FoxSports: There's hope, but drafts have hurt Raiders

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There's hope, but drafts have hurt Raiders

John Czarnecki
FOXSports.com, Updated 2 hours ago

There is reason for hope in Oakland these days. A lot of the credit goes to rookie head coach Lane Kiffin and his coaching staff. The Raiders actually resemble a cohesive unit on the field compared to the Art Shell season although there was a huge defensive meltdown at the end of the Cleveland game.

Owner Al Davis must have been screaming when coordinator Rob Ryan called a timeout with 10 seconds left — Cleveland had none — and then decided to drop 10 into coverage and rush only one against Derek Anderson. Had Ryan kept Anderson in the pocket at the Oakland 35, he might have been forced to throw into the middle of the field and the game would have been over.

Instead, Anderson bought time and easily found an open receiver who got out of bounds and put the Browns within winning field-goal range.

Still, my story of Oakland is how Davis missed in the draft, creating a team devoid of young talent that led to four seasons of misery following that embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII.

It started in 2001, Jon Gruden's final draft in Oakland, when Davis ignored Gruden's pleas and chose safety Derrick Gibson in the first round over Todd Heap, the tight end the coach wanted desperately for Rich Gannon. Gruden was sick of Rickey Dudley, a Davis favorite, and we all know what Heap has done in Baltimore — 335 catches and counting. When the Raiders finally released Gibson last season, nobody picked him up.

In subsequent years, Davis used two high picks — ironically, compliments of the Bucs for trading Gruden to Tampa Bay — to seek a tight end comparable to Heap. Doug Jolley and Teyo Johnson are long gone from Oakland.

But the worst draft, considering the talent around them, was 2004 when Robert Gallery was taken with the second overall pick. Gannon was 38 and there were quarterbacks like Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger available. Gannon went down with a career-ending injury in the third game that season and Gallery is not Jonathan Ogden or Walter Jones but simply a good guard.

Jake Grove was the second pick that season, but the Raiders will tell you today that their offense is better with ex-49er Jeremy Newberry at center.

Still searching for a quarterback, Davis passed on Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler in 2005 and picked undersized Texas safety Michael Huff in the first round.

Had Davis, who loves strong-armed quarterbacks, drafted either one of those quarterbacks then he would have been in position to select receiver Calvin Johnson this year instead of the overweight JaMarcus Russell.

There is a good chance that Russell can finally be the answer at quarterback. He'll get a heavy dose of teaching during this bye week, but you can see where the opportunities were lost and it is surprising considering how much Al Davis loves quarterbacks. The funny thing is that Kiffin prefers Josh McCown, who is probably ranked fourth by outsider personnel men when judging the team's current depth at the position.

McCown, who has injuries to both feet and can barely walk right now, could be released and there would be few takers in this quarterback-starved league. But if the Raiders can't trade Andrew Walter, you can bet multiple teams will claim him, believing he simply needs a second chance.

What the heck is going on?

How does Eagles coach Andy Reid not give young tackle Winston Justice some tight-end assistance in blocking Osi Umenyiora the other night? And how does he utilize three- and four-receiver spread formations on 27 of 66 offensive snaps when Donovan McNabb is getting drilled?

Greg Olsen was the talk of training camp for the Chicago Bears and he doesn't catch a pass against Detroit — Brian Griese dropped back 58 times — and the other summer sensation, Devin Hester, finally catches one pass for three yards. We thought both were supposed to be huge weapons in this offense.

Does anyone remember all those stupid rumors that Bill Belichick was going to cut Randy Moss before the season started because he wasn't practicing a lick. Instead, Moss is on pace for his best season ever with 31 catches for 505 yards and seven touchdowns thus far. Pretty good for a 30-year-old, washed up receiver.

Touching Moment

Cadillac Williams will soon have patellar tendon surgery on his right knee, an operation that might be career-threatening. The Bucs running back is such a well-liked player that every one of his teammates left their bench area during Sunday's game and crossed the field to show their concern and wish him the best. You rarely see such an instantaneous display of support in the NFL, which says a lot about the character of the current Tampa Bay team.

The Bucs are not interested in trading for Chester Taylor from Minnesota, but might be for Mewalde Moore, who has been inactive the past two games and doesn't have a spot with rookie Adrian Peterson running so well. But they will be fine for now with Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham. The best news in Tampa is that quarterback Jeff Garcia still hasn't committed a turnover.

Scary in San Diego

There is no question that Norv Turner and A.J. Smith are under enormous pressure in San Diego, but what about Ted Cottrell's defense? After four games last season, the Chargers had allowed 36 points. This group has allowed 103 thus far. How much does the defense miss Wade Phillips? Sacks are also way down and Shaun Phillips could be seen arguing with Cottrell on the sidelines last week. The defense also looks very vanilla to opposing offensive coordinators.

"It's not anywhere near like getting ready for Jim Johnson's blitz schemes in Philadelphia," said one coach who recently played the Chargers. "Johnson can cause a quarterback problems, but San Diego is relatively easy to prepare for right now."

