Preseason Profile: Rolando McClain, LB

 Posted by at 12:00 PM  2 Responses »
Jul 062012
 

Rolando McClain #55

College: Alabama
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 254 lbs
Arm Length: 33″
Hand Size: 9 3/8″

 

40 Yard Dash: 4.69
3 Cone Drill: N/A
20 Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bench Press: 24 reps
Vertical Jump: 35″
Broad Jump: N/A

 

In the last decade there have been a lot of Raiders first round picks that were scrutinized far before they ever put on a uniform. A lot of the scrutiny was justified, but should not always be directed at the player. After all, the players can’t control where they are selected. Rolando McClain “broke the mold” if you will, when it comes to first round picks by the Raiders though. He was thought of by many to finally be one of those “sure thing” draft picks. Well the start of McClain’s career in the NFL has been anything but “sure”. McClain struggled to make the transition from a one gap linebacker in Nick Saban’s 34 defense at Alabama to a two gap linebacker in the 43 defense the Raiders ran in his first season. Those struggles are understood on some levels. Making the transition to the NFL is tough enough without having to learn a completely new scheme and be counted on as a day 1 starter your rookie season. However, this is the big league’s now and sympathy is hard to come by.

In year two, it was a fresh start for McClain. After getting a year under his belt and time to adjust to all the changes it was time for McClain to settle in and begin his dominance, right? Well, it didn’t exactly turn out that way. While McClain showed his ability at times during the season, he was inconsistent at best and did not progress much from year one. He struggled mightily in pass coverage, got caught out of position far too often and at times did not shed blocks in the run game as you would expect out of your “star” linebacker.

Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that no excuses should be made for McClain. He is getting paid big money and he knows what is expected of him. However, you do have to keep in mind a couple of things. First, McClain did play the majority of the season on a bum ankle. How bad it really was is tough to know, but it was obvious at times that it was bothering him. Some guys will get the benefit of the doubt, and will be seen as a “team” player for playing hurt, but patience is wearing thin for the guy who was supposed to help restore a run defense in Oakland. Second, the Raiders defensive scheme was one that had many people scratching their heads throughout the season. It certainly did not put players in the best position to be successful the majority of the time.

To steal a line from head coach Dennis Allen, “At the end of the day…” the players have to go out and perform and McClain did not perform up to standards. To make matters worse, McClain is now facing jail time for assault charges stemming from a fight he was involved in back in Alabama. Luckily for McClain, there is a new regime running the show, and they are willing to forget the past and give everyone a fresh start. An opportunity McClain better take full advantage from.

Despite the negatives that have shown through in the first two years of McClain’s career, there is still no doubting the talent he possesses. It’s up to him to put in the work so that the talent shows up on Sundays. He has some things working in his favor this season though. Dennis Allen has made it clear that he wants to mix in some 34 looks this season. That should put McClain in more of a comfort zone as a one gap linebacker. He will also probably be asked to cover down field less and focus more on short zone’s and run defense. He also excels at blitzing, which is something the Raiders plan to do a lot this year. McClain belongs in an attack style defense where he can trust his first instinct and just go out and play. His third season should tell the Raiders everything they need to know about their young linebacker.

Was he a product of a great system at Alabama or is he primed to breakout and become one of the future stars at inside linebacker?

Are the Oakland Raiders Rebuilding or Reloading?

 Posted by at 3:11 PM  2 Responses »
Apr 012012
 

With new management in Oakland comes many changes including personnel, schemes, philosophies and even media relations. By nature change tends to make people uneasy. It’s hard to get that comfortable feeling many fans are looking for this time of year when there is so much change happening all at once. Many will agree that change is not always bad, but its the unknown of it all at the present time that make it tough to grasp. While I would love to answer the question of whether the changes are good or bad, the fact remains that only time will tell the whole story of how they will impact the franchise.

