Oakland Raiders' Hidden Weapons On the Roster

You have to give one thing to the Raiders.

They sure know how to surprise teams.

Going into the season, they have: Ronald Curry, Javon Walker, Johnnie Lee Higgins, and a couple unheard of players—Chaz Schillins and Todd Watkins.

Not exactly a WR depth you'll hear about on ESPN.

However, this is the same club that turned one QB into a WR. Yep, Curry's original assignment was as a QB for North Carolina's football program. Or the development of Todd Christensen, who actually passed through two other clubs before finding home with the Raiders.

What helps this team, more than anything, is its surprise weapons. Watkins has shown an ability to catch almost anything thrown. Schillins, to his credit, does well enough to warrant a roster spot. Higgins....well, if he turns the right way, it would probably surprise the opponent enough to give him a break towards the end zone.

Look at the game against Denver. No one is going to be surprised if we run an 80/20 program. 80 percent running and 20 percent passing. The short-passing game we come out with will probably make use of Zach Miller, a second-year tight end with skills.

If we mix in some good passing, and some extra plays, it'll force Denver to play honest. They won't risk packing the pocket and leaving Miller alone, looking around.

Now, for the third weapon. This comes as a surprise, as we first thought it would be Drew Carter. Unfortunately, he's now out for the year...so we grabbed Ashley Lelie. Yes, the same one that gained over 1,000 yards in 2004.

The advantage now is that we have three depths to throw at. Short to Miller, medium range to Curry and Walker, and then air it out for Lelie.

About the only thing I could ask is for Miller to play short-to-medium. However, since half his time is spent keeping the pocket from caving in...He's a trooper, keeping Russell safe.

And lastly, there are surprises to work with in the backfield. And no, it doesn't involve using McFadden as a QB.

But it could involve letting Russell call himself as a running back on plays.

Obviously, if teams are centering in on McFadden, he's going to have friends in a hurry. If four guys zero in on him, you gotta take advantage of that. On a running play, instead of a hand off, play him as a decoy, and have Russell hang onto the ball.

Or on a reverse, on the hand off, have Russell tuck it away and keep McFadden going. Russell, with his size, isn't easy to bring down...And with his speed, if allowed to run, he can break holes in a line.

Welcome to 2008, Raider fans.

It's going to be a fun year.