Day in and day out We as Raider fans remind ourselves of the old school Commitment to Excellence, Pride and Poise and Just Win Baby.  Where did it all go?  There has not been a spark of life on the Oakland Raider football team ever since Jon Gruden sank us into our own blackhole in Superbowl 37 leading to the first of 6 straight losing seasons and Bill Callahan's dismissal as head coach.  Since then, there was Norv Turner (afraid of benching non performers), Art Shell (outdated scheme), and Lane Kiffin (not team committed).  Now we have Tom Cable.  Cable gave us something at the end of last season that we didn't get from Callahan, Turner, Shell, and Kiffin and that was a reason to believe we are on the verge of turning around.  The team quit all around with Callahan and Turner.  Shell didn't quit on the team but the team quit on him.  Kiffin had the team together but when his name kept coming up as a NCAA head coaching prospect, players started wondering about him and that led to his dismissal 4 games into last season.  When our season seemed lost, Cable didn't quit and neither did the players.  Last year Cable pulled an amazing OT win over the Jets and later a big one over Denver, but tough losses to Baltimore, Atlanta, San Diego, and most embarrassingly to Kansas City prompted Cable to do his homework and study film on those games to see where he went wrong in his coaching and study film on the players (mostly college film on the younger players) to see what they did well and what he could do to make a game plan to utilize the players he had to the best of their abilities.  He carried that out against New England and the team improved in essence that they put up their second highest point total of the season, but New England out scored them and everybody thought we were on the verge of a 3-13 season and another coaching change...or were we?  Former all pro wideouts Javon Walker and Ashlie Lelie were on IR and long time Raider wideout Ronald Curry was done for the season with an injury.  Highly invested in left tackle Kwame Harris was benched against New England for a poor performance the previous week in favor of Mario Henderson.  The starting wideouts were now rookie Chaz Schilens and second year man Johnnie Lee Higgins, who had been mainly used as a punt returner.  Henderson would go on to not allow a sack or get penalized the remainder of the season.  Schilens was catching everything within his arms reach and Higgins would continue to impress as a receiver and as a returner.  All of a sudden our youth has become our starters and we looked like a team going to the playoffs in our nation shocking victory over Houston (our first over the Texans' franchise).  If that wasn't superb enough, the next week we faced a Tampa Bay Bucs team that was fighting to make the playoffs and with RBs Justin Fargas and #4 overall pick Darren McFadden leaving the game to injury, Michael Bush came in and reminded America who he was prior to his colligiate injury by rushing for 177 yards leading us to victory to end the season on a very high note with back to back wins.  For 2 weeks in a row we looked like we should've been contending for the playoffs but you gotta play the whole season like that and Michael Bush looked like he should've been on his way to the Pro Bowl.  Now what happens from there?

Coaching: Tom Cable earned the full time Head coaching position and made the coaching changes that he felt necessary to become a better football team.  The most notable was letting Rob Ryan finally leave and he was replaced with Jim Marshall, who is a much better coach for a 4-3 defense. 