As I mentioned earlier personnel changes are part of the whole process and many player decisions are being made. On the surface it seems that the Raiders are just unloading bad contracts which leads many to believe the Raiders are just rebuilding for the future. Its understandable where that thinking is applied, but lets take a deeper look into the player changes to this point.

Quarterback:

In week 6 of last season, Jason Campbell broke his collarbone. Very soon after the Raiders traded for Carson Palmer and it was at that point that everyone knew who the future starter was of the Oakland Raiders. The loss of Jason Campbell to free agency comes as no surprise. Out of no disrespect to Jason, the Raiders did not pursue him as a backup. They gave him the opportunity to go seek another starting job elsewhere. The market did not develop for Jason and he signed a contract with the Bears to backup Jay Cutler. As fans, the first reaction is “why not come back to Oakland as a backup”? No one will really know how both sides felt about the situation, but one thing is clear. Jason Campbell has a lot of close friends on the Raiders roster, many of which are wide receivers. If the Raiders are moving forward with Carson Palmer as the leader of the offense, then everyone has to rally behind him and believe that he is the man for the job without question. Jason is a good guy, but knowing he might still be the starting quarterback of the Raiders had he not broken his collarbone would always leave the sense of “what if” with the team. It was best for both sides to move on and start fresh.

Last seasons depth chart at quarterback consisted of Jason Campbell, Kyle Boller and Trent Edwards to start the year. Terrell Pryor was serving his suspension as handed down by the league, and later replaced Edwards as the third string quarterback. Once Jason Campbell went down two things became very clear.

1) Kyle Boller was not very good, which was assumed by his past failures.

2) The Raiders coaching staff had no faith in Boller’s ability to lead the team and remain competitive.

It was no secret that Boller would not return as the backup quarterback the next season which brings us to the present. Last year’s starter Jason Campbell has been replaced by Carson Palmer. For the time being Terrell Pryor takes over as the backup, but will have competition in camp when the Raiders add another quarterback.

From last season to this season, I don’t see any drop off in talent at the quarterback position.

 

Running Back:

One of the big story lines this off-season was the fact that Michael Bush was a free agent. He was a fan favorite of many because of his size and power, and he and McFadden gave the Raiders backfield that “Thunder and Lightning” combo. As much as Reggie McKenzie would have loved to have Michael Bush back as the Raiders backup running back, he knew it wasn’t going to happen at a cost he wanted to pay. Bush received 3.5 million per year over 4 years to back up Matt Forte in Chicago. That is a perfect example of “overpaying” for a position in this league. Something the Raiders are not looking to do anymore.

Michael Bush got his share of carries last season due to the injury of Darren McFadden. He finally got his chance to showcase his value to the whole league, while working as the primary running back in Oakland’s offense most of the season. He carried the ball 256 times for 977 yards with a 3.8 yards per carry average. There were only 8 running backs in the league last year with a lesser yards per carry average who had at least 100 carries. It’s hard to argue with numbers and as much as Bush was loved by the Raider Nation, Reggie did the right thing in letting him walk.

The Raiders later traded for Mike Goodson of the Carolina Panthers. Goodson was buried on the depth chart in Carolina behind DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. He is a much different back than Bush so it’s not really an apples to apples comparison between the two. Mike Goodson missed most of last season with a hamstring injury, so looking back at 2010 Mike Goodson carried the ball 103 times for 452 yards with an average yards per carry of 4.4.

With the Raiders once again moving  back to the zone blocking scheme under new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, Goodson should be a good fit in Oakland. He is a one cut and go type runner which is exactly what you need to be in the ZBS system. He has the agility and speed to make big plays from the running back position as well, but will have to work on his ball security.

Not to be forgotten is Taiwan Jones who is working very hard to prepare for his Sophomore season. With one year in the pro’s under his belt now he should be ready to make his contributions to the offense as well.

Overall, while the Raiders will lose some power at the running back position, they also gain some explosiveness, and the overall production from the position should not decrease at all.