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7292922
 

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03EBZ06;1687139 said:
There's hope, but drafts have hurt Raiders

John Czarnecki
FOXSports.com, Updated 2 hours ago

There is reason for hope in Oakland these days. A lot of the credit goes to rookie head coach Lane Kiffin and his coaching staff. The Raiders actually resemble a cohesive unit on the field compared to the Art Shell season although there was a huge defensive meltdown at the end of the Cleveland game.

Owner Al Davis must have been screaming when coordinator Rob Ryan called a timeout with 10 seconds left — Cleveland had none — and then decided to drop 10 into coverage and rush only one against Derek Anderson. Had Ryan kept Anderson in the pocket at the Oakland 35, he might have been forced to throw into the middle of the field and the game would have been over.

Instead, Anderson bought time and easily found an open receiver who got out of bounds and put the Browns within winning field-goal range.

Still, my story of Oakland is how Davis missed in the draft, creating a team devoid of young talent that led to four seasons of misery following that embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII.

It started in 2001, Jon Gruden's final draft in Oakland, when Davis ignored Gruden's pleas and chose safety Derrick Gibson in the first round over Todd Heap, the tight end the coach wanted desperately for Rich Gannon. Gruden was sick of Rickey Dudley, a Davis favorite, and we all know what Heap has done in Baltimore — 335 catches and counting. When the Raiders finally released Gibson last season, nobody picked him up.

In subsequent years, Davis used two high picks — ironically, compliments of the Bucs for trading Gruden to Tampa Bay — to seek a tight end comparable to Heap. Doug Jolley and Teyo Johnson are long gone from Oakland.

But the worst draft, considering the talent around them, was 2004 when Robert Gallery was taken with the second overall pick. Gannon was 38 and there were quarterbacks like Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger available. Gannon went down with a career-ending injury in the third game that season and Gallery is not Jonathan Ogden or Walter Jones but simply a good guard.

Jake Grove was the second pick that season, but the Raiders will tell you today that their offense is better with ex-49er Jeremy Newberry at center.

Still searching for a quarterback, Davis passed on Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler in 2005 and picked undersized Texas safety Michael Huff in the first round.

Had Davis, who loves strong-armed quarterbacks, drafted either one of those quarterbacks then he would have been in position to select receiver Calvin Johnson this year instead of the overweight JaMarcus Russell.

There is a good chance that Russell can finally be the answer at quarterback. He'll get a heavy dose of teaching during this bye week, but you can see where the opportunities were lost and it is surprising considering how much Al Davis loves quarterbacks. The funny thing is that Kiffin prefers Josh McCown, who is probably ranked fourth by outsider personnel men when judging the team's current depth at the position.

McCown, who has injuries to both feet and can barely walk right now, could be released and there would be few takers in this quarterback-starved league. But if the Raiders can't trade Andrew Walter, you can bet multiple teams will claim him, believing he simply needs a second chance.

What the heck is going on?

How does Eagles coach Andy Reid not give young tackle Winston Justice some tight-end assistance in blocking Osi Umenyiora the other night? And how does he utilize three- and four-receiver spread formations on 27 of 66 offensive snaps when Donovan McNabb is getting drilled?

Greg Olsen was the talk of training camp for the Chicago Bears and he doesn't catch a pass against Detroit — Brian Griese dropped back 58 times — and the other summer sensation, Devin Hester, finally catches one pass for three yards. We thought both were supposed to be huge weapons in this offense.

Does anyone remember all those stupid rumors that Bill Belichick was going to cut Randy Moss before the season started because he wasn't practicing a lick. Instead, Moss is on pace for his best season ever with 31 catches for 505 yards and seven touchdowns thus far. Pretty good for a 30-year-old, washed up receiver.

Touching Moment

Cadillac Williams will soon have patellar tendon surgery on his right knee, an operation that might be career-threatening. The Bucs running back is such a well-liked player that every one of his teammates left their bench area during Sunday's game and crossed the field to show their concern and wish him the best. You rarely see such an instantaneous display of support in the NFL, which says a lot about the character of the current Tampa Bay team.

The Bucs are not interested in trading for Chester Taylor from Minnesota, but might be for Mewalde Moore, who has been inactive the past two games and doesn't have a spot with rookie Adrian Peterson running so well. But they will be fine for now with Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham. The best news in Tampa is that quarterback Jeff Garcia still hasn't committed a turnover.

Scary in San Diego

There is no question that Norv Turner and A.J. Smith are under enormous pressure in San Diego, but what about Ted Cottrell's defense? After four games last season, the Chargers had allowed 36 points. This group has allowed 103 thus far. How much does the defense miss Wade Phillips? Sacks are also way down and Shaun Phillips could be seen arguing with Cottrell on the sidelines last week. The defense also looks very vanilla to opposing offensive coordinators.

"It's not anywhere near like getting ready for Jim Johnson's blitz schemes in Philadelphia," said one coach who recently played the Chargers. "Johnson can cause a quarterback problems, but San Diego is relatively easy to prepare for right now."

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7292922

Mwelde would be a good mwove for the Bucs, if they could get him.

If I'm San Diego, the Cottrell would be first on the chopping block, and I'd do it sooner rather than later. He was an awful hire.
 
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