Raidertopia

• 1  Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
  Personally, I would have rather the Raiders took Dorsey, but that said, McFadden might be the big play guy the Raiders have been missing for years.  His character issues and skinny legs bother me, but we’ll see what happens.  One thing about the NFL Network coverage - this guy was a human highlight reel and yet after the Raiders picked him, they show a couple of ten yard gains and a bunch of plays highlighting how easy he is to tackle low.  All other picks had a nice set of positive plays in their highlights.  And they wonder why we Raider fans say the media is biased.

• 4a Tyvon Branch, CB, Connecticut
  The Raiders did their typical second day move of trading a lower round pick to move up a few slots to get their guy, giving up a 7th to Dallas to go from 105 to 100.  Surprise!  They picked a fast cornerback. Don’t know the guy outside of what I read, but he sounds like a great athlete and he looked awesome in his combine video.  But why a cornerback?  I saw where Jason Jones said he thought he’d be a safety, bso if that’s the case it makes more sense.  If he can return kicks, then even better.  Higgins is a bust and I don’t want him back there on either punts or kickoffs - he’s too frail and fumbles too easily.  I like the Branch pick….especially if he is a good tackler and unseats Schweigert at Safety.  Not a choirboy though, as he was involved in a pellet gun shooting incident with four other Uconn players in 2005.  The media will have some fun with that story as well as McFaddens history.

• 4b Arman Shields, WR, Richmond
  This guy looked good in his combine video as well.  Size, speed, and leaping ability.  He came from just down I-64 too - the Richmond Spiders.  Another guy who had a dazzling time in the 40.  Why are the Raiders so smitten with guys who are a hundredth of a second faster in the 40?  Didn’t they learn their lesson with James Jett?  At least this guy has size and seems to be a football player first, track star second.

  The Shields pick came in a trade with Baltimore for former first round pick, Fabian Washington.  Now that’s depressing.  A former first for a fourth.  The Raiders even traded up to get Washington that year.  Fabian’s only 24 and he can still be a good one.  I think this was way too cheap.  It’ll make much less sense if Shields isn’t a player too.

• 6 Trevor Scott, DE, Buffalo
  This guy started out at TE in college and Buffalo is not exactly an football powerhouse, but maybe the Raiders saw something in him.  Great workout numbers again here (yes, and speed), and a competitor with a good motor, but he’s a project.  Sounds a little too much like Tyler Brayton, but at least if he doesn’t pan out, it’s just a 6th rounder.  Had some sacks but his thin lower body frame is a concern.

• 7 Chaz Schilens, WR, San Diego State
  Can a guy named Chaz make it in the NFL?  Not much scouting info on this guy.  He wasn’t even listed with all the other San Diego State players eligible to be drafted on NFL.com until well after the Raiders picked him.  Even then, the data was sparse.  Just three lines: “Schilens excites people because of his exceptional size and speed. Due to his pure athleticism, he will have a chance to make the roster. He still needs some polish as a receiver.”  Jason Jones has a YouTube video of the guy though and, although the video quality is pretty bad, the dude looks like an exciting player. Big, really big, too.  It’s the seventh round, so why not?

In summary, and as usual, a lot of great athletes, but at least this year they’re also decent football players in terms of production on the field.  McFadden was a TD machine, Shields had some 100 yard games , and Scott led the team in sacks two years in a row.  Character issues with the top two picks are troubling as well.  McFadden,  Branch, Shields, and Schilens would make a great relay team.  I just hope they can play some football at this level.  McFadden is the key - will he be the home run hitter we need?  It’s gonna be a lot of fun watching them.

Nightmare scenario:  Glenn Dorsey terrorizing the Raider backfield twice each year, consistently overpowering the weak center of our OL.  Dorsey hitting McFadden hard and low behind the line of scrimmage, causing an ACL tear.  Noooooooooo!

He’s one of the worst first round draft choices of all time.

He had another year left of getting paid a million bucks by the Raiders for his paltry production.

And yet he voided the final year of his six year contract! What a numbskull. What’s he thinking? That he can go somewhere and play more? Or maybe he has an eye out for a second career in drag racing, which I read somewhere is his hobby.

Thank you for opening up a spot for someone who can play, Tyler.

He was supposed to help make up for the Raider loss of Coach Gruden to Tampa Bay. He was supposed to help the Raiders develop a fierce pass rush.

Instead, he was a complete bust who would’ve probably been cut by any other NFL team. Yeah, yeah, I heard all the coaches talk about his motor, but who cares when your motor is chasing running backs downfield? He had to go and it’s a little sad that it was not the team’s decision. That they didn’t cut him because they had someone who beat him out (see another Raider high draft choice bust, DE Quentin Moses).