 

Tight End:

Kevin Boss was brought in last season to fill the void left by Zach Miller. Boss had high expectations to live up to after Miller had so much success in Oakland, and fell very short of meeting those expectations. Boss was mainly used as a blocking tight end and only caught 27 balls and 2 touchdowns on offense all season. He added a touchdown catch on a fake field goal as well. Giving that his contract was for 4 million per year over 4 years, its obvious his production did not line up with the money he was making. In their lies the reason in which he was cut. Four million dollars per year is way too much to being paying for that kind of production.

The Raiders will not have trouble replacing that production at tight end with Brandon Myers proving he is very capable of blocking and David Ausberry quickly emerging as a threat in the passing game from the tight end position. Reggie McKenzie also made it known that if he finds a tight end he likes, he won’t hesitate to bring him in as competition as well.

I don’t see the Raiders losing any production from the tight end position going forward, and with some younger guys developing their game it could soon become another dynamic position for the Raiders offense.

 

Corner back:

Stanford Routt’s release was the first big bang of the Reggie McKenzie era. Routt was a solid man to man corner back even though he led the league in penalties and surrendered 8 touchdowns to opposing wide receivers last season. However, it didn’t take anyone (including Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen) long to figure out he was being overpaid. Not only was he being overpaid for the current season, but he still had 4 years left on his contract averaging about 10 million per year. That alone had a lot to do with his release, but was not the only factor.

Routt built his entire game around playing bump and run man coverage. As part of the changes taking place in Oakland, the Raiders will be moving away from the philosophy of running strictly man to man coverage on defense. That change even further devalued Stanford Routt’s services as he had next to no experience in zone coverage. Zone coverage is very different from man to man and not every corner back in the NFL is capable of playing both. Look no further than DeAngelo Hall as an example of that.

The Raiders have brought in four new corner backs this off-season so far. Ron Bartell and Shawntae Spencer both bring a lot of starting experience and history of solid play at the corner back position. While neither player is viewed as a superstar, both are very capable of holding their own in pass defense and have played in similar schemes to what the Raiders will look to do this year. They have combined for 19 interceptions in their career to this point.

Brandon Underwood and Pat Lee were also brought in as players who will get a chance to show what they have in training camp. Both have been in the league for a few years and have shown flashes of talent at times. Reggie knows what he is getting with these two as they were part of the Packers organization as well and wants to see if they can earn a spot on the roster this year.

Overall the loss of Stanford Routt will be extremely softened by the switch in defensive philosophy. Also the additions of Bartell and Spencer might prove to be two very undervalued pickups by the Raiders.

 

Linebacker:

Probably the hottest topic in the Raiders off-season to this point was the release of Kamerion Wimbley. Even though he played out of position for most of his time in Oakland, Wimbley brought an edge pass rush to the Raiders defense that will be tough to replace.

The Raiders recently added free agent Phillip Wheeler and he will likely slide in as the starting strong side linebacker. Wheeler is a very interesting value pickup for the Raiders. He totaled 84 tackles last season for the Colts and was quietly very stout against the run for them, an area in which Oakland has struggled in recent years. Wheeler also brings better coverage skills which was very much a pain point in Wimbley’s game at outside linebacker.

While the Raiders won’t be looking for Phillip Wheeler replace Wimbley’s pass rushing abilities, it is worth noting that while playing linebacker at Georgia Tech he totaled 18.5 sacks in 3 years from the linebacker position. One scouting report had this to say of Phillip Wheeler about his time in college “considered by many as one of the nation’s best-blitzing linebackers”.

The Raiders will need to find new ways to pressure the quarterback this year, but that should not be a problem under new head coach Dennis Allen as he thrives in that department. What the Raiders lose in pass rushing ability from Wimbley, they gain in run support and pass defense with Wheeler. With new defensive coordinator Jason Tarver and Dennis Allen dialing up blitzes on game day, getting after the quarterback should not be a problem for this defense going forward.

