Oakland Raiders:Morrison Challenged By Cable, and Ready To Prove Himself

Last year Kirk Morrison led the Raiders in tackles and was 5th in the NFL yet he still recieves criticism from haters and even a few Raider-fans alike, including myself.

Now he may even be recieving a bit of it from his head coach, Tom Cable, who is no stranger to calling out his players to get the best out of them. He recently indirectly called out JaMarcus Russell by questioning his work ethic and bringing in Jeff Garcia and that seems to be working.

Now he appears to be doing the same thing to Kirk Morrison by moving Ricky Brown to middle-backer and forcing the two to split reps.

Cable recently said,"I am only trying to improve competition."

But why call out your best defender, why not someone else?

First off Morrison is not the best defender, if anything he is the most overrated defender on the Raiders. I would put Thomas Howard, Nnamdi Asomugha, Tommy Kelly and maybe even Lechlar ahead of him.

Next the reson in calling him out are simple he has recieved alot of criticism, all of which is not unfounded.

Also, though Morrison has flaws they can be fixed and he has the tools to succeed. Morrison is a tremendously talented athlete and few players at his position can match him at that aspect. Athletically the only middle-linebacker who may have an edge on Morrison is Patrick Willis. And at his position no one can match his ball-hawk skills, soft hands or coverage. 

That said there is no question in my mind that Morrison can be molded into the elite defender many already believe he is.

So how is Morrison acepting his new challenge? Well he seems to be acepting it well and taking it in stride. Here are a few qoutes from Morrison regarding his recent demotion.

"I know how this business is," Morrison said Monday after getting a full day's turn with the first-team defense in Napa. "The organization is always trying to replace you no matter what.

"I've got to go out and prove myself to them on an everyday basis, regardless how many years you have been here or what you've accomplished in this league."

"It just shows you nothing in this league, no matter what you do, is given to you," Morrison said. "All those numbers and stats, about being fifth in the league, it sometimes may not be good enough.

"There's always critics ... you made too many tackles 5-6 yards down the field. You guys still have a bad run defense. ... So it doesn't really matter."

"This keeps me hungry, keeps me focused," Morrison said.

These qoutes say alot about Morrison, who is on a contract year and facing an uncapped year. That alone should be motivation enough, can you say signing bonus?

First of all Morrisons comments show us that he is a competitor and Cable just light a fire under his ass. He is "hungry" to prove himself not only to his coaches but to all his critics.

Next it shows though Morrison has had a productive career starting every game since he was drafted. And is a near celebrity especially locally. This has not blinded him to his own flaws nor what his critics are saying. He atleast understands how he needs to improve.

Lastly it shows that Morrison understands the NFL. He knows it is a business. Morrison understands that teams always want the best player on the field. He also understands the reality that he may not be resigned next year. But on the other hand he understands what a contract year means and also what that coupled with an uncapped year can mean.

All that said Morrison fully understands how important it is for him to perform at a top level this year.

So how will he take on these challenges and should we expect him back next year?

I would say yes.

One of his main flaws pointed out by critics was the fact that he rarely attacked the line of scrimmage and he was often seen sitting back waiting for backs to come to him before making tackles rather than attacking and  and meeting backs at the line of scrimmage. Rather than meeting the backs at or behind the line of scrimmage, or atleast closer to the line of scrrimage not five yards down field.

This has been addressed through coaching. The Raiders brought in John Marshall who has always been known for attacking defenses and has coached quite a few top defenses as well as a good deal of top linebackers.

One thing for sure is if Morrison doesn't fit into Marshalls I am sure Ricky Brown will. Aside from pushing Morrison this may be the reason Brown was moved to the middle.

Then theres the problem that in the past he has sucked at shedding blocks as he is often eliminated from a play as soon as an olinemen gets a-hold of him, this needs to be fixed and I beleive it will.

First let me say this is not completely his fault as linemen should not get a clear shot to him.

This has also been addressed by coaching, this year John Marshall is predicting a defense that brings more pressure. Though it is speculated that as Al Davis has a say on things defensively there still may not be much blitzing.

But regardless of how the Raiders bring more pressure this makes it easier for him to succeed on both rush and passing defense. With the new look defense sending a guard directly at Morrison would be foolish.

This year not only is Morrison being challenged but he is being set up to succeed, whether he succeeds or not may determine whether he is a Raider next year and will definitely determine what kind of signing bonus he gets. Lets all hope he can make the most of his opurtunity.