Raiders Unofficial Depth Chart Raises Questions

The Oakland Raiders have just released an unofficial depth chart for their first preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Here's a look at it. 

WR 12 Darrius Heyward-Bey, 15 Johnnie Lee Higgins, 87 Shawn Bayes/10 Jonathan Holland
LT 75 Mario Henderson, 70 Khalif Barnes (injured), 65 Seth Wand
LG 76 Robert Gallery, 79 Paul McQuistan, 51 Chris Morris
C 64 Samson Satele, 71 John Wade, 51 Chris Morris
RG 66 Cooper Carlisle, 63 Mark Wilson, 78 Marcus Johnson
RT 74 Cornell Green, 72 Erik Pears, 69 James Marten
TE 80 Zach Miller, 86 Tony Stewart, 83 Brandon Myers
WR 81 Chaz Schilens, 18 Louis Murphy, 19 Todd Watkins/89 Nick Miller
FB 41 Lorenzo Neal, 46 Oren O’Neal, 45 Marcel Reece
RB 25 Justin Fargas, 20 Darren McFadden, 29 Michael Bush
QB 2 JaMarcus Russell, 7 Jeff Garcia, 5 Bruce Gradkowski/3 Charlie Frye

DE 91 Trevor Scott, 77 Matt Shaughnessy
DT 93 Tommy Kelly, 94 William Joseph, 92 Derrick Gray
DT 61 Gerard Warren, 67 Desmond Bryant, 73 Ryan Boschetti
DE 99 Greg Ellis, 98 Jay Richardson, 97 Greyson Gunheim
OLB 55 Jon Alston/57 Ricky Brown, 58 Slade Norris
MLB 52 Kirk Morrison, 57 Ricky Brown, 50 Isaiah Ekejiuba 
OLB 53 Thomas Howard, 48 David Nixon, 54 Sam Williams
SS 33 Tyvon Branch, 34 Mike Mitchell, 30 Jerome Boyd
FS 31 Hiram Eugene, 24 Michael Huff                                                              CB 21 Nnamdi Asomugha, 22 Justin Miller, 39 Darrick Brown
CB 37 Chris Johnson, 26 Stanford Routt, 35 John Bowie

K 11 Sebastian Janikowski, 4 Ricky Schmitt  
P 9 Shane Lechler, 4 Ricky Schmitt  
LS 59 Jon Condo, 80 Zach Miller
KR 22 Justin Miller, 15 Johnnie Lee Higgins
PR 15 Johnnie Lee Higgins 

Though the Raiders released this list as unofficial and it is still only preseason, the list raises quite a few questions regarding who is or isn't where. Let's take a look a few positions on the Raiders depth chart that are a little surprising.

First off, the starting WRs are rookies Darius Heyward-bey and Chaz Schilens. Though Schilens isn't a surprise to anyone following, it is a bit surprising DHB is ahead of Johnnie Lee Higgins. The Raiders may just want to see how he performs against top NFL corners.

The second team WR's are Higgins and Murphy. While the third team's WR duties will be split between Shawn Bayes, Jonathan Holland, Nick Miller and Todd Watkins.

The next questions involve the running backs. The tailbacks listed are Fargas, McFadden, and Bush while the fullbacks are Neal, O'neal and Reece. The HB depth chart could have been easily predicted but the first surprise comes at the FB position.

It would seem that Oren O'neal is being listed with the second team because he has recovered and is ready to truck some fools in order to open up some lanes for the Raiders running backs.

The next question is regarding Marcel Reece.

Apparently, he beat out Gary Russell and Luke Lawton for that third spot. Both Lawton and Russell are unlisted on the depth chart that was released by the Raiders, and so is Louis Rankin.

Next at D-end, Scott and Ellis are listed on the first team while Richardson and Shaughnessy are listed as 2nd teamers. At first glance, it looks like the Raiders are bringing the heat this year with their first team. I would guess that the second team actually consists of co-starters.

As the first team is better suited for pass-rush, the second team is better suited for stopping the run.

Then at DT, there are quite a few surprises. Tommy Kelly and Gerrard Warren are listed as starters which is no surprise. But Terdel Sands isn't even listed on the depth chart which raises questions about his days in Oakland being numbered.

Then take a look at the second team Defensive Tackles because both are surprises.

At the 3-technique is William Joseph, who a bit of a surprise as he did little last year. Next at the 1-technique nose-tackle, the big surprise is undrafted rookie Desmond Bryant who is more of a DE/DT tweener standing at 6'5'' 288 pounds.

He may be undersized to play the nose though Bryant did play all four positions along the D-line in college.

Next, the third team consists of Boschetti and Derrick Gray, who we all thought was a DT.

The linebacker position is where a lot of questions are raised. Alston and Brown are listed as co-starters at strong-side, Brown is also listed as 2nd team middle-linebacker, and behind him is special team's standout Isaiah Ekejiuba.

Two rookies are on the second team. Slade Norris is working at the strong-side while David Nixon has been releiving Thomas Howard on the weak side. Nixon seems to be beating out Sam Williams, who appears to be moving to the weak side.

The defensive backfield turned out pretty predictable. Tyvonn Branch and Hiram Eugene are starting at safety while Nnamdi and Johnson were listed as the starting corners.

Jerome Boyd, who is a SS/LB tweener, is listed at 3rd team SS after seeing reps at both safety and linebacker during OTAs.

Finally, there are a few questions being raised on special teams.

First, who the hell is Ricky Schmitt.

Secondly, Zack Miller is listed as a long snapper. Will the Raiders really use him to snap the ball in preseason or is he just a reserve incase Jon Condo goes down?

Lastly with returners, there are absolutely no surprises. It's exactly the same as last year. There is no Nick Miller, Samie Parker or Tyvonn Branch anywhere in the line-up. So much for the plan for someone to replace Higgins on punt-return so he can focus on being a better WR.

So what do you guys think? Does this unofficial roster mean anything?