 

So to answer the question of…”Are the Raiders rebuilding or reloading?” I’ll let you be the judge.

 

 

 

 

 

A Deeper Look Into Roster Decisions

 Posted by at 8:58 AM  No Responses »
Mar 022012
 

This is the time of year where general managers earn their money. They are paid to make the right decisions for the team, whether it’s the most popular one or not. It is also the time of year when fans like to express their feelings on how the roster should be shaped. While the Raider Nation does know the Raiders very well, the reasoning behind each decision goes way deeper than whether or not the player fits under the salary cap. Here are just a few of the questions that coaches and general managers have to answer before making a decision on any given player.

How does the player fit into the scheme?

The amount of success a player has on the field has a lot to do with how their skill set fits the scheme they are playing in. The Raiders are in the middle of a complete overhaul this off-season. There are changes across the board from new general manager all the way down to the strength and conditioning program of the players. Those changes bring even more uncertainty when your trying to gauge a players worth. The role that each player played last year may or may not be the same role that they will play in 2012 and that has to be taken into account when trying to decide whether to keep them or not. Take a look at Stanford Routt’s situation. Routt has been strictly a man to man bump and run corner his entire career to this point. It’s no secret that while the Raiders will probably run some man coverage, they will run a lot more zone in 2012 making Routt’s skill set not a great fit for the new defense. Factor that into what he was making and it made it pretty easy for Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen to decide to part ways with him regardless of the fact that he is talented.

Is he a three down player or a “specialist”?

Often times when you read scouting reports on defensive college players you here the phrase “is he a three down player?”. Players that are not “three down players” will only play in certain situations that fit their skill set. A pass rushing specialist will often times come in the game on third and long when you don’t have to worry about the run as much and they can focus on getting after the quarterback. On the flip side, a run stopping specialist will often times play on early downs because the likelihood of a run is higher, and then subsequently come off the field on long yardage downs. A player that can play every down for a team is obviously of more worth than a player who is only good in certain situations so that has to factor into the decision of keeping or cutting the player as well. Teams have to be careful about wrapping large amounts of money into a player who can only be on the field at certain times.

What is the longevity of the player’s current contract?

The players current contract and the longevity of that contract will be considered as well. A player that makes 10 million for one year is looked at a lot differently than a player that is making 8 million per year for the next five years. If you commit to keeping a player this year that has 5 years left on his contract, you have to be aware that you will be faced with the same dilemma the next four off seasons. Do you want to invest more money into a player who you don’t think is a long-term solution or cut your losses and start fresh with a player who you feel fits better into your future and that you can sign at more of a market value?

Who will fill the role vacated if you decide to release the player?

Deciding not to keep a player is only half of the battle. Before you release the player you have, you have to think about how you plan to replace them and what that will cost. Most teams go into the off-season with a certain number of holes they have to attempt to fill. Releasing a contributing player only creates another one. Competing with other teams for players on the open market can get expensive, and with limited draft picks you really have to have a good fallback plan in place before deciding to move on from your current player.

How does restructuring a contract position the team for the future?

The first thought that comes to everyone’s mind when a team is over the salary cap is “We need to start restructuring contracts”. While most of the time that does end up being a big part of the solution, if not done the right way it can set a team back even further the following year. One way to decrease a players cap hit for the current league year is to sign that player to a new deal that is “back loaded”. This means that the player will make very little the first year of the deal to decrease his cap hit, but the contract normally includes a lot of guaranteed money and the subsequent years on the contract are usually for well over market value for the given player. This option is essentially just delaying the problem and creating a bigger one the next off-season especially if you do this with multiple players. Teams that do this a lot tend to be over the cap and in the same position year after year.

