Training Camp, ESPN, Local Beat Writers

 Posted by at 2:48 AM  No Responses »
Aug 052009
 

ESPN is at it again. People who work for ESPN can’t do anything on Twitter. They can tell you they are going to the bathroom or waking up in the morning, but anything sports related will have to go through ESPN approval process. Basically, all the ESPN peoples twitter feeds are nothing more than either A) Boring or B) tools of the empire.

Twelve NFL teams also ban Twitter among players and beat writers during camp. For most teams with open training camp, that means the fans can better use Twitter to communicate things than can the beat writer. The beat writer would have to sacrifice his access to players and coaches to tweet. Now fans will tweet incorrect information that the beat writer would otherwise would have cleared up before tweeting it. Such as why a player sat out a practice, etc.

Thankfully, our beat writers have kept the tweets rolling in from the “private” training camp in Napa. I won’t be too hard on these guys, but there seems to be a disproportionate amount of coverage on Heyward-Bey. Mitchell has probably gotten about much coverage as JaMarcus Russell.

Where are the updates about the defensive line? Where are the updates about the running backs. They seem to be few and far between. Aside from a few WR lower on the depth chart, what other players are on the bubble? This stuff better be forthcoming guys.

Now on the the updates they did provide.

DHB had hands of glue in the evening practice. For the first time he caught the ball consistently. Russell also was looking sharp. Unfortunately, both McFadden and Thomas Howard felt the practice was sub par. Interesting that the beat writers had a different take than those two. What are the coaches saying?

You have to feel good about Tyvon Branch and Mike Mitchell. Our prospects at Safety couldn’t be better.

Mario can separate himself from Barnes if Barnes misses a few practices with a sore knee and ankle. Gallery looks to be fine after his surgery and holding him out is precautionary. Center remains fluid it seems. RT could be Green’s to lose especially if Barnes isn’t receptive to a move to that side.

Thomas Howard admits he put on a couple pounds. Take that for what it is worth.

Kirk Morrison and Fabo (Ravens CB Fabian Washington) like Shark Week on Discovery channel.

I’ll have more…stay tuned.

Russell Party Pics Surface. Weight Question Remains

 Posted by at 6:51 AM  3 Responses »
May 222009
 

Russell Party Pics surface. I’m more concerned about his weight than the drinks he was enjoying. #NFL #Raiders #Russell

I’ve never cared much for people distorting reality. Reality is that pictures are common and if we are at a party there are a few shots being snapped. Recently these photos have been posted on partychaser.com show JaMarcus having a good time. This has nothing to do with his on-field performance. I’m sure Tom Brady has knocked a few back at a party before.

Russell Bling
Russell Weight

The reason I decided to post these photos is more because of the tight white shirt Russell is wearing. You can clearly see quite a round belly.

Maybe the slightly rotund Russell is just what he is, but I wish he would show a little bit of ambition to work that off during the offseason so we aren’t talking about a 300 pound quarterback down the road.

Week 7 Preview: Russell to Chaz “Michaels Michaels” Schilens

 Posted by at 4:00 AM  No Responses »
Oct 192008
 

Well well well,

Schilens is starting over Curry. This is a great thing. Schilens size and speed make him a better outside target and Curry thrives in the slot. Too bad we have Yvonne Walker still will start, catch two passes, and find his divot mark on the bench. I like Schilens and I am glad he is getting his shot.

It has been a while since I posted, my apologies, I had two weddings back-to-back weekends so I was sparred the agony of the New Orleans defeat, or I was live anyways.

The Saints were underrated going into last week. It was my hope the short week/long week thing would go in our favor, but it turns out the Saints took out their Monday night frustrations on us. Too bad.

I don’t think anyone is noticing how poorly our offense has been when McFadden isn’t full strength. Provided he is back to 100% soon, our offense will start rolling. If it wasn’t for some late game collapses, this team could be 3-2. We aren’t, but it is important to notice this, because clearly we can win in this league. We just need to finish games when we get on top.