Defense: We all hear about Nnamdi Asomugha finally getting the Pro Bowl recognition he deserves for shutting down his side of the defense and QBs shying away from him and he's becoming the leader of the defense.  If you ask me, the leaders of the defense are LBs Tom Howard and Kirk Morrison.  I say that because they are at all the OTAs even though they've already locked in their starting jobs.  This is a contract year for DE Derrick Burgess and unless made a trade offer we can't refuse, he is expected to walk in free agency next year and Coach Cable is already emphasizing the battle for the next great DE.  Greg Ellis was signed to a 3 year deal as veteran leadership and Trevor Scott returns after tying the team lead and NFL rookie lead in sacks.  Jay Richardson has made a few big plays here and there, but not enough to establish himself.  Second year man Greyson Gunheim was the first called off the practice squad last year after going undrafted and finally got decent playing time against Tampa in the last game of the season and made a big play when it counted when he sacked Jeff Garcia to seal the victory in the 4th quarter.  Derrick Gray will be back after spending last season on the practice squad and Coach Cable emphasized competition at the DE position even more by drafting DEs Matt Shaughnessy and Stryker Sulak plus LB Slade Norris who can also play DE.  I question Shaughessy's durability since he fought injuries all through college.  Sulak is also expected to compete for a LB spot and seems more like a player that will make it.  Norris is more likely to make the team at LB but undrafted Frantz Joseph may give him a run for his money at that plus Jon Alston is making a big showing in OTAs as he did at the end of the season when he became the starter ahead of injured Ricky Brown, who's been the second string MLB in OTAs.  In the secondary, Asomugha and Chris Johnson seem to have locked in the CB positions and I favor Tyvon Branch and Mike Mitchell to start at safety.  Hiram Eugene started after Michael Huff was benched and Huff is surprisingly back after surprisingly not getting cut, but the signing of SS Keith Davis I think pretty much spells THE END for Huff.  Gibirl Wilson was the SS last year that was surprisingly cut and Rashad Baker tied for the team lead with 2 INTs and walked in free agency.  Tommy Kelly is the only solid DT we have.  Gerrard Warren makes big plays here and there, but only when Kelly is double teamed.  Terdell Sands hasn't been the same since he got a big contract.  For the last 2 years, I've been wanting a solid DT in the draft, last year Glen Dorsey and this year BJ Raji.  I like Darren McFadden but I felt Dorsey would've been more beneficial to us since we were already stacked at RB.  As for Raji, I will be very ticked it Darius Heyward-Bey doesn't pull through for us and we still struggle to stop the run.  Coach Cable said that he believed that we have 4 DTs capable of doing that, they just needed better coaching and he got them that.  If we still struggle with that, then we have no excuse for not taking a run stuffer next year.

Offense: There is no question that Michael Bush and Darren McFadden will be an excellent 1-2 punch for years to come.  Justin Fargas is a superb leader and has a big work ethic.  I look for Fargas's role to diminish into a #3 RB since he is the veteran of the bunch and Bush and McFadden are bigger threats to make big plays.  Zach Miller is without question the starting TE.  JaMarcus Russell is the starting QB but Jeff Garcia will challenge him for the job if he can't make accurate throws and win football games.  Miller has been Russell's favorite target, but at the end of the season he really seemed to be connecting well with Chaz Schilens and Johnnie Lee Higgins.  Cable drafted Darius Heyward-Bey to allow Higgins to focus on punt returns but injuries have plagued DHB in OTAs.  However, another rookie WR has been making a big showing and that is 4th round pick Louis Murphy that Cable said he couldn't pass on plus there is still an unknown in second year WR Arman Shields who spent his rookie year on IR plus there is also Todd Watkins who is having a good offseason but can't seem to find it on game day.  OH wait a minute I forgot about Javon Walker.  He was rumored to be on his way out for a long time but is still on the team.  I know they were upset about him having surgery and not telling them but with the way Schilens and Higgins stepped up and the showing Murphy has made in OTAs, I expect him to retire in training camp or get cut when he can't bring it on game day like last year.  The biggest key to success on offense starts on the offensive line.  Robert Gallery is the anchor of the bunch at left guard as he led the way for many of the long runs last year.  I still think he could've been the left tackle he was expected to be if he had begun his career with Cable as his OL coach.  Mario Henderson made a big showing at left tackle last year after replacing the often penalized Kwame Harris by never getting penalized or allowing a sack.  Erik Pears and Khalif Barnes were brought in to compete for the other tackle position held by Cornell Green last year whom I expect to get cut after being second in the NFL in penalties behind Harris (who also led the league in sacks allowed).  Cooper Carlisle is expected to start at right guard.  At center, Sampson Satelle is expected to be our starter with Grove taking his place in Miami, but I never heard anything good about Satelle except he oughta be better in the zone scheme.  I personally favor John Wade to win the starting center job since he has experience in the zone scheme and Satelle doesn't.

Overall I look for an improved football team and I honestly think that if we pick up where we left off last year we will compete for our division.  I saw Miami and Atlanta turn around last year after bad seasons in 2007 and I think we can finally turn around this year. RAIDERNATION 2009!!!!!!!!!!!