Another option is to sign the player to a contract that includes a big signing bonus. Signing bonuses are prorated evenly over the length of the contract to spread out the cap number, so the teams can essentially pay a large portion of the salary up front without it having a big impact on their ability to sign other players. To most fans that sounds like a fantastic option. Why don’t we just do that with every player, right? Except for one small problem. Some one has to actually write the checks for these big signing bonuses, and it certainly is not you and me. This is where the business side of things comes into play. Shelling out 10 million dollars at a time while restructuring contracts is easier said than done so financials can cause an issue with this approach. I’m sure a lot of you read the blurbs about Al Davis selling off minority shares of the team in the latter years of his life. Something to keep in mind when thinking about how the financial side of things is taken care of. All the money has to come from somewhere.

There is no doubt that Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen have their work cut out for them, and the decisions they make will have a big impact on how they are perceived by the fans as well as the success of the team. Nothing like hitting the ground running with your new job huh fellas?

 

 

Ranking the Oakland Raiders 2012 Offseason Hires

 Posted by at 4:47 AM  No Responses »
Feb 202012
 

Al Davis carefully planned his estate so his son could retain full control of the team. It will be Mark Davis who leads the team into an era of Raiders football without his legendary father.

Mark Davis waited three months before making any changes on the football side of the organization, but changes were inevitable.

Perhaps the best slogan for the 2012 Raiders would be, “Under New Management.”

The Raiders have hired 21 new people on the football side of the organization and whereas a quality control coach will have little to no impact on the immediate or long-term success of the team, a general manager will have significant impact.

 

21. Eric Sanders, Quality Control – Defense

He’s been with the team for two years and even the most die-hard fan doesn’t recognize the name. Sanders coached linebackers at U.C. Davis for two seasons and he was a psychology major before joining the Raiders. He’ll make copies of play sheets and get the rest of the staff coffee. That’s probably short-changing Sanders, but he sits firmly at the bottom of the pecking order.

Importance: Negligible impact.

 

20. Justin Griffith, Quality Control – Offense

Griffith has mostly followed Greg Knapp around the country. As a player, Griffith followed Knapp from Atlanta to Oakland to Seattle to Houston. He was no longer wanted as a player in 2010 and left Knapp to be a coaching intern with the Seahawks for the 2011 season. He’s well schooled in the zone-blocking system and an ex-player and that may prove to be a valuable resource for the offensive staff.

Importance: Familiar with zone-blocking system. Slight impact.

 

19. John Grieco, Assistant Strength and Conditioning. 

This is Grieco’s first NFL position, but he comes well credentialed and he’ll assist legendary strength coach Al Miller. While the strength coaches are some of the more underrated coaches on the staff, let’s not get carried away putting an assistant strength coach in-front of position coaches.

Importance: Injury prevention and recovery time. Slight impact.

 

18. Keith Burns, Assistant Special Teams

Special teams is the third phase of the game and only one or two coaches are devoted to it. Burns has been coaching for almost 30 years and was believed to be hired as a secondary coach. In fact, his Raiders.com biography says Burns is a secondary coach.

Importance: Impact on kick coverage. Slight to moderate impact.

 

17. Mark Hutson, Tight Ends

Like Burns, Hutson is a veteran of the college ranks. He’ll have the narrow focus of dealing with the tight ends. He’ll likely focus on blocking as he was the offensive line coach at Tulane dating back to Matt Forte‘s final year there.

Importance: Couldn’t hurt to have tight ends that can block. Slight impact.

 

16. Clayton Lopez, Defensive Backs

For the most part the Raiders went to the college ranks to fill position coaches, but the defensive backs coaches are one of the exceptions.

Lopez has a good track record at the NFL level, but he’s  bounced between teams. At the surface, Lopez’s work looks good as his secondaries tend to improve upon his arrival.

Impact: Lopez will not be around long if there is not a noticeable impact on one of the team’s weakest position groups.

 

15. Steve Wisniewski, Assistant Offensive Line

He’s not going to be real familiar with the zone-blocking system Greg Knapp will deploy, but he’s loved by fans and the organization. Wisniewski was a big part of the reason for the surprise Raiders’ offensive line in 2011. His role may be reduced, but the organization realized that he is more than worth keeping around.

