Oakland Raiders: Tune Up or Shake Up?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out things haven't been rosy in Oakland over these last couple of years.

Fans calling for Al to step down, be taken down, or flat out wishing it was possible to trade him for another owner are louder now than at any other time in our history.

The firing of Kiffin, who was once thought to be the heir apparent to John Madden, ended with Davis giving the kid a swift kick out the door. His replacement, Tom Cable, has shown little if any ability to motivate the team.

On the defensive side of the ball, Rob Ryan has had a squad that reminds you of a horror movie. One week good, another week, bad. Last week, the defense kept the team within a score of tying, only to lose 17-6, with a late field goal pushing it out of reach.

Now comes the great question: Is this team heading for a tune up, bringing in a few more players, plugging in some gaps? Or, do we need to shake the tree from top to bottom and start all over again?

First things first. Some aspects don't reflect the overall record. Our offensive line, when we needed a running play, has been decent. Until the injury bug hit two of the three running backs, we had a good tandem play, plus one specialized to dive in for TDs.

Fargas has leveled off, but he almost got 100 yards last week. Bush has been filling in to spell Fargas, and Darren McFadden is still nursing a turf toe. Word out recently, is that he tried to get an injection to play through the pain in Buffalo, but it turned out to make things worse, not better.

As far as wide receivers, we were snakebitten to start with. We lost Drew Carter early, Javon Walker hasn't been a good return, and Ronald Curry has been dropped down the tree.

Extra players, like Higgins and Schillins, have filled in, but the former has been cursed on kick returns (a fumble last week led to an opening game TD for the Panthers) and Schillins was helped off the field during the last game too.

Our QB, forced to play a passing offense, hasn't had much luck either. Having started the season decently, in recent weeks he's been forced to make more and more bad plays, and his stats reflect the problem.

In the last five weeks, not counting the bye, he has had interceptions in each game. The only game he didn't throw one was against the Jets—their lone win in the last six weeks. And now, with Russell on the shelf with an injured knee, Walter with an ankle injury, it becomes a case of the walking wounded leading this team.

On defense, it's truly a wonder. Against teams like the Falcons, Ravens, and Saints, the Raiders were lit up like Christmas trees. But against the Jets and the Panthers, the Raiders seem to find the spirit to play hard on defense. Last week, four picks against the resurgent work of Jake Delhomme, led many to wonder what is going on in Oakland.

If the Raiders would have had the offensive output of Darren McFadden...the game probably would have had a different final score.

So, for a tune up, I'm looking at the draft. It's obvious we need a wide receiver that can compliment JaMarcus Russell. Or, if Russell is truly falling apart, go get us someone who can work with Walter's skill-set.

On the offensive line, we need to replace Kwame Harris. The guy is a turnstile, and the other players are having a time doing double duty on passing plays. At right guard, Cooper Carlisle is a weak link. If he goes down, we'll be reshuffling the line all over again.

On the other side of the ball, I think removing DeAngelo Hall was a good thing. It was shocking to see how hard the Raiders would play without the self-proclaimed replacement to Deion Sanders. I hope the Redskins know what sort of player they are getting.

And as for a head coach?

I don't think Tom Cable is going to stick around. The rumor mill in Oakland has Jim Fassel coming in, Jim Harbaugh, or even Denny Green.

That, and considering how much we've got invested in McFadden and Russell, and several other players, there's still a small foundation to work around. Throwing McFadden, Russell, Nmandi, and the others out the door, would be a more foolish stunt than even Al Davis would do.