Raiders Have Only 3 Winning Seasons in 15 Years! This Is Our Year!

I don't want to interrupt the flow of good feelings and optimism that most of us have right now......BUT, I was researching the last 15 years of Raiders Stats and felt the need to share these things with my fellow Raider Nation.......or what I us in Tennessee.....Black Holigans! From 1995 to 2009 we have ONLY had 3....YES 3...winning seasons and 2 of those were under Chucky. Yes we were 8-8 in his first 2 years, but .500 isn't a winning season. A step in the right direction over a previous losing seasons, YES, but not winning.

I won't bother about reiterating our losing record for the past 7 years but I will point some obvious areas that need attention to avoid an 8th consecutive year as well as point out some similarities.

Do We Have A +1,000 Yard Rusher On Our Roster?

Since 1995 we have had only 5 seasons (none of them consecutive I might add) where our featured back rushed for at least 1,000 yards. And only 1 of those 5 has yielded a winning record. (Tyrone Wheatley rushed for 1,047 Yds in 2000 and our record was 12-4)

Between Bush and McFadden, who will give us those yards?

As long as he stays healthy, my money is on Bush. We all know that McFadden doesn't have the build for rushing for +1,000 Yds, but I can see him getting 1, 500 all purpose Yds between Rushing, Receiving and Returns.

Searching For A TRUE, #1 Receiver

Players like Tim Brown and Jerry Rice don't come around very often. Therefore it would be downright unfair to compare ANY of the receivers on our roster to either one of them. However, it would be nice to see at least 1 if not 2 of receivers have breakout seasons and emerge as an undisputed #1. From 1995 to 2003, Tim Brown had 10,000 receiving yards (1,111 avg per season). THAT'S PRODUCTION! Heyward-Bey was drafted to be our number one guy but until he actually puts up some +1,000 yard seasons, he will be no better than James Jett, Rahib Ismail, Ronald Curry or even Jerry Porter (none of which has ever put up 1,000 yards)

Having a more capable QB under center will definitely help our passing game but these guys still have to make plays. I am really hoping that DHB performs well this year for us. 2010 will truly be a test for him with a better QB and having his across the bay rival playing for an entire season as well. He'd better step up to the plate or he could be gone in 2 years like JaMarcus.

I keep hearing how everyone is so high on Chaz Schilens but I really don't see why. Yeah he had a decent season last year, despite missing 8 games due to injury, but as a number 2 option, I think we would be better off picking up a veteran wide receiver with better production. The guy has been in the league for 2 years now and cant stay healthy and has never caught more than 326 yards in a season. At this point, I'm calling for Terrel Owens.

+3,700 Passing Yards Should Make Us Contenders!

Some folks up at Raiders Head Quarters may not like Gannon, but you can't deny that he moved the ball down field with some nifty passing. Of course it helped having guys like Tim Brown and Jerry Rice as your #1 and #2 but a QB still has to get them the ball. Gannon had his best years with us from 1999 to 2002 where he averaged 3, 946 Passing Yards, 26 Touchdown's and 11 Interceptions.

While in Washington, when Jason Campbell played a full season (which was his last 2) he averaged 3,431 Passing Yards, 16 Touchdowns and 10 Interceptions. Given a more stable system and more weapons, I believe that he could produce better numbers than in Washington and maybe even match Gannon's numbers.

Again.....I am asking for a more established veteran receiver to help him out. 2 Rookies and a polished but unhealthy receiver (Schilens) wont do the trick.

I'm looking for Jason to put up about 3,700 passing yards 25 Touchdowns and no more than 10 Interceptions.

This Could Be Our Year If.......

Like everyone has said before me, we have made some good moves in the draft and in the off-season to make our team more competitive. That's fine but we still have a couple of missing pieces (WR, FB, LT, C, CB). Or maybe we have pieces and just haven't put them in the right places yet. Either way, until we address these issues, we probably wont be any better than 8-8 this year. Although its better than 4-12 and 5-11, 8-8 wont get us to the promised land.