Importance: Proven teacher of man-blocking techniques and will help transition to zone-blocking scheme. Noticeable impact.

 

14. Al Miller, Strength and Conditioning

Miller helped teams win four Super Bowl rings. He retired in 2004 to be with his wife who has Alzheimer’s disease. Dennis Allen, who he worked with in Atlanta, recruited him to be strength coach before he had been formally offered the Raiders position.

The strength coach is often overlooked, but strength and conditioning is a big part of injury protection and healing. Miller is one of best in the industry and only stopped to take care of family matters.

Importance: Noticeable impact on injury prevention and recovery.

 

13. Steve Hoffman, Special Teams Coordinator

Hoffman makes a lateral transfer from the Kansas City Chiefs. He inherits two of the best kickers in the NFL. As long as he doesn’t mess with Sebastian Janikowski or Shane Lechler he’ll be a success. His coverage units will be under scrutiny, but perhaps not as much as his field goal team after the Raiders blocked two kicks in-route to a win in Week 16.

Importance: Ability to impact one phase of the game significantly. Noticeable impact.

 

12. Terrell Williams, Defensive Line

Williams is yet another college coach to have been added to the Raiders staff. He wont design the scheme, but Williams will need to get the Raiders front to stop the run, something they haven’t been able to do since 2002. Coincidentally or not, the Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since 2002, which is the last time the team held opponents under 125 yards per game rushing.

Williams coached Cliff Avril and Anthony Spencer, both free agents, during their college years at Purdue. Only one is likely to be available, but the link is worth mentioning.

Importance: Williams will monitor a position needing improvement against the run. Significant, specific impact.

 

11. Ted Gilmore, Wide Receivers

Gilmore has been coaching receivers in the college ranks since the mid-1990s and most recently was coaching receivers at USC. This will be his first stint in the NFL and he’ll inherit a young and talented group of receivers that still need to grow at the position.

The continued growth of the Raiders offense may rely on the receivers and it will be up to Gilmore to make sure Darrius Heyward-Bey, Jacoby Ford, Denarius Moore and Louis Murphy improve on their 2011 seasons.

Importance: Gilmore will monitor a position needing improvement. Significant, specific impact.

 

10. John DeFilippo, Quarterbacks

DeFilippo is another coach that seems to find a home wherever Greg Knapp lands as an offensive coordinator. This time around, DeFilippo will not be saddled with Josh McCown, Daunte Culpepper and JaMarcus Russell as his three quarterbacks.

DeFilippo will have a proven veteran Carson Palmer and a young, athletic developmental player in Terrell Pryor. DeFilippo and Greg Knapp will likely be able to hand-select their backup quarterback of choice. Obviously this is a much better situation for DeFilippo than his previous stint with the team.

Importance: It’s a quarterback-driven league and the Raiders will need to get Palmer playing well and start planning for the future. DeFilippo could make a break a season or multiple seasons with his coaching of the quarterbacks. He’s likely to get assistance from Greg Knapp, without it DeFilippo would have more impact on team performance than any other position coach.

 

9. Kelly Skipper, Running Backs 

Skipper has had opportunities to leave the Raiders and he remains on staff for his sixth season. Skipper has done a nice job bringing out the best in Darren McFadden. McFadden had detractors coming out of Arkansas, but has corrected many of the issues scouts had with him in college while under tutelage of Skipper.

Importance: Significant impact of running game, which also happens to be a key of Greg Knapp’s entire offense.

 

8. Johnnie Lynn, Defensive Backs

The Raiders aren’t messing around with defensive backs or defensive backs coaches. Stanford Routt was released and the Raiders hired two defensive backs coaches with NFL experience.

Lynn comes over from Philadelphia, but he has years of NFL experience. He’s been an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. That experience can be valuable to his superiors.

He’s experienced and has been successful at each of his coaching stops with the exception of his one-year stint in Philadelphia last season. His secondaries have always keyed on getting turnovers and that’s an area of the Raiders defense that most improve.