Coming on the heals of the questionable Sam Williams re-signing, this is actually good news.

His Wikipedia page tells a story about him pounding on Randy Moss when he was being a punk in Oakland. I never heard that story, but if true, he’ll always have my respect for sticking up for the team.

No worries really. The lone Raider player to make the Pro Bowl, Punter Shane Lechler, doesn’t have to watch out for Sean Taylor after his tragic death.RIP.

That guy could hit like Jack Tatum. The Pro Bowl is such a lame, lackluster game, it’s amazing that Taylor even made the effort. What a spectacular hit!

Thank you New York Football Giants from Raider fans (and I think many other fans) everywhere. You saved us all from an endless winter, spring, summer, and fall of media blathering over the Patsies.
The Giants Super Bowl win may be proof that there is a football God….or God is a football fan, that is.

How appropriate that a Guy named Tuck was hammering on their quarterback all evening.

A sign perhaps?

Remember the obscene Tuck Rule misinterpretation that the NFL and Walt Coleman used to gift them a win over our Raiders to propel them to their first Super Bowl?  A call that has gone down in history as among the worst ever.  One that kept an excellent Raider team from going to the AFC Championship. Was that injustice coming back to haunt them?

I thought that was an good omen, but when that football cancer and notorious quitter, Randy Moss, caught the go ahead TD with less than three minutes left, there appeared to be no God watching, no football justice.

But then, Eli Manning showed some escapability and David Tyree made a fantastic catch for a big gain. Not much later, Plaxico Burress made an appearance in time to catch the game winner.

Finally, can someone explain to me why Belicheat left the field (along with Moss and others) when there were still a couple seconds left on the game clock? What was that all about? What happened to sportsmanship? Oh I forgot, we’re talking about the Patsies. Even the US Congress is asking questions about their cheatin ways.

Regarding the media, would it have killed the witty (sarcasm alert) Joe Buck to have mentioned the Tuck Rule analogy after one of Tuck’s sacks? Much worse though was the fact that no mention is being made of the Patsy Head Coach leaving the field early. I’ve been watching the post game stuff on and off, so I may have missed it, but it’s more likely they’re ignoring it. Maybe more will be said in a day or two. In my mind, he should be fined again. Maybe that other first round draft choice. Let’s see how tough Goodell is going to be.

Update: Good blog post here on the disgraceful behavior of Belicheat after the game…..and before the game was even over. Good example for kids to teach them how to be good sportsmen, huh? What an A-hole.

Classless losers.

Their lame USFL/Arena league uniforms befit them.

Randy Moss and the Patsies deserve each other.

How’s that for “sports karma“, lady sportswriter? Ha!

Once again, Thank You Giants.

You knew these type of articles were coming.  You just knew it.

Poor Randy Moss.  Having to suffer for two years in Oakland before finding the nirvana of the Cheatriots.

I expected some puff pieces, but I honestly didn’t think I’d read outright tripe like this, where the writer is saying, “right on Randy!”.  Hell, the article is actually titled “Randy was right to quit on the Raiders”.  Unbelievable!

If there was ever a validation to keep women from reporting  on a man’s sport, this lady is it.

Note to Randy - if you had any of the class of players like Tim Brown and Barry Sanders, who both played all out even on struggling teams, you could’ve been something.  You could’ve been respected.  I was so optimistic and excited when the Raiders acquired you.  You let us all down.  You’ll never again be respected by any self-respecting football fan, except for maybe those USFL-jersey-wearing Cheatriot fans.  Don that lame uniform with empty pride, because you deserve each other.  Life is just not fair sometimes.

Now, your career, like the Patsy’s cheatin’ season this year, will have a great, big asterisk next to it.  If not in the record book, definitely in the eyes of football fans.

First a little black comedy break courtesy of Deadspin, when it was disclosed that the guy that died in the San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was a Raider fan:

Do Raiders fans have the worst damned luck on the planet? The “tuck rule“, the “Immaculate Reception”, and now they’re literally getting eaten by tigers?

And that was before the latest Raider drama with Coach Kiffin.

The most loyal of fans are being tested.

I do feel a little better after finding out that Kiffin and Knapp actually did the interviewing today with James Lofton, possibly for a WR coaching position. The Saunders interview rumor may be just that because his own agent denied he was going to talk to the Raiders.

Kiffin now looks like he’s staying, but will he be powerless with respect to coaching hiring/firing and draft decisions? His participation in the Lofton interview shows that he’ll have input, but I believe that he’ll have to pass everything by Al and the fact that he reportedly didn’t when he reportedly attempted to fire Defensive Coordinator Ryan and DL Coach Millard helped to cause this rift.

