Raiders Draft Recap

 Posted by at 9:53 PM  No Responses »
Apr 242010
 

The Oakland Raiders 2010 draft is over and Raider Nation should be happy.

The Raiders selected productive football players early and saved projects with potential for the later rounds.

Round 1 (8) – Rolando McClain, LB, 6-3, 254, Alabama
Round 2 (49) – Lemarr Houston, DE, 6-2, 305, Texas
Round 3 (69) – Jared Veldheer, OT, 6-8, 321, Hillsdale
Round 3 (85) – Traded to Cleveland for Kamerion Wimbley
Round 4 (106) – Bruce Campbell, OT, 6-5, 310, Maryland
Round 4 (108) – Jacoby Ford, WR, 5-9, 181, Clemson (Acquired by trade for Kirk Morrison & a 5th)
Round 5 (138) – Walter McFadden, DB, 5-11, 175, Auburn
Round 5 (153) – Traded to Jacksonville for Quentin Groves
Round 6 (190) – Travis Goethel, LB, 6-2, 240, Arizona
Round 7 (215) – Jeremy Ware, CB, 5-10, 180, Michigan State
Round 7 (251) – Stevie Brown, S, 6-0, 211, Michigan

2012 Round 4 pick – Traded for Jason Campbell

The top undrafted free agents that should be on the Raiders radar:

Tony Washington, OT, 6-6, 311, Abilene Christian
LaGarrette Blount, RB, 6-0, 241, Oregon
Ciron Black, OT, 6-4, 327, LSU
Jevan Snead, QB, 6-3, 219, Mississippi

Here are the thoughts of Mike Mayock:

“Oakland’s last two picks have been interesting. They got Bruce Campbell and Jacoby Ford, who are typical Raiders’ picks, but they got them at the right time this year. Campbell is a developmental left tackle, with huge upside. Ford is the fastest wide receiver in the draft, and he has return ability too. Also like thier first two picks, Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston, which will instantly upgrade their defense.”

Mandatory Mini-Camp Day 2 Recap

 Posted by at 7:32 AM  No Responses »
May 102009
 

I came down with the Derrick Burgess flu (Chipotle), so I missed the afternoon practice. Also, because I was sick, I’m not going to do a full rundown of the morning practice.

Instead, I’ll post some links. I’ll continue to post on Twitter @Raidersblog and do recaps on the blog.