Importance: His experience and expertise in many areas and track record as a secondary coach will make a significant difference for the entire defensive staff.

 

7. Frank Pollack, Offensive Line

Pollack has been the assistant offensive line coach for the zone-blocking Houston Texans for the past five years. He should have a very good handle both the zone-blocking system and how to teach it to NFL players.

Offensive coordinator Greg Knapp’s entire offensive system is based around the running game and the proper execution of the zone-blocking system. Pollack is a unique find because he’s well-versed in the system and was available. Knapp’s implementation of his system is made many times easier due to the hire of Pollack.

Pollack’s challenge is to team with Steve Wisniewski and get the young Raiders’ offensive line executing the zone-blocking system like they’ve been running it for years.

Importance: Significant impact to a pivotal area of the offense.

 

6. Johnny Holland, Linebackers

Holland was well-respected and well-liked in Houston. He was ousted with the rest of the defensive staff at the end of the 2010 season after a five-year stint as linebackers coach. He was one of the few position coaches at the time that was expected to stay with the team. Wade Phillips apparently had his own guy, so Holland sat out the 2011 season.

Both DeMeco Ryans and Brian Cushing achieved rookie of the year honors under Holland.

The Raiders are in desperate need of a coach that can motivate and challenge Rolando McClain and clean up Aaron Curry’s pass coverage.

Impact: Potentially huge impact on the Raiders defense. Even if the defensive line improves if the Raiders don’t also improve at linebacker they can’t expect to hold opponents to less than 125 yard per game rushing.

 

5. Jason Tarver, Defensive Coordinator

There is no denying that Tarver is a relative unknown. He’s young and has his only experience as a defensive coordinator came last season as co-defensive coordinator for Stanford. He wasn’t the play-caller.

This will be Tarver’s first time calling defensive plays and running his own defensive staff. It’s a good thing that Dennis Allen is the head coach and is likely to have his hands heavily in the defensive game plan. Greg Knapp is mostly self-sufficient on offense and Allen should and will have input on the defense.

It will be interesting to see if Allen allows Tarver to call the defensive plays as he said he would in his introductory press conference or if the coaches Allen was able to hire might have changed his mind.

Importance: The potential impact Tarver can make on team and the defense is significant. The defense was the problem in 2011 and Tarver is the man specifically tasked with correcting the issues although he will work closely with Allen.

 

4. Al Saunders, Senior Offensive Assistant 

The retention of Al Saunders can’t be understated. He’ll be an adviser on offense now and he’s familiar with the personnel and their strengths and weaknesses. He’ll be a valuable resource for Knapp and Allen to draw from for offensive information.

Saunders retention could mean Knapp isn’t going to force the Raiders offense to fully convert in one offseason. If that is the case it bodes well for the young players as the Raiders transition.

The Raiders could be attempting to use Knapp’s zone-blocking running scheme combined with a little more of Saunders’ Air Coryell-style passing game which better suits the Raiders options at receiver and quarterback.

Importance: Potentially large impact on the Raiders offense, particularly Carson Palmer and the passing game.

 

3.  Greg Knapp, Offensive Coordinator

His first stint with the Raiders was a disaster. He didn’t call the plays and he was forced to start JaMarcus Russell at quarterback in his second season. He’s experienced, but that also means he hasn’t been overly successful. In the past, Knapp has fallen in-love with the running game, but his recent stint as quarterbacks coach of the Texans may have reignited a love for the passing game.

Knapp needs to craft his offense carefully to fit the skill set of Carson Palmer. Al Saunders could be a valuable resource to Knapp.

The offense gained respectability under Hue Jackson and Knapp needs to build upon that success. A step down in offensive production is not likely to be well received.

Importance: Knapp has a nice group of players to work with and should be able to put them in position to make plays, but a step-back on offense is likely to be considered a failure.

