One year ago, the Oakland Raiders selected the No. 1 overall pick in the draft—JaMarcus Russell. Visions of former Raiders' legends scrambling down the field for that Hail Mary were dancing in owner Al Davis's head, just like the good old days.
But wait, don’t the Raiders employ a West Coast offense under Head Coach Lane Kiffin that concentrates on dinks and dunks down the field while eating up the clock? Where is Cliff Branch? Is there someone with blazing speed to catch those deep balls?
With an arm like Russell’s, they surely need a deep threat in a wide receiver, but most importantly the playbook needs to accommodate such talent. With a rejuvenated run offense which compiled the sixth most yards in the NFL while playing from behind (which makes it truly remarkable), it may be time to draw up a few play action deep passes.
Maybe with the insertion of James Lofton as a receivers' coach and the acquisition of Walker the coaching staff will bring back the deep threat. It's just not the same Raiders without the long bomb—and they clearly have the QB to succeed.
Who knows? Maybe Kiffin will loosen up the conservative play-calling this season and go deep. At this point there isn't much for the Silver and Black to lose.
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5 months ago
True we need ocho cinco or a desean jackson
5 months ago
The Oakland Raiders will go deep at times in 2008. The Raiders also have two deep threat Wide Receivers that they're developing. WR Johnnie Lee Higgins who is in his 2nd year and preparing ot be more of a factor in 2008 & WR Todd Watkins. Watkins is a 2nd Year Wide Receiver that the Raiders picked up this off season who was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. He is a WR known for his explosive deep speed and nice size he stands 6'2" 190 lbs. another interesting fact about this guy is he was a starter at WR at Helix High School in San Diego which also had RB Reggie Bush & QB Alex Smith. The Raiders will draft a WR this season as well to bolster the position perhaps in the 2nd round.
5 months ago
Why do people keep saying DeSean Jackson is needed? Just because he played at Cal? The guy is very undersized and will most likely amount to a career return specialist (Dave Meggett, Eric Metcalf) if he even lasts at all. Get a wide receiver, not a Dante Hall!
5 months ago
I agree, the draft will produce a wide-out. I also can see McFadden being drafted, and he has all the skills.
Maybe Doucet or Jackson, but expect speed to be the main factor when Davis makes the pick.
5 months ago
Yes, I have been mentioning todd watkins... as well i hope he get some playing time.. i really really saw potential in BYU with John Beck catching those deep bombs.
5 months ago
I don't want DeSean Jackson, he will be another Andre Davis type of player. We need a big WR, like Devin Thomas or Limas Sweed.
Javon Walker and Higgins can go deep. Todd Watkins was a deep threat in BY too.
5 months ago
The key to "going deep" isn't about who is going to catch the ball, and Jamarcus certainly has the arm strength to challenge the defense. For deep strikes, it is imperative for the Raiders to protect Jamarcus, and run the ball at THEIR will. Cable's continued development of our suspect talent pool along the OL will decide whether or not Javon Walker, Johnny Lee Higgins or (insert favourite unproven prospect here) will be able to provide a realistic deep threat.
Moreover, when Al Davis & the Raiders were busy establishing themselves as a deep strike wunderkind, they were playing with one of the most dominate offensive lines of all time. QB's and speedy WR's are sexy on ESPN highlights, but having the beasts in the trenches is how you win games.
Cable had a very positive impact in year one. I for one am excited to see how much he can accomplish in year two and beyond.
5 months ago
I think you alll are crazy. Walker has had three knee surgrys and you dont think teams like the donkys are not going to target that then you are crazy. we need receivers bad thoughs unproven guy are just going to have to step up and get out of their baby pants or get the f on.
5 months ago
I really don't think we need McFadden, we lost alot of close games, so regardless of the out comes of those game we are not that far off from a winning season. We have more issue to consider, I'm more concerned about depth then the starters, hate to think our whole season relies on starter and then he gets hurt or go bonkers.