One thing I would like to see as McFadden gets healthy is splitting him out wide and doing more misdirection. I know the latter isn’t common in our offensive scheme, but I believe anything can be worked in if you believe it can work.

After going back and watching the game, I think Russell obviously has a ways to go. Usually rookies (which we all now have to understand Russell is) take some time to grasp the NFL level. At best, it starts in the second half of the season, see Peyton Manning, and others. Sometimes it takes longer. We shouldn’t give up on Russell and I think Cable and Knapp used last week as a test for Russell, to see where he is at. It can be tough to determine what a young QB is good and bad at without seeing it in a game. That should mean more of what Russell is good at and the coaches can work with him on the bad and slowly work that back into the offense as he gets better.

You can either grow with the young QB, or hide him until he is ready. I believe this is one area Cable and Knapp may have disagreed with Kiffin. Obviously Kiffin had to win, so hiding Russell and trying to win by running was his only hope. Cable thinks this team can win and I think they can as well, because Russell will probably be inconsistent, but that can also mean he could get hot.

I know this is a stretch, but remember that one night back in training camp where Russell was lights out great? What is going to happen when that happens in a game? It will in time, we just don’t know when.

When the Raiders Have the Ball:
Passing:
We don’t know when, but if Russell is going to have a good game, one would assume a game against the secondary of the 28th rated pass defense in the league would be the time to do it. Also, opposing QBs have a 89.9 Passing Rating against the Jets, only a fraction ahead of the Raiders at 90.5. Good for 21st and 22nd in the league respectively. If the passing game is going to wake up now is a good time. The secondary for the Jets is average at best.

Rushing:
Running the ball could be a much more daunting task as the Jets are third in the league with only 69 yards game allowed on the ground. However, I don’t believe the talent lives up to this ranking. Kris Jenkins could cause big problems for Jake Grove, but usually the tackles in the 3-4 don’t hurt us and the Jets don’t have the talent at LB to do significant damage to Green or Harris. Gholston isn’t starting and Jay Richardson has said off-the-record (Not to me) that Gholston could be so much better if he worked hard, but he doesn’t. Also, the Packers haven’t faced a ZBS (Zone-Blocking Scheme) yet this season. McFadden is getting healthy, don’t temper expectations too much, but don’t expect the world either. 163 yards and a 1 TD is a pretty good prediction from Accuscore.

When the Jets Have the Ball:
Passing:
The secondary will be tested with Cotchery and Coles. Both have the ability to do some damage to our Hall and Huff/Eugene. The good thing is that Farve is crazy enough to throw to Asomugha’s side and his propensity to be a bit of a gunslinger could be big for our talented Linebackers. Brett Farve is statistically having a career year completing 71% of his passes with a rating of 103.0. He is on pace for the most TDs in his careers and in line with his career average in interceptions. He will give up those turnovers, and only failed to throw and INT in his week one debut against the hapless secondary in Miami. The good news here isn’t just the turnovers, but that sooner or later, he is going to have a game that drags these numbers down to his career levels.

Rushing:
Thomas Jones hasn’t been scaring many people lately. He is a average starting RB in this league and the Jets only average 86.4 YPG on the ground. Our much improved run defense is allowing 115 YPG. I don’t expect them to get much going on us on the ground, and the hope here would be more Farve passing means more turnovers and less amount of time the defense is on the field.

I’ve listened to many people this week that think the Raiders match up very well against the Jets. Numerous people have picked the Raiders as upset winners. I can also tell you a lot of betters like the Raiders this week.

I’ll be headed out to the Collesium EARLY Sunday. I’ve never been in the Press Box in Oakland, I’ve heard it is a small and cramped, we’ll see.