 

2. Dennis Allen, Head Coach

Not since John Madden have the Raiders had a defensive-minded head coach. Allen comes well-respected from his prior stops in Atlanta, New Orleans and Denver. According to various accounts, it was only a matter of when and not if Allen received his first shot at being a head coach.

Allen’s tasked with taking a roster full of players and getting the Raiders back to greatness. Allen will preach discipline and accountability, two things the Raiders have been lacking since Jon Gruden was traded to Tampa Bay.

Allen has quietly put together a solid coaching staff and the team is hard at work preparing for the draft, free agency and the new era of Raiders football.

Importance: McKenzie’s commitment to Allen for four years and the organizational change marks a sharp contrast to the Al Davis-era. The impact will be significant even if that change does not immediate alter the Raiders win total.

 

1. Reggie McKenzie, General Manager

While Dennis Allen will be the face of the Raiders, it is Reggie McKenzie that will sit behind the curtain and pull the levers and strings. McKenzie will have total control of football operations, but as he’s mentioned multiple times that he wants the Raiders organization to work as a team. McKenzie will listen to input from his coaches and scouts, but when a decision has to be made, it will be McKenzie that makes that call.

McKenzie will let Allen coach and he’ll do what he can to assist his team in any way he can. Much of that has to do with the players that are brought in.

The players are the ones that actually play the game and that’s what makes McKenzie the most important hire the Raiders have made in decades. Ron Wolf suggested McKenzie and his interview with Mark Davis and John Madden went well enough that Mark Davis didn’t feel the need to continue the search.

Importance: The Raiders are committed to McKenzie for years to come. General manager hires are usually not the variety the team wants to be making every few seasons. The most stable franchises at top of the organization chart are also the franchises that are winning the most games.

As published on Bleacher Report 2/20/2012.

Access Denied

 Posted by at 7:26 PM  No Responses »
Feb 062012
 

It’s clear that Dennis Allen is ready to take the reins as a head coach in the NFL. Allen is praised by his peers, he has earned the respect of his former players, he has even been mentored by some of the games finest, but the challenges of being a head coach are never fully realized until you become one. Allen is just getting his first taste of those challenges. Since the day Dennis Allen was offered the job to be the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders, there has been speculation surrounding who he would choose for his staff. Allen is now ready to start answering some of those questions, but the answers didn’t come nearly as easy as he thought they would.

 

Being the last head coach officially hired for the 2012 season and with the majority of the available coaches already finding new teams, Allen was starting from behind. It didn’t affect Allen too much at first because he had a short list of coaches he wanted to bring in. As a head coach, especially a first time head coach, you immediately look for coaches that you’re comfortable with, coaches who share similar philosophies and coaches who you might have worked with in the past. Dennis Allen found his guys and was ready to scoop them up, but in there lies the problem. Teams are not required to let you interview their coaches. In fact they have the right to deny access all together, which is a right a lot of them seem to be taking advantage of.

Allen has been denied access by three teams already during his coaching search. First he was denied permission to speak with current Broncos linebackers coach Richard Smith for the defensive coordinator vacancy. Allen then set his sights for defensive coordinator on Bill Johnson who he worked with in Atlanta and New Orleans before landing in Denver. The Saints were quick to object to that idea as well leaving Allen searching for a plan C to coach his defense. Emmitt Thomas, the Chiefs secondary coach, was named as a candidate for defensive coordinator as well, but it sounded like he removed his own name from contention.

We also learned that the Raiders asked permission to speak with Joe DeCamillis who worked with Allen is Atlanta. Joe is currently coaching special teams for the Cowboys and Allen wanted him to do that Oakland. Dallas once again denied the Raiders permission to interview DeCamillis and once again Allen was left looking elsewhere for a coach.

Dennis Allen will eventually get a complete staff put together, but in the short-term he is experiencing life as a rookie head coach. Now that his coordinators are set, he should find it a little easier to fill out his coaching staff with assistants and position coaches.

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