Raidersblog.com

Mike Mitchell's journey to the NFL has not exactly been the path of least resistance. The strong safety from Ohio University put up some impressive numbers in college including 212 total tackles, 7 interceptions, and 4 forced fumbles. However, like many that come from a lower tier college, Mitchell was met with a lot of doubt because of the level of competition he played against. A player who never seems to be lacking confidence on the field, would need to quickly find an abundance of it in order to make one last effort to prove his value to scouts prior to the NFL Draft. Mike's impressive play on the field was not his only meal ticket though. He also had the measurables that most scouts would drool over. At 6' 1" 220 lbs Mitchell ran a 4.39 forty yard dash and put up 22 reps on the bench. With those kind of numbers he was sure to be noticed by scouts all over the place. The classic workout numbers that sends guys shooting up draft boards every February and making them

Al Pacino said "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer", and that's exactly what I did Wednesday as I traveled to St. Joseph, Missouri to attend Chiefs training camp. The Raider Nation has tremendous dedication and support for their team, but understanding how they match up against familiar foes within the division is taking it to another level, so I went inside Chiefs training camp to bring you an unbiased opinion of what the 2012 Kansas City Chiefs bring to the table. Rejuvenated, a word I would use to describe the 2012 Chiefs squad who had their season derailed by injuries in 2011. They are returning a lot of weapons on both sides of the ball in 2012 and added a few key off-season acquisitions including right tackle Eric Winston, running back Peyton Hillis, and yes former Raider cornerback Stanford Routt. It wasn't long ago that the Chiefs won the AFC West despite the fact that Oakland swept the division in 2010. After an up and down 2011 campaign that ha

The Oakland Raiders are through one preseason game and 11 days of training camp practice and you might have missed a training camp report or two along the way. That's why I decided to make sure you had easy access to all the training camp reports, previews and game reviews that I've done for Bleacher Report over the last few weeks. Make sure you don't miss any of the real action by subscribing to  NFL Sunday Ticket from TheSportsTicket.com . Training Camp Report Day 1  - Includes DeMarcus Van Dyke, Terrelle Pryor and Pat Lee observations, etc. Training Camp Report Day 2  - Includes DeMarcus Van Dyke, Tyvon Branch, Shawntae Spencer and Matt Leinart observations, etc. Training Camp Report Day 3  - Includes Jack Crawford, Carson Palmer, DeMarcus Van Dyke observations, etc. Training Camp Report Day 7  - Includes Shawntae Spencer and Brandon Myers, Desmond Bryant observations, etc. Training Camp Report Day 8  - Spencer, Marcel Reece, Streater, etc. Training Camp Report Day 9  -

Terrelle Pryor was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2011 supplemental draft. It was the late Al Davis' last draft pick for a franchise that he ran for half a century. His last pick was the perfect story book ending to his great career. Selecting Pryor with a 3rd round pick not only fit Davis' mold of targeting the biggest and fastest players, but by selecting him so high he proved once again that he only cared about one opinion and one opinion only, his. That was last year though, and this year the Raiders find themselves with new management and a new agenda for building this team. Where Pryor fits into those plans, will likely be determined by his development over the next couple of seasons. Because last years supplemental draft wasn't until August 22nd, Pryor did not get much practice time with the team in training camp. He also faced a 5 game suspension to begin his first NFL season for his violations of NCAA policy in college. While this is techn

Training Camp. The time year when players have the chance to showcase their off-season hard work, coaches get the chance to put their visions into motion, and speculation begins flying around at an unprecedented rate. Some teams choose to stay the course from the previous season hoping to build on what they have accomplished while other teams turn to change and a fresh start to be their saving grace. Regardless of the route each team chooses to take, the target destination of Super Bowl XLVII remains the same. The Raiders are no doubt introducing change across the board this season as they usher in the "New Era" of Raiders football under General Manager Reggie McKenzie. As part of this new era, much has been made of the obvious changes in philosophy on the field as the Raiders look to get away from their strict man to man base 4-3 defense of the past and look to be spontaneous and more "multiple" on defense in 2012. The change doesn't stop there though as the Ra

Much like the understanding that the NFL has become a passing league, it has also has adopted the "running back by committee" model. In a day and age where running backs seem to be a dime a dozen, teams are less likely to commit to one guy and therefore take on the RBBC approach to the season. With the mindset of having multiple backs sharing the touches, many also assume that each team needs a "speed back" and a "power back". The idea, of course, being that the power back gets the tough yards and wears down the defense while the speed back plays the finesse role and provides the home run threat to the offense. The last few years the Raiders have had the luxury of a backfield that consisted of Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. In some ways, it seemed to be the perfect combination power and speed that would be a nightmare for any defense. Except when you break down the games when both running backs were healthy last year, you saw more of McFadden wearing do

Friday's training camp practice starts at 2:20 p.m. Did you forget what happened the rest of the week or are you still catching up from a busy work week? No problem! Check out these links to my camp report series. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 With training camp underway, our friends at TiqIQ bring you a "limited-time only" offer on discounted tickets from their partners at PrimeSport. Just click the image and use promo code: "TiqIQ" at checkout and you can save 10% off your purchase of Raiders tickets from now thought Sunday, Aug 5th. So take advantage of this deal soon and keep your eyes out for great deals from TiqIQ and PrimeSport throughout the season. Seriously these guys provide an awesome service and it's worth checking out if you are shopping for single game tickets.