Tom Cable coaches Mario Henderson during an OTA. Photo by Patterson/EXAMINER.com
Now, the offseason workouts have come to their conclusion, and the team is all but on hiatus until they report to Napa for training camp at the end of next month. Through the offseason, the Raiders have met for quarterback schools, minicamp, and five OTA sessions. This makes it a good time to examine where the Oakland Raiders stand. Today, the focus will be on the offensive side of the ball, and tomorrow will be the defensive side of the ball.
Quarterbacks: JaMarcus Russell is improving after his rough start to the offseason, however he will still have to step things up in camp to be the quarterback that he needs to be for the Raiders to be successful. Jeff Garcia had a few rough patches in mincamp, but has been a demonstrative and vocal leader. Both Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye are fighting for the third quarterback spot. Danny Southwick has been around, but got no meaningful reps. Andrew Walter has been MIA except for the mandatory camp.
Running backs: The Raiders running back stable looks to be ready to be one of the best in the league. Darren McFadden has been flashing the speed that he didn't have last year with the turf toe injuries. Justin Fargas ran smooth, making clean cuts, and showing why he is a legit 1000 yard back. Michael Bush is the power back of the three, yet he has deceptive speed. Louis Rankin and Gary Russell have both flashed ability. Lorenzo Neal, Marcel Reece, and Luke Lawton will be competing in camp to see who will open holes. Oren O'Neal has yet to suit up as he is still recovering from his injury suffered in the preseason last year.
Wide Receivers: Darrius Heyward-Bey has been unable to stay off the trainer's table. Fellow rookie Louis Murphy has shown flashes that he will be successful at the NFL level. The star of the wide receiver corps has been second year receiver Chaz Schilens, who's only blemish was being held out of the final OTA with soreness. Neither Javon Walker, nor Arman Shields have seen the field at all. Johnnie Lee Higgins has looked solid, as has Todd Watkins.
Tight Ends: Zach Miller missed practices early due to a sports hernia, but upon his return didn't seem to miss a beat. The tight end position looks to be featured in this offense as many of the plays run in front of the media featured the tight end as the receiver.
Offensive Line: With these having been non-contact practices, it is next to impossible to get a fix on how the offensive line is playing. So far, Khalif Barnes and Mario Henderson look to be in a dead heat for the left tackle position. Cornell Green has played the bulk of the first team snaps at right tackle, with Erik Pears working the second team. Robert Gallery and Cooper Carlisle are the guards, with John Wade getting the first team reps over Samson Satele, as Satele returns from offseason surgery.
Tomorrow... the defense...
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Comments
Garcia and Neal were great pick-ups. You have to like the look of the offense. Again, Murphy might be your dark-horse. I think the O-Line will be OK but I hope we don't regret passing on an OT in a very deep draft of quality OT's. The season will come down to two things; 1. The D-Line play against the run and .2 Russell becoming a good QB.
I can't wait for the season to start so J-Russ can shut up all of the Garcia fans - I remember the last game of the season when Garcia had a 10 point lead in the 4th qtr against the Raiders and lost the game (Namdi wasn't even playing & the Bucs expected to make the playoffs). Jamarcus Russell was the winning QB and still you "fans" love Garcia.
Darius Heyward-Bey...LOL. I live in Texas so of course, I watch Big 12 football a lot more than - where's he from - Maryland? Who knows.
Anyways, it's awesome that Michael Crabtree will be right across the Bay as these two careers have the opportunity to parallel and intersect one another.
I can evaluate talent given my perspective from my TV set - Oakland was foolish for passing on Crabtree.
I used to live in the Bay Area and Raiders' fans cannot be happy about that selection...or can they?
Hey Black Hole - Garcia has done something in the NFL. Was he even drafted? He's won basically wherever he's been including SF, Philly, TB. I'm not a fan of Garcia but he's an old man but shows me he knows how to win and is a competitor.
You need to get off J-Russ nut. Go ahead and root for him if you're a fan but the guy hasn't even shown flashes of ability yet. Not saying he can't but nothing we've seen from him on the field indicate any level of success that Garcia has enjoyed in his career.
What's crazy is my boy Vince Young gettin no love across the country despite the fact he HAS WON - even in the NFL. My prediction - Russell will get benched sometime this year.
Hi "San Antonio Spurs Examiner" stay on Vince Youngs nuts - because only 2 things come out of Texas.
lets go raiders we got this division this year. i now that we arent going to the superbowl or anything like that but we might have a chance this year. we had a pretty good offseason to like oicking up garcia,barnes,neal,ellis,frye,pears,and other good players. i think we had the best offseason this year.
I love the Raiders, always have, but I think that JRuss will continue to struggle, I mean maybe he wins six games, that is if he manages to keep the starting the job, and those wins will probably be games where the running back committee do the brunt of the work. And as far as winning the AFC West, well, that's like being the smartest retarded kid. If you've been watching the NFL for the past six years then you know that we're not heading for the playoffs just yet and that if we do, Russell ain't gonna be the one leading us there. It's almost like us Raider fans don't want to admit that we've already given up on him because he was our number one pick. But how many number one picks ever pan out to be really good? It's also high time we stopped rallying behind Davis' idiotic meddling with his staff. I mean at this point any decent head coach would have to be crazy to work for the man. Go Raiders, gonna be another loyalty-testing year.
Oakland Fader: NO YOU ARE NOT A RAIDER FAN!!!!
You wouldn't be talking all that trash if you were and you wpouldn't use Oakland Fader!! Why are you afraid to admit your a Tijuana Taxi
Driver Fan. maybe the reason is: after Marty left you lost more games every year with "Slug"
as your head coach. You'll lose even more games,as you're in a death spiral to your home in the basement.
San Antonio: No we're not upset not taking Crab
Apple Tree !! He a big pile of crap and will be another head case like T.O. or Moss. Yes they are good ball players if they want to play. But they are major head case and can be major problems in the locker room.
Raiders will win the AFC West and finish 11-5
Two things
1. Patrick Patterson, I love you.
2. SA Spurs Mofo, who was playin in tennessee this past season?? was it number 10?? oh i forgot, it was COLLINS.
Considering all the money I spend on going to games I think I qualify as a Raider fan, Torpedo. And just because I can take an objective look at the situation doesn't mean that I don't hope we do well. But hope alone does not a Super Bowl make. I'll root for my beloved Raiders but I won't be betting on them to cover the spread. Fact: quarterbacks picked number one have an unusually high rate of failure. Fact: the AFC West is the worst division in football. Fact: Al Davis has been making good head coaches, his own team's fans, and countless other people around the league and America hate him for years now. I will never stop spending money on going to home games and I will always get a sick feeling in my stomach when we lose, especially to the Donkeys, but that doesn't mean that I can't see what direction we're heading in. See you in the Black Hole, or do you go to any home games? Go Raiders. And Oakland Faders is a reference to the worst six year stretch of any team EVER in NFL history.
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