Oakland Raiders Camp Battles, Pt. 1: Offense

This is Pt. 1 of 2; analysis of the defense will come tomorrow.

Mini camp is here. So, which starting players may have some competition at their respected positions on offense for the silver and black?

Justin Fargas

He broke for 1,000 yards rushing in 2007, but that was when the Raiders had better play at center with Jeremy Newberry, and had current injured fullback Oren O'Neal leading the way—as well as Justin Griffith.

Fargas is liked and respected by most of the team and coaching staff, but he doesn't possess the skill set that Michael Bush and Darren McFadden have and both bring to the offense. Fargas must really put on his best showing this year in camp, and during the regular season, if he wants to get half of the carries he got last year.

Cooper Carlisle

Although he has been solid and was probably the Raiders' best offensive linemen in 2007, last year he struggled a bit and looked weak at times trying to hold his ground against the universal tackles (three technique).

Carlisle is a perfect fit for the Raiders offense, having worked in the ZBS in Denver for six years before coming here to Oakland in '07, but with newcomer Marcus Johnson being a bit bigger (6'6", 320 pounds) than Carlisle (6'5", 295 pounds) he could give the Raiders more strength up front. Johnson will have to take to coaching well here since he was in a power blocking scheme with the Vikings for four years.

Mario Henderson

I wouldn't have put his name here—since I believe new addition Kalif Barnes will not be able to beat him out—but Barnes will at least push him into becoming a better player, more focused and competitive.

Over the past four years with the Jaguars, Barnes started at left tackle for 57 games, appearing in 60. Barnes came to Oakland with a swagger, saying that he came here to be the Raiders left tackle for the next 10 years, although he only signed a one year deal.

The knack on Barnes is that he struggles against speed rushers. His strength is in the run game. Barnes and Henderson are the Raiders best two tackles on the roster, and both will probably be starting.

My guess is that Barnes eventually lines up on the right side and starts, but the Raiders are going to let Barnes get reps at left tackle for now, so Henderson won't just be handed the job.

Javon Walker

Surprise, surprise. The champagne party buff is rich, and was almost beaten to death last year as he contemplated retirement.

However, Walker wasn't having thoughts about retiring because of his incident, it was because his knee was still injured last year. He said he was 65 percent, but now feels great having surgery that the Raiders just found out about a couple of days ago. Former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan was right after all, saying Walker needed surgery after the 2007 season.

The good news for Walker is that he should be fully healthy—unless he sustains another injury when he returns to the field—for the first time in a long time and can now show how good he can be for the Raiders.

The bad news? Enter Darrius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy. With Chaz Schilens coming on late last year and Johnnie Lee Higgins showing he isn't just a return specialist, there will be a lot of competition at receiver.

When Walker is healthy he is definitely a top-10 receiver in this league, possibly top- five if he can return to the form we saw in 2004 with Green Bay (89 receptions, 1,382 yards receiving with 12 touchdowns) or in 2006 with Denver (69 receptions, 1,084 receiving yards with 8 touchdowns).

By the way, it's worth noting that Walker shared in Denver with Brandon Marshall and couldn't be the clear-cut No. 1 receiver, while in Green Bay he was the No. 1 guy and had that fantastic 2004 season on just 12 starts.