Did trading that ultimate team player, Randy Moss, for peanuts hurt?  Maybe.

Did sitting Russell and Rhodes until late in the season hurt? Maybe.

The interest in college jobs also affected their relationship, as John Herrera has pretty much admitted. To Al Davis, loyalty is maybe the most important trait a Raider employee can have. Ask Marcus Allen. If Kiffin did have wandering eyes, especially as a first year Head Coach under contract for three, you can’t blame Al for getting pissed. I’m not defending Davis, because I think this whole thing was handled terribly. I just think we, as fans, don’t know everything that transpired, and perhaps never will…again, like the Marcus Allen fiasco.

We’ll probably all know a little more by the end of this week, but I’ll echo Coach Kiffin when asked if he’ll be back to coach the Raiders, “I hope so”.

For Raider fans, when the words of Ray Ratto actually ring true, you know things are bad in Raider Nation.

Maybe we don’t know everything yet. Maybe Kiffin did something really outrageous to warrant this letter of resignation. I hope we soon find out and this thing gets resolved, because it’s pure poison to the team.

After all, the Team is what we loyal fans care about. What are the players thinking? The rest of the league is laughing at us. What free agent in his right mind would want to come and play here? And the Team needs players….bad.

I’m more of a pessimist by nature, but the signs aren’t good. Too many sources are confirming this story:

I spoke with someone familiar with the Raiders’ situation within the last hour that confirmed ESPN’s report that Al Davis sent Lane Kiffin a letter of resignation to sign….But the more I hear about the dysfunction in Raiderland, I’m convinced Al Davis will do everything he can to get rid of Kiffin….The Raiders deny all of this. But these things don’t fall out of the sky….From what I hear from The Bee’s Matt Barrow’s, the friction between Kiffin and Rob Ryan was obvious at the Senior Bowl. Jason Jones

I wanted to clarify if the Raiders were denying the entire report after I was told by a very reliable source that hasn’t been wrong once that Al Davis did send Kiffin a letter asking for his resignation. Jason Jones

The letter hasn’t been seen, but too many people know about it, and have spoken quietly about it for the better part of a week. Ray Ratto

According to SI’s Don Banks and the Chronicle’s Nancy Gay , Kiffin has been exiled by Davis.

Of course, add to that ESPN’s Chris Mortensen and NFL Network’s Adam Schefter.

And remember, the Raider denials never deny that Kiffin was asked to resign.

Unless Kiffin kicked Al’s walker from under him, I don’t see what he could have done to warrant this. Sure, he made some mistakes his first year. The Raiders lost many 4th qtr leads. Clock management could have been better. But the team was competitive and the players, for the most part, played hard for him. The defense was the biggest disappointment, and he wanted to fix that, rightly in my opinion, by firing Rob Ryan. That potential firing was further justified by Ryan’s ridiculous post-season comments. Al stopping this from happening is further proof that he should retire from personnel and coaching decisions. Al also is evidently upset that the cancer named Randy Moss was traded. Did he actually think he would perform for this team?

I’ll be watching the Senior Bowl closely today, hoping that we get some comments from Kiffin at some point. If all we get is more “no comment”, then that’s bad news.

Might I add: the Raiders came out with a strongly worded denial of Ryan’s departure - again, one firing that should have occured - but besides John Herrera and Amy Trasks comments (when asked), they have not done the same for their young Head Coach.

That’s not right.  That is, if things are right in Raiderland.

This is from Scott Ostler of the SF Chronicle, on my second favorite team behind the Asterisks/Cheaters/Patsies:

Wade Phillips, coach of the Dallas Cryboys (Cowboys? Whatever) has focused public attention on the fundamental flaw in the NFL’s playoff system: Games.

After the Cryboys lost to the Giants last week, Phillips concluded that the better team lost. He said so publicly, for the benefit of those of us who don’t know much about football and tend to judge teams by misleading stats, like “wins.”

When you play games, stuff happens. Flukey plays, strange calls, injuries, moments of greatness, twists of fate. Those things detract from the purity of the sport.

Phillips is right. We need an entirely new system.

Something like this: After the regular season, you get groups of writers, coaches, barbers, whatever, to vote in various polls. Each group is chosen for its unique agenda, bias, regional favoritism and knowledge gaps. You toss all the polls into a computer, kind of like the way sausage is made.

In a gala ceremony we’ll call Operation Hairball, the computer spits out the names of the two “best” teams, which then play in the Super Bowl. That game should be eliminated, too, because the better team almost always loses, but without the Super Bowl, the alcohol and avocado industries would collapse. It’s a trade-off.

