Why the Oakland Raiders Should Draft Darren McFadden

Decisions and Drama:

I know it is easy to bag on Oakland. 

They've suffered in futility since the end of their Super Bowl run in 2002, in which starters Tory James, Jon Richie, Rod Coleman and Eric Barton all left in free agency, and of course, the juicer, Bill Romanowski attacked a teammate.  In and after 2003, Al Davis traded starting CB Philip Buchanon and fired Coach Bill Callahan, and had to deal with the Charles Woodson insurrection.  In 2004, Kerry Collins and Robert Gallery were seen as saviors, while Al Davis hired retread coach, Norv Turner.  In 2005, Randy Moss and LaMont Jordan were seen as the saviors, and yet two starters were traded in LB Napoleon Harris and TE Doug Jolley.  Again in 2006, the coach was fired and the savior was seen as coach Art Shell, but that just alienated WR Jerry Porter; while Shell brought in an offensive coordinator who was running a bed-and-breakfast in Idaho--in all irony because their offense sure was sleepy.  Ba-da-bing! 

Continuing on, in 2007 Al Davis reversed course and hired a college assistant named Lane Kiffin to be head coach, in a move that appeared insane.  Well, until Al Davis tried to force Kiffin's resignation--things were looking up in Raider-land.  Many bad streaks were ended in 2007 while the Raiders often led the game in the 4th quarter after overcoming many costly mistakes by the quarterbacks (Culpepper, McCown), even though they'd lose after allowing a big play or not being able to make the big play.  I think though, that the Davis-Kiffin situation was probably cooked-up by the media.  I don't think that the media is necessarily "biased" against Oakland, but that the media likes to pick-on the bottom dwellers because it creates tension between the winning teams and losing teams, so it's really just a business thing to sell papers.

The Offense:

If Oakland commits to a run-first offense as they did in 2007, then the speed of new WR Javon Walker should be enough for JaMarcus Russell to connect on 9-12 bombs for TDs in 2008 and maybe 800 yards--while the clutch catching of Ronald Curry and Zach Miller should help move the chains.  Meanwhile, the signing of OL Kwame Harris intrigues me.  Harris has been a flop at tackle since the San Francisco 49ers selected him in the 1st round of the 2003 NFL Draft.  However, the Raiders have a very versatile offensive-linemen in Cooper Carlisle, who played right guard in 2007 and can play each spot on the line (except center).  Well, if Kwame Harris can move inside to play right-guard, then that would free-up Carlisle to replace Barry Sims at left-tackle, and would leave only the center position as a question mark with Jeremy Newberry as an unsigned free-agent.  The Oakland line has been mightily maligned in recent history, but they did do a good job of blocking for the runningbacks, LaMont Jordan, Justin Fargas, and Dominic Rhodes in 2007 under the offense of coordinator Greg Knapp, whom coordinated league-leading rushing with the Atlanta Falcons.

The Defense:

Gibril Wilson deserves credit for being part of a defense that denied perfection for the best offense in NFL history.  That is more important than the actual ring.  The Raiders already had a stingy secondary that would be even better if the defensive-line was able to put more pressure on the backfield.  The secondary though, just got better.  With corners, Nnamdi Asomugha, Stanford Routt, Chris Carr, and Fabian Washington--they are at least three deep.  Meanwhile, Gibril Wilson and Michael Huff appear to be the future starters at safety with Stuart Schweigert and Hiram Eugene as depth.  Huff has not been a huge playmaker yet, but neither was Nnamdi Asomugha until 2006 (after the Raiders selected him in the first round of the 2003 draft).  Before that, Asomugha was considered a bust.  Now he's reminiscent of Hall of Famer Mel Blount from the Steel Curtain defenses.  2008 will be Michael Huff's third year in the league, so I want to see what he can do.  Furthermore, between LBs Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison, the Raiders appear to have a dynamic duo at LB for years to come.  The problem is the strongside linebacker spot.  The former first rounder, Robert Thomas, just is not cutting it.  Thus, I hope that Oakland will wise-up and sign LB Landon Johnson away from Cincinnati.  The reason being that Johnson's durability, position flexibility, and tackle production would more than likely sure-up that gaping hole on the strongside.  As for the defensive-line, yes, the Raiders overpaid to keep DT Tommy Kelly.  In their defense however, if they did not overpay him, someone would have because he was the top untagged DT.  Look at the 49ers for instance.  They paid 43 million to DE Justin Smith and his glorious two sacks in 2007.  The market will overpay some players.  Plus the cap is higher and the dollar is weaker.  At least though, Tommy Kelly was part of a good defense in 2006.  Nevertheless, the left side of the DL is a gaping void.  I hope that the Raiders will sign DE Bobby McCray away from J-Ville as an insurance policy, but 2007 rookie DE Jay Richardson showed some promise.  In short, the DL badly needs help, but there IS a way around it.  Keep the defense off the field, so they do not wear down.  In the last few seasons, the Raider defense has been very talented but the offense has been erratic which has forced the defense to stay on the field longer and give up critical plays.  Keep them off the field!  That is often easier said than done, but there is a way this year.

The Breakdown:
 
The AFC West is probably the most winnable division in the AFC right now.  The South is loaded, the North is loaded, and the East features New England.  Meanwhile, the West has three teams in transition: KC, Denver, Oakland.  Oakland is probably in better shape than KC and Denver right now.  Moreover, in 2007, Oakland was not losing by much.  They would often need to overcome a high amount of mistakes by the QB, only to lose in the 4th quarter.  Save for a deep pass to Dwayne Bowe and an iced kicker, the Raiders would have swept KC and Denver in 2007.  Therefore, the biggest foe is San Diego.  A triangle offense of runners, Darren McFadden, Justin Fargas, and Dominic Rhodes, would be a nice way to wear down the San Diego front seven, which is the heart of their D.  Moreover, the Chargers have only gotten worse by releasing FB Lorenzo Neal and S Marlon McCree and letting CB Drayton Florence go to J-Ville.  Not terribly worse, BUT they are not as good right now as they were in 2007.  So with LT nearing 30 who knows, maybe Oakland, following the Minnesota blueprint, can steal the division as 2008's dark horse with a guy like Darren McFadden.

Additions:

Yes, Oakland is in better shape than KC and Denver. That however, is not saying much. The AFC West looks very thin, but in order to secure a playoff berth--you just need to win the division. I'm not saying that IF Oakland won the division that they'd win the whole thing, but I do believe that Oakland has a chance at the division right now--espeically if they select RB Darren McFadden. I've been wavering between OT Jake Long, DE Chris Long and D-Mac. But the question is: Which player will have the most impact on the performance of his teammates--whom will cause a chain reaction that will make others look better? And since I believe that the OL has two holes (center, tackle), and as well as the DL (end, tackle), my answer is Darren McFadden. A great runner can make a flawed OL look better. And an improved offense will keep the defense off the field--which means that the d-lineman you do have will have more gas in their tanks.

As for Kwame Harris--I hope that Oakland realizes that the best move is for Harris to play RG and for Cooper Carlsle to play left-tackle.

As for KC and Denver...like I said, save for a deep pass and an iced kicker--the Raiders would hve swept KC and Denver in 2007. Both KC and Oakland hae young QBs. Larry Johnson had a great season a few years ago for KC, but LJ is now 29 and has been used and abused--he set the record for carries by an RB a few seasons ago. Oakland meanwile has good depth at runningback, and aside from the strongside of the Front Seven (LDE, NT and SLB) -- the Raiders are very talented on defense. The Chiefs are not--it's mix and match.

Denver meanwhile is also mix and match--just look at their roster.