Checking in with the Oakland Raiders defense after minicamp

The defense runs through a drill at minicamp.
Photo by Patrick A. Patterson

Defense top of priority list
Defensive woes fundamental
Defensive line should be next on agenda
Asomugha top Cal alum?
Mitchell & Branch similar players
Linebacking situation not so firm
Aso elite on and off the field

Complete minicamp coverage:

Now that the mandatory minicamp has come and gone, it is time to take a look at where the Oakland Raiders stand. Today is a look at the defense, and tomorrow will focus on the offensive side of the ball.

It is impossible to get a complete picture of the true state of the defense in a non-contact practice. However, there is a lot that can be seen from the limited action that took place at the minicamp that took place over the past weekend.

Coach Tom Cable in answer to my question about how the defense is taking to the new coaching staff, which is what he is saying will be what turns the Raiders defense around said:

I think good. I think that what I’m seeing is good teaching going on and a lot of hunger from them, wanting to learn and wanting to get it right, so that’s why I gave us a B plus. It’s not perfect, its not even close by any means. But we wanted to come out and work hard and learn the new things, get the new players involved and we accomplished those things.

On day two, Cable said that the problem with the defense was a matter of teaching. Without actually saying it, he managed to lay much of the blame directly at the feet of former defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

To me, what it gets down to, is I think we have talented players on defense, and so getting them in the right place and them understanding what you’re asking them to do, and teaching them how to play the game with their hands, and how to tackle, and how to blitz and how to cover the right way. If you ask me what’s going to be different, that’s how we’re going to be different. We’re going to coach it and teach it better.

[Will need to rebuild technique] On certain things, because of the difference in the two packages, because
that would be fairly new to them, the differences that are from last year to
this year. I think there’s some teaching going on right now.

With this having been a noncontact practice, there were many things unseen. However, here is a look at what I could tell about the position groups based on what I saw over the weekend.

DEFENSIVE LINE:

The defensive line was a definite weakness in 2008. However, this position group looked like it was much quicker off the ball, unfortunately there were several times Tommy Kelly was too quick off the ball and would have been flagged for offsides. Terdell Sands came to camp in better shape than he had for years. He declined to speak to me, when I approached him to ask about how he was working with the new defensive line coach and defensive coordinator. Derrick Burgess missed the entire camp with a stomach flu, and Trevor Scott took his spot with the first team. Scott and Jay Richardson often were able to get virtual pressure on the quarterbacks. Rookies Stryker Sulak and Matt Shaughnessy didn't stand out either positively or negatively.

Outlook: Promising

LINEBACKERS:

Rookie strong side linebacker Slade Norris would have been credited with a sack if they kept track of such things in minicamps. Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard are known quantities. Jon Alston spent his time taking reps as the starting strong side linebacker, whilst Norris ran with the second team. Ricky Brown spent his time as the second team middle linebacker. Without reviewing game tape, it is next to impossible to tell exactly how well they were doing, considering this was a noncontact practice. Howard told local media that they have been going back to basics:

Yeah we’ve really spent more time on fundamental things, just like one-on-ones, stuff you do in high school. We spent a lot more time doing that since I’ve been here.

Outlook: Impossible to tell

CORNERBACKS:

Nnamdi Asomugha is a known quantity. He made rookie receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey's camp difficult. Chris Johnson looks to build on his breakout 2008. He looks to be the real deal, as he made several spectacular plays to break up passes. Stanford Routt and John Bowie are vieing to get the nickleback position.

Nnamdi describes an interception he dropped when he jumped a route that Heyward-Bey was running on the first day:

I knew that he came off, and you know, he's young. There's some easy giveaways right now. I'll talk to him about that stuff. I just jumped it, me and Kirk went after it.

Outlook: As long as Nnamdi and CJ stay healthy, no worries.

SAFETIES:

This is a position that became the center of discussion this offseason once it was announced that Gibril Wilson was cut. Hiram Eugene and Tyvon Branch took the first team reps. The positive thing about this is that Branch looked fully recovered from his season ending injury. Mike Mitchell and Michael Huff were the second team safeties, with undrafted free agent Jerome Boyd taking the remainder of the reps. Mitchell has a steep learning curve ahead of him, however there was a lot of energy from this group.

I'll close this with the words of Mike Murphy, "Kinda mad we didn't have pads on." Will be interesting to see him finally be able to hit someone.

For more info: Check out Thoughts from the Dark Side and RaiderNews.com for the latest on the Oakland Raiders.