Pre-Season Game 1: Battle of the Bay

 Posted by at 5:33 PM  1 Response »
Aug 092008
 

I was at the game, so this is from a live perspective this time around. I should attend a number of games this season, although I don’t forsee another pre-season game in me.

I got to see the rotations and I paid very careful attention to the RB rotation.

Fargas played only against the starters, and struggled a little bit, but he ran hard and it wasn’t as if we were tipping our hand as far as running plays go. Solid. He had a couple nice gains. I find it hard to believe Fargas isn’t going to get banged up and hurt again the way he runs, but at least we have some nice young backs to back him up this season.

McFadden got a few carries against the starters and looked really good. It wasn’t flashy, but he only got one outside run the whole game and never lined up as a WR nor was he thrown a screen pass. He runs hard and fast and its only a matter of time until he breaks some big ones. McFadden also got rotated with Bush against the second string defense (With second string offensive line) and did just as good. We should probably take it easy on him the rest of the preseason, we need to keep this backfield as healthy as possible.

Bush was a pleasant sight to see, he runs hard and breaks a few tackles. It was against second and third string guys (With our second and third string offensive line) so take that for what it is worth. He looked good and I think he was happy to get some real contact for the first time in two years.

With all of that said, Fargas contract only pays him like a starter for this season, after that he gets paid like a backup and has a contract we could easily get rid of. The plan is the use this year to get the young backs feet wet and turn them loose together next season. Fargas could stay on as backup or get traded/released.

The offensive line looked suspect in pass protection again. Russell had a number of plays where the pocket collapsed around him. It was terrible, but a young QB is going to need as much time as possible to make his reads. Russell undershot the long pass in the first series, had he really air mailed it he may have had a very long touchdown. Overall, he looked poised, and I was glad Kiffin didn’t leave him in there with the second stringers, too much injury risk. The timeout on the second play of the game is hopefully just a preseason hiccup.

Tommy Kelly looked good early, he ran out of gas a little in the second series, but I think as he works into shape that will be a thing of the past. J-Rich also looked like he was getting pressure off the end, maybe he will be an everydown player I think he can be this season as opposed to next.

The backups at virtually every position on the defense looked weak. Routt actually looked solid even though the INT was easy he blanketed WR well and the offense picked on the safties and other corners before they even considered going after Routt. His mistake was running laterally after getting the INT. IF he runs north-south he gets to the 10-15 area instead he doesn’t go anywhere and fumbles on the three.

Nice to see Terdell Sands run across the field and recover the fumble. When he landed on the ball it disappeared into his abdomen, the refs are still looking for it.

Higgins was my highlight of the night. Punt returns aren’t easy and both returns were good with the block in the back not even effecting the first return. The only thing is he didn’t beat the kicker on the first one, I could run over Andy Lee. Still if his fumble problems are behind him, it looks like the return game could be much improved.

Mario Henderson had another bad game, looks to me like we might have to write this guy off as a bust of a pick. IF Tom Cable can’t get the guy to play better (Like he has every other lineman) then who can?

Walter had a nice game and although not smooth did well at the rollouts and bootlegs. Tui was okay, but unimpressive. Walter appears to be the front runner for the backup job at this point.

Walker failed to go up and get the ball and it slipped through his hands. ON another play he failed to turn on any extra bust to catch up to a well thrown fade route. Not inspiring. He needs a fire lit under him. Would be nice to see Russell call him out, but I know that is wishful thinking.

Was disappointed not to see Curry out there, with his job threatened you’d think a slightly tight hammy would keep him from two series worth of plays.

Tony Stewart had one really nice catch through the middle. Madsen was again absent from Kiffin’s plans, something I still don’t understand when you have so few options in the passing game. Then again Miller didn’t really see any balls his way either.

Rankin had that long run and looked quick, but when touched lightly he went down without much of a fight. Auditioning for practice squad or another team. I don’t expect him to make the roster unless someone gets hurt, then he still would have to beat out Adimchinobe Won Konobi.

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