Oakland Raiders Final 53: Still Some Questions That Need to Be Answered

Well Raider Nation, the final cuts have been made and we have our 53-man roster set and ready for the 2010 season.  A few guys made the team that I didn't think would like LB Sam Williams and FS Hiram "stiff arm me" Eugene.  After going over the roster, I don't think the Raiders are quite done just yet. 

One thing that caught me eye was that we now only have one fullback on the roster in Marcel Reece.  He is our starter at this point.  He made some nice plays in the passing game in preseason but is he a true "lead blocking" fullback?  I would like to see another fullback brought in to help in the running game.  We will get Luke Lawton back after a two game suspension but he has never impressed me and he, IMO, should have been cut as well.

Another thing is that we only have two TE's on the roster.  Zach Miller is the #1 and up & coming Brandon Meyers is #2.  We let go of our best run blocking TE in Tony Stewart which was a bit of a surprise considering his special teams play along with his run blocking ability.  Hopefully we are scouring the freshly cut players for a guy who can bring what Tony Stewart brought to the table and maybe a little more.

Our defensive line has been a bright spot thus far but the release of Jay Richardson kind of caught me off guard.  I know we have two promising young DEs in Lamarr Houston and Matt Shaughnessy but Jay Richardson was good against the run and would have provided quality depth at the position.  Our backup DE's also happen to be our starting outside LBs so keeping Richardson would have made sense to me.  I know he just had knee surgery but he wasn't expected to miss a lot of time.  Maybe his rehab wasn't progressing the way the coaching staff wanted it to.

What surprised me the most was the fact that we kept Hiram Eugene.  He is an average safety at best and he is about as good as he will ever be.  I would have liked to keep rookie FS Stevie Brown who has more upside and potential.  He also had a nose for the ball during the preseason recording two INTs and recovering a fumble.  IDK, maybe he isn't good on special teams, something that Hiram Eugene is actually good at.  That's probably why Eugene was retained over Brown. 

Well there's my take on the current 53-man roster.  Obviously, I don't think the Raiders are quite done yet.  We can't go into the season with just one fullback and two TE's, can we?