All the other teams would play one another in a bunch of random, meaning-free “bowl” games.

This season, though, we know which team is No. 1: The Cryboys.

Go Giants.

“It was OK for my first one”.

Those were JaMarcus Russell’s words after last Sunday’s 49-11 loss at Jacksonville.

I really hope I’m wrong on this, but I’ve got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that JaMarcus Russell is going to be a bust. I haven’t seen him play yet, but those are my impressions from what I’m reading coming out of his mouth, Coach Kiffin’s comments, and the sportswriters’ descriptions of the game. Russell seemed cool and composed after the game, but I don’t like the fact that he said he played OK, when in fact he was horrible….what did he have….a 1.4 QB rating?

Of course, I’m rooting for him, and hope I’m just being paranoid of another high draft pick bust. When I get home later in January, I hope to sit down and watch him play and hopefully the tape of the San Diego game will wash away my concerns.

I’ve been keeping updated by reading the Raider Take blog and Jerry McDonald’s “Inside the Raiders” blog. I just finished reading McDonald’s “A Few Minutes with Rob Ryan” post. Man, am I glad he wasn’t hired to be the Raider Head Coach. I have little doubt that this guy should be let go after the season. He doesn’t seem to have a clue as to how to fix the defense’s problems.  In fact, he keeps saying “that’s just the way it is”, as if that excuses the defenses poor play this year.

He sounds like an idiot, honestly. The Raiders don’t normally let the media speak with ACs and it’s no wonder why after reading this guy’s comments.

He refers to last year’s defense several times, oblivious to the fact that this years’ almost identical defensive team has pretty much proven that it was a mirage due to the massive, indeed historic, ineptitude of the 2006 Raider offense.

I also don’t like his cockiness - “I’d be out of a job for two minutes”.  He actually says this twice, as if he knows it may be coming.  What a jerk.

He repeatedly says he has great players when their play, particularly their horrendous tackling, has proven otherwise. Is he just blindly loyal or just not a very good coach. I’d say the latter. Not only because of his underperforming personnel, but also for his lame, passive defensive play calling and for letting the defense lay down in virtually every series after the Raider offense got them a lead. It was like the freakin sun rising: Raiders get the lead immediately followed by long TD drive by the opposition to take the lead right back.

I think he should get out of Oakland and take Tyler Brayton, Sam Williams, Terdell Sands, and Stu Schweigert with him. Maybe a couple more of those non-physical, pansy-ass defensive backs too.

Take a look at his defense’s rankings the last 4 years - all bottom 10 except for last season’s mirage.

I much prefer Coach Kiffin’s tell it like it is comments. The whole defense has become like a boys’ club where everyone is too comfortable with their lack of performance and defend each other. In fact, they have no clue that they’re even underperforming evidenced by Schweigert’s recent comments about his demotion…he had no idea why he was benched. Begs the question as to why Ryan didn’t give him a reason (e.g. “you’re tackling like a girl!”).

With all of the weird ways the Raiders have been losing games the last several years, I’ve held that there must be some sort of voodoo curse put on them, along with the always questionable officiating that seems to target them more than any other team.  But now, I’m thinking maybe it’s me.  I missed my first Raider games in forever just last month, starting with the Kansas City win.  Then, they followed up with another win against Denver.  Both wins against divisional opponents that have become rare the last few seasons.  I’ve been, and still am, “Down Under” in Australia and I started thinking I’d have to Tevo every game when I get back for the good of the team, but then came the losses to Green Bay and Indianapolis.

I can’t wait to see them when I get back to the states, but the Green Bay game sounds awfully fishy, even given the lopsided score.  I’m just starting to read about the Colts game, but it sounds like the Raiders had a great chance to beat them and there was yet another strange call (and explanation by the zebra to Porter) that cost the Raiders a great chance to tie at the end.  More unSpecial Teams breakdowns and the inability of the defense (again!) to stop an offense when they needed to.  What is up with that?  At least the held a running back to less than 150 yards this time.  McCown has yet another game of less than 100 yards passing.  It’s so obvious that he’s simply a filler QB and Russell should play and take his lumps.  I like the guy’s guts though, and do hope he comes back in ‘08 as a back up.  As for Russell, even Peyton Manning said that’s the best way for a young QB to learn….or for a team to find out if a young QB is going to make it in this league….still a major question for Russell.

By the way, Mr. Ryan….see what happens when you mix it up a bit on defense and attack (blitz) a little?  You play the Super Bowl champs tough.