Why The Oakland Raiders Will Win The AFC West in 2008

Face it, by getting CB DeAngelo Hall to pair with Nnamdi Asomugha--the Raiders  are now the team to beat in the AFC West.  The Chargers, Chiefs and Broncos don't have enough weapons at receiver to break that tandem.  I can't think of a team that could -- on paper.  As opposed to the Denver tandem of Champ Bailey and Dre Bly, the Raiders also have S Gibril Wilson, S Michael Huff, plus Stuart Schweigert, Stanford Routt, and Fabian Washington.   Gibril Wilson was part of a secondary that shutdown the best offense in NFL history--and the other D-backs in that NYG secondary were no where near Hall and Asomugha.  I will thus look for KCs Brodie Croyle, SDs Philip Rivers and Denver's Jay Cutler to have career records in 2008 -- for interceptions.  So with the pass defense under control, LB Kirk Morrison and LB Thomas Howard would be all over the aging runningbacks known as LT, LJ and the Schmo Who Gets Plugged Into the Denver Backfield.  Don't forget to, that Morrison and Howard also have a knack for intercepting passes too.  So what if the DL will be patchwork at tackle--the line will surely set the record for "coverage sacks."  Plus, Derrick Burgess has been a beast with or without much support from the tackles.  With this coverage, Burgess will surely continue to be a beast.

Hall and Asomugha to me are unquestionably the best CB tandem in the NFL right now. 
With Hall, the Raiders will be leaving the Niners in the Bay Area dust as they will begin to regularly win for the next 5-10 years.  I wasn't excited when Oakland acquired Randy Moss in 2005--but I talked myself into it.  Getting DeAngelo Hall to pair with Nnamdi Asomugha is exciting.  Usually, my initial instincts are right in regards to Oakland--they've just been difficult to listen to in the past several years.  Not now.  I was comparing Nnamdi Asomugha to Pittsburgh HOFer, Mel Blount, of the Steel Curtain defenses--before they acquired Hall.  I don't expect Oakland's D to be as good as the Steel Curtain--but I do believe that this D could be legendary.  Really, the only holes appear to be strongside end and strongside linebacker....but with that secondary, it's hard to imagine those weaknesses getting the better of the Raiders.

The two areas that remain in question are the Offensive Line and the Defensive Line.

The Defensive Line:

As for the defensive-line, I'd like to see Oakland sign DT Grady Jackson.  Jackson fell out of favor with Bobby Petrino in Atlanta last season which is why he was cut, and is also why CB DeAngelo Hall became disgruntled with the managment of the Falcons.  I know that Jackson has been negotiating with Tennessee, but perhaps now that Hall is a Raider, Jackson will decide to reunite with his comrade and former team.  Jackson is exactly the type of run-stuffer that Oakland needs right now, and is probably the best pure-DT on the market.  With Jackson in the fold, the Raiders could then select DT Glenn Dorsey in the Draft and leave Tommy Kelly at defensive-end.  Between the pass-rushers of Derrick Burgess and Glenn Dorsey, and the run stuffing of Jackson and Kelly, the Raiders could develop a defense of legendary proportions.  Seriously.  Furthermore, with QB Trent Dilfer considering the Raiders as his new team, maybe just maybe, the Raiders will become the 2nd great defense that "the worst QB to win the Super Bowl" can lead--that of course is only to let JaMarcus continue learning so that he doesn't get "wrecked" by playing too soon.  With that said, I also believe that if Oakland commits to the run-first offense that JaMarcus Russell would be just fine in the Raider offense, where he can watch his go-machines, and then when the opponent wears down, J-Russ can throw the bomb to Javon Walker.

The Offensive Line:

As for the offensive-line, LT Barry Sims was only getting older and even the "flop" Kwame Harris is a better option than Sims.  Plus, Oakland has T Mario Henderson from the 2007 Draft to work with, who definitely has far more upside than Sims.  I have my doubts about T Kwame Harris, but at the same time, I have hope.  The reason being is that Oakland in the past was able to rectify the career of T Lincoln Kennedy.  As a Falcon, Kennedy was considered a flop, but was then traded to Oakland where he became a premiere right-tackle for his career.  Here's to hoping that Oakland can do the same with Kwame Harris.  Moreover, the Raiders had the sixth overall running attack in 2007 with three different runningbacks: Justin Fargas, LaMont Jordan and Dominic Rhodes.  The Raiders also nullified the pass-rush of Jared Allen, Aaron Kampman and Denver down the stretch.  Clearly then, the offensive-line was doing something right, and that was with the diminishing LT Barry Sims.  So my thinking is that, between Kwame Harris and Mario Henderson, the Raiders will only improve at left-tackle for an offensive-line that made big strides in the right direction in the 2007 season.

The Draft: 

As for the Draft, my aforementioned flip-flop that Oakland should select Glenn Dorsey should surpirse those of you whom have read my previous articles on why the Raiders should select Darren McFadden or Vernon Gholston.  The reason my opinion has changed is that Oakland has acquired DeAngelo Hall which changes what they need (and their possibilities) come Draft day.  On the possibility that Grady Jackson decides to reunite with Hall and Oakland, the Raiders could then take Dorsey (as I've said) and leave Tommy Kelly at strong side defensive-end.  I've said that, but I repeated it because it is part of the section on Oakland's Draft outlook.  Well, now that Oakland has acquired Hall, they can now trade CB Stanford Routt or CB Fabian Washington.  Here's the thing though.  With CB/RS Chris Carr as an RFOR the Raiders can match any offer made to him.  Thus, if they want Carr, he's theirs to keep.  Which means that Oakland can afford to trade Routt, even though he supplanted Washington for the starting spot in 2007.  The reason that Oakland should trade Routt though is that Routt can garner a higher return (possibly a late first round pick, say, Green Bay, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle, the NYG, or a package from Buffalo--the team that's trying to sign Chris Carr).  The Raiders could then select a pash-rushing linebacker like Quentin Groves (if available).  Between Groves, Dorsey and Burgess, the Raiders would have one nasty pass-rush.

The perception is that Oakland is a mess and always will be a mess.  The reality is, in 2006, the Raiders had the 3rd overall defense, and in 2007 had the sixthth overall rushing attack.  Save for a plethora of mistakes by the QB in 2007, the Raiders were often in position to win in 2007 but would allow the big-play or could not make the big-play.  We've seen teams turn things around in one offseason.  So they've spent money.  Big deal.  In baseball, the perception is that teams must spend big in order to compete: So why is it lambasted by football critics (or at least, when Oakland does it)?  The reality is that if Javon Walker and Kwame Harris don't produce, the Raiders can release them after their first year without having to pay the large part of the contract.  Yet, if Harris and Walker DO produce, the Raiders don't have to worry about resigning them.  Idiots can continue to harp that Oakland is a mess and that Al Davis needs to go but the reality is--when Al gets it right, it's great (though his batting average so to speak has not been what it used to be).  I think the Raiders just did just that.