Tom Cable and The Oakland Offensive Line

When Tom Cable arrived in Oakland three seasons ago, he was touted as an O-line Guru and was expected to bring some sort of stability and consistency to this unit. Ironically, the offensive line has been the least consistent unit on the Raiders team since his assumption of the head coaching position halfway through 2008.

Quarterback after Quarterback have been trolloped behind Cable's ZBS scheme which covers areas as opposed to man-to-man, in your face football of traditional Raider lore. The running game has suffered tremendously under this scheme and consequently so has the passing game.

According to neo-Raider standards, three years is all a Raider needs to develop. This is Cable's third year and the O-line is far from stable or consistent. No one will be more under the Nation's microscope as they have chosen the unaccomplished upstart coach over the young, immature, hyper talented JMR.

Last nights opening exhibition against the Dallas Cowboys was far from stellar for the Raider's offense. Campbell was pressured and didn't get into a groove. The receiving routes still seemed simple and predictable and the run/pass balance was still severely off.

Granted, there are a lot of injuries on the Raider's offense to be concerned about. Namely McFadden and Schilens who have spent more time in the training room than on the field in their young respective careers.

Last year these two players missed a ton of time and the offense suffered severely. What if they happen to go down again? Maybe T.O. wouldn't have been such a bad idea.

Some positives to take from last night would definitely be rookie Jared Veldheer. He looked impressive in the short time I saw him playing center. The center position has been shaky at best. Veldheer can start here now.

I think it was yet another bad idea for Cable to move Bruce Campbell from LT. There is now a possibility that Bruce could be promoted to second string if Veldheer sticks at center. But Bruce has been practicing at guard, so yet again Cable's line is incomplete only a few weeks away from Tennessee.

With all the pressure mounting for the Raider's to perform after being redeemed from the burden of one player, the Raider's don't have the luxury of "gettin into a groove." That groove needs to start now!

(And for the record Trevor Scott has no business starting over Thomas Howard)