Hue Jackson Bets the Farm

 Posted by at 2:49 PM  No Responses »
Oct 182011
 

Huge action from Hue Jackson. Aaron Curry last week. Carson Palmer today.

The Raiders gave up a lot for Palmer, but he’s a better quarterback than Jason  Campbell. The Raiders lost Campbell for a significant period of time and were faced with starting Kyle Boller for the rest of the season if they didn’t make a move for a quarterback.

The time is now for the Raiders and Hue Jackson pushed all his chips into the middle by bringing in Carson Palmer. The Raiders have only two picks left in the 2012 draft and with the Carson Palmer trade started dealing 2013 draft selections.

This trade and the moves of the past two seasons setup the Raiders for success going forward. Allow us to examine position-by-position and pick-by-pick and what the future may hold for this team and why the move for Carson Palmer was still a good one.

If the Raiders go far in the playoffs under Palmer those draft picks become low in each round and with most of the young players on the roster locked up for the next two seasons the time is now for the Silver and Black. Below is a snapshot of the Raiders outlook going forward.

2012 Draft
1st: Carson Palmer
2nd: Taiwan Jones and Joseph Barksdale
3rd: Terrelle Pryor
4th: Jason Campbell
7th: Aaron Curry

Compensatory Picks for Nnamdi Asomugha, Robert Gallery and Zach Miller should net a third and up to a fourth-round pick.

2013 Draft

1st: Palmer if team gets team to AFC Championship game*
2nd: Palmer if the team doesn’t  get to AFC Championship*

*Conflicting reports as to the compensation.

Notable 2012 Free Agents

Michael Bush – Will he be content to be a backup or will he be able to get a mega-deal elsewhere? Time will tell and he could be a casualty of the Raiders cap situation.

Chaz Schilens – His injuries really sidelined his career. He could be retained for cheap as a backend WR.

Tyvon Branch – Is Mike Mitchell ready? Has Branch taken the leap that the Raiders have wanted him to make? Either way, he shouldn’t command a large amount

Marcel Reece – He’s a fullback and the Raiders will pay him well for that position.

Jason Campbell – He’ll find a new home next season. Good dude, average quarterback. Unfortunate circumstances.

Quarterback

Carson Palmer is the guy now and for the next few years. Pryor will be given the Aaron Rodgers treatment.

Runningback

Darren McFadden and Taiwan Jones. Michael Bush is unknown going forward. The Raiders will need to add some depth at the position, but as long as McFadden is healthy this is still the biggest strength on the team. Reece will be back next season as well.

Receiver

Darrius Heyward-Bey, Denarius Moore, Jacoby Ford, Louis Murphy are all under contract through 2012. Those guys are the anchors of this group and Chaz Schilens and various other will fill it out. An exciting young group that was a huge weakness just two seasons ago.

Offensive line

Very young group that has come together nicely this season. The Raiders will eventually ease Bruce Campbell and Joseph Barksdale into the mix on the left side. Needs to add depth, but they should be able to find quality depth for cheap on the free agent market if needed.

Defensive line

Richard Seymour is around for at least two more seasons along with Tommy Kelly. The Raiders defensive line may begin to show signs of age in the coming seasons, but as it stands now this is a strong group. Expect the Raiders to re-tool the defensive line in the 2013 draft.

Linebacker

Rolando McClain is playing in his sophomore season so he has at least two more seasons before the Raiders look elsewhere. Kamerion Wimbley just signed a new deal and the Raiders think they can make something out of Aaron Curry. The group still needs depth and there are some questions here, but it isn’t the most pressing need on the team and the Raiders can likely address it without a high draft pick.

Cornerback

Stanford Routt signed a new deal and the Raiders drafted two corners in Demarcus Van Dyke and Chimdi Chekwa. The position needs depth. When one player goes down the Raiders turn to free safety Michael Huff as a corner. If there is one position to worry about not having many 2012 draft picks it is at the cornerback position.

Safety

Michael Huff signed a new deal this offseason. Branch is a free agent in 2012 and unless the Raiders feel like Mitchell can play at the same level as Branch he’ll likely be the Raiders top priority going into 2012.