After only having 3 winning season in the last 15 years and not winning more than 5 games in any season for the last 7 years, 8-8 is NOT what I'm looking for out of this team.

See the next slides for the last 15 years. Let's get some dialogue going.

(1)What DEFINITE moves do we still NEED to make to become a play-off team THIS YEAR?

(2) Will we get a 1,000 yard rusher this year?

(3) What receiver will have a pro-bowl-esque season or at least a break out season?

15 Years of Featured Back Stats Compiled For Your Viewing Pleasure

Featured Back Stats 1995 - 2009

Player Att Yds Yds/Att Long TD

2009
Michael Bush 123 589 4.8 60 3

2008
Justin Fargas 218 853 3.9 42 1

2007
Justin Fargas 222 1,009 4.5 48 4

2006?

2005
LaMont Jordan 272 1,025 3.8 26 9

2004
Amos Zereoue 112 425 3.8 55 3

2003
Tyrone Wheatley 159 678 4.3 41 4

2002
Charlie Garner 182 962 5.3 36 7

2001
Charlie Garner 211 839 4.0 38 1

2000
Tyrone Wheatley 232 1,046 4.5 80 9

1999
Tyrone Wheatley 242 936 3.9 30 8

1998
Napoleon Kaufman 217 921 4.2 80 2

1997
Napoleon Kaufman 272 1,294 4.8 83 6

1996
Napoleon Kaufman 150 874 5.8 77 1

1995
Harvey Williams 255 1,114 4.4 60 9

1, 2 & 3 Wide Receiver Stats Since 1995

Receiving

Player Rec Yds Yds/Rec Long TD

2009
Zach Miller 66 805 12.2 86 3
Louis Murphy 34 521 15.3 75 4
Chaz Schilens 29 365 12.6 25 2
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2008
Zach Miller 56 778 13.9 63 1
Darren McFadden 29 285 9.8 27 0
Johnnie L.Higgins 22 366 16.6 84 4
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2007
Ronald Curry 55 717 13.0 49 4
Zach Miller 44 444 10.1 28 3
Jerry Porter 44 705 16.0 59 6
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2006?
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2005
Jerry Porter 76 942 12.4 49 5
Randy Moss 60 1,005 16.8 79 8
LaMont Jordan 70 563 8.0 28 2
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2004
Jerry Porter 64 998 15.6 52 9
Ronald Curry 50 679 13.6 63 6
Doug Gabriel 33 551 16.7 58 2
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2003
Jerry Rice 63 869 13.8 47 2
Tim Brown 52 567 10.9 36 2
Charlie Garner 48 386 8.0 46 1
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2002
Jerry Rice 92 1,211 13.2 75 7
Charlie Garner 91 941 10.3 69 4
Tim Brown 81 930 11.5 45 2
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2001
Tim Brown 91 1,165 12.8 46 9
Jerry Rice 83 1,139 13.7 40 9
Charlie Garner 72 576 8.0 27 2
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2000
Tim Brown 76 1,128 14.8 45 11
Andre Rison 41 606 14.8 49 6
James Jett 20 356 17.8 84 2
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1999
Tim Brown 90 1,344 14.9 47 6
Rickey Dudley 39 555 14.2 35 9
James Jett 39 552 14.2 43 2
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1998
Tim Brown 81 1,012 12.5 49 9
James Jett 45 882 19.6 75 6
Rickey Dudley 36 549 15.3 32 5
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1997
Tim Brown 104 1,408 13.5 59 5
Rickey Dudley 48 787 16.4 76 7
James Jett 46 804 17.5 56 12
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1996
Tim Brown 90 1,104 12.3 42 9
James Jett 43 601 14.0 58 4
Daryl Hobbs 44 423 9.6 29 3
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1995
Tim Brown 89 1,342 15.1 80 10
Daryl Hobbs 38 612 16.1 54 3
Raghib Ismail 28 491 17.5 73 3
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