The Kraken
5 months ago
close your eyes and picture o/l penalties, no third down stops, very little offense, stu missing every tackle, poor special teams , no pass rush, qb running for his life, this is in the gameplan ofthe raiders for the last few years. we have too many holes to fill to win 7-10 games. you cant throw deep from your back. trade the pick for a lower 1st and additional picks to fix some problems. how many sacks did we get last year? clemons had 8 of them and now he's gone. whose going to take his place? kiffen needs to open up the offense and blitz more than never. AND PLEASE REPLACE STU. we went to the superbowl a few years back with solid play from the whole team.
from 5 months ago
FYI, Stuart Schweigert was 4th in tackles on the team last year with 56 solo and 13 assists. Not bad for a Safety. By comparison, newly signed Gibril Wilson had 15 solo, 12 assists.
5 months ago
Don't point your finger at Stewie! The whole Raider D needs to spend minicamp doing nothing but tackling drills. Get Al Harris in there to show em how. Dreads or no dreads, that man knows how to tackle. The Raiders have an outstanding Defense. The cover well, the get to the ball well. The only problem is, when they get there, they don't do anything about it. I'm sure Ronnie Lott watches Raider games with a box of tissue by his side, weeping for the sad state of tackling and hitting on the D side.
If the Raiders hit anyone half as hard as their QBs are getting hit, it'd turn the tide. Lets not forget, Raiders lose a lot of games by 3 or less. Like the one they lost to KC by 2 after Kiffin decided to go for it on 4th down rather than kick a field goal.
Wide recievers are a dime a dozen in the league these days. I agree with the anonymous poster that said it's the O-line that gets the job done.
from 5 months ago
I have no idea where you're getting the above mentioned numbers but they're wrong and as follows:
Gibril Wilson 92 Tackles & 4 Int's
Stuart Schweigert 69 Tackles & 2 int's
Yes Schweigert was 4th on the team in tackles and the defense as a whole regressed last year. He was part of the problem. If he wasn't part of the problem the team wouldn't have had a need at safety since Rod Woodson retired. The Raiders have been drafting safeties & signing free agent safeties for a while Eric Frampton, BJ Ward, Hiram Eugene, Rashad Baker (2007), Michael Huff & Darnell Bing (2006) UDFA Chris Carr (2005) and this is with Schweigert on the roster. I can tell that you have no problem with Schweigert's play at all. However, he lost his starting spot due to poor play and the team playing two free safeties. Bringing in SS Gibril Wilson was a good move and a huge upgrade.
from 5 months ago
My bad... The stats I listed for Wilson were his post season stats. He was 78 and 14 in the regular season. BTW, I got the info from NFL.com
5 months ago
Yeeeeiiiiiiiii Raiders.
5 months ago
They are in deep, alright.......how much deeper to you want them to go.
Where's Darryl Lamonica when you need him?
5 months ago
Who are they going to throw deep to? and who is going to block so the Q.B can set up to throw deep?
5 months ago
If they draft McFadden and trade him to Dallas for both 1st round picks and get DT Tank Williams with possibly a later round pick too for depth. Then trade Walter for a 3rd round pick. Go 1st-WR/WR, 2nd-OT, 3rd LB, etc.....
5 months ago
The Patriots were the best deep strike offense in history and they got whupped by a solid pass rush. A vertical passing attack is very beatable unless you have HOF linemen.
from 5 months ago
The Patriots didn't get beaten by a solid pass rush, they got beaten by stubbornly refusing to run the ball. They ran the ball once in that game... ONCE.
from 5 months ago
Ok, I heard that on ESPN, and I must have heard wrong. Kevin Faulk ran once for 7 and Maroney ran 14 times avg less than 3 yds per carry.
Seriously, though, 15 carries is kind of puny. But it beats having your QB beaten to death.
5 months ago
What the hell are you talking about? i wouldnt trade down because there is good talent on top 5 picks, either jake long, chris long , or sedrick ellis, my hopes on dorsey going down because of his injuries. And i hope u didnt say trade walker* why? he is the #1 receiver we needed. And TANK WILLIAMS IS A SAFETY THAT GOT SIGNED BY THE PATRIOTS A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO!!!!
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