Pryor Will Successfully Appeal Suspension

 Posted by at 9:26 AM  9 Responses »
Sep 042011
 

It is common belief that Terrelle Pryor was suspended five games by the NFL because of his miss steps at Ohio State. This is simply untrue. Terrelle Pryor was suspended five games for not following the rules of the supplemental draft entry process.

Pryor hired Drew Rosenhaus before he was ruled ineligible for the first five games at Ohio State. Based on the rules of the supplemental draft Pryor should have been ineligible for entry.

The power of the media and his agent put the league in a tough position. Instead of doing what they should have done and forced Pryor to sit for a year, the NFL allowed his entry while trying to appear tough.

There are basically two arguments Pryor will be able to make to get the suspension lifted.

1) The NFL is punishing Pryor because they chose to not follow their own rules. There is no precedent or rule that allows for any such suspension.

2) The five-game suspension is the NFL is punishing Pryor for his college mistakes. This is also unprecedented.

The NFL should have forced Pryor to sit out the season. They didn’t and punished Pryor for making an exception. The five game suspension was intentionally the same number of games as his college suspension to hide the fact that the NFL really should not have allowed his entry at all.

This was a major mistake by the NFL. Now the NFL has a player who should have never been drafted with a NFL contract.

Why is this important? When Mike Williams and Maurice Clarett tried to gain entry into the draft the NFL would not budge. The players fought through the courts unsuccessfully to gain entry.

Players in the future will now be able to leverage this situation into allowing their entry into the draft. If the NFL denies their entry it will put the league at risk of losing a court case with unknown and potentially far-reaching consequences.

To mitigate the risk of any such court case the NFL will now lift Pryor’s suspension and say to the world that they were wrong to suspend Pryor for his college conduct even though that is not the reason he was suspended.

If the NFL chooses to stand tough on the issue they will likely lose in arbitration and re-open the can of worms.

It is now to the league’s benefit to lift the suspension and move on and that is just what they will do.

Hue’s Challenge: Develop Terrelle Pryor

 Posted by at 12:06 PM  4 Responses »
Aug 242011
 

Yes, the Raiders selected Terrelle Pryor with a third-round pick in the 2012 draft via the supplemental draft.

Most scouts believe Pryor isn’t a great fit as a quarterback in the NFL, but the Raiders didn’t waste a third-round pick to immediately covert him to receiver.

Pryor is lucky enough to possess elite physical tools. He ran a 4.4 second 40-yard dash at 6’5″ and 230 pounds. While he has a long way to go as a quarterback, he has all the needed physical tools to be successful.

With no long-term solution at quarterback on the roster, the Raiders are wise to take the chance on Pryor. If the team doesn’t feel like he is progressing as a quarterback he can be converted to receiver down the road.

Hue Jackson and Al Saunders will attempt to mold Pryor into an NFL quarterback and they have a few good things going for them. Pryor is motivated to be good. He’s not receiving a $30 million signing bonus and will need to put in the work to earn a big payday.

Warts aside, Pryor loves football and if he puts in the work the Raiders may indeed have themselves a quarterback. Pryor chose Ohio State because he believed they would prepare him for the pro game.

Pryor can also have an impact in special packages until he is ready to take the reigns of the offense. Putting Pryor on the field and giving the defense another player to worry about is never a bad idea.

It was a wise decision to take the chance on Pryor now, with no quarterbacks on the roster with contracts past the current season.

This isn’t wise because as history suggests the Raiders are unable to develop a young quarterback.

The Raiders haven’t developed quarterback since Jim Plunkett and even in Plunkett’s case you could argue he just wasn’t put in the right situation before he came to Oakland. It’s been a long time since the Raiders have developed a franchise quarterback and the Raiders haven’t selected the easiest of candidates to develop, Pryor is no exception.

Pryor will need to clean up his mechanics, make better decisions and learn the offense before the Raiders can lean on him as starter. He has a long way to go.

In many ways Jason Campbell is more typical of Raiders quarterback, an outcast veteran that didn’t have much success at his prior stops. Chances are if Campbell is effective in 2011 the Raiders will give Pryor a full two seasons of development before trying to turn to him as the guy to lead the team.

Risk is all about money committment and the new draft process and rookie wage scale made Pryor a low-risk, high-reward option for Al Davis and he instantly becomes the Raiders only long-term option and the pressure will be on the coaching staff to make something of Pryor as a quarterback.

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