minutes per game". I think the Def is strong, but my faith in the offense is very weak. This is coming from a lifelong Raiders fan. Kiff is making great strides putting our organization back together, but I don't see our offense as something to be feared this year.You can have a great Def, but for fantasy purposes you die anyway if they are on the field 3/4 of every game. I rank Raiders D as top 5 potential upside that can be had late as far as Def picks. Its an all upside pick, but don't pin your hopes to the Silver and Black as your primary Def. Disclaimer, I play in specific roster fills required during drafts, all these require 2 Defs. I like OAK as paired with a top 12 DEF.

Their opponents were on the field 31:40 per game. I have little doubt Kiffin and the new offense will deduct a minute from that.

put in a bit of timer exageration to make my point. I see the disparity in rankings as largely focused around time on the field. There is not alot wrong with the unit overall. I just see lack of faith in the offensive unit overall as the main reason they fall so far down in some rankings. I have not done indepth study into the issue though.

 

[BlackHole]

I believe the Raiders D will be better then last year. I don't believe their end of year stats will be better though. With an offense that is showing signs of being half way legit, teams will have to do more on offense to beat the Raiders. This will result in more yards and possibly more points against. I do believe the Raiders will beat their TO, sack, and D TD's from last year, but the overall yards against will not be quite as good, especially in the pass D. Teams didn't need to do anything on offense last year against the Raiders, just wait to get the ball inside the 30 2-4 times a game and get easy points. This year, they'll have to drive and score in order to win, thus more yards. Still a great sleeper D in my book, as I do see alot of signs of the D being better and the offense keeping the D off the field more.

 

[Banger]

They are the best cheap defense available. Many FF'ers avoid solely due to the "Raider stigma" from last year. If their offense can be better than a complete catastrophe (which I think they will) this defense can definitely make some noise.

 

[LawFitz]

They are the best cheap defense available. Many FF'ers avoid solely due to the "Raider stigma" from last year. If their offense can be better than a complete catastrophe (which I think they will) this defense can definitely make some noise.

Sheer talent-wise, the Raiders are matched by few league defenses. But the their situation carries two distinct risks that could SEVERELY limit their fantasy production, especially in leagues where points given up is important.1. Terdell Sands. He is the big toad in the middle of the line that is needed for a solid Run D to go with an elite pass D, making the overall D pretty dominant on the field against most Os. They recently acquired Gerrard Warren from the Donkies, but who knows whether that guy has anything left to be Big Terd's backup. The rest of the tackles are smaller and in the Warren Sapp undertackle mold. Great for rushing the pass, but a liability against the run when you have two of them on the field instead of a true toad DT. Sands is a good, not great, but very serviceable toad DT. Possible addition in case of injury or for depth: Tank Johnson?2. Offensive production - this D was absolutely killed by its O last year. Worst TOP in the league and several turnovers EVERY game including many in the heart of the Raiders side of the field. Things are actually looking way up for the offense with Kiffin and all the moves he's made on that side of the ball. If the offense is at least decent, the D will be monstrous. But if the O is anything like last year, say good night again to elite D production.These two risks aside, talent wise, this D is right behind the Bears, Ravens, Chargers and could be as elite as they come. Big Terd and the O... These two risks probably account for the majority of the rankings differential b/c they can completely wreck this D or make it blow up into studville.Barring injury, everywhere else, they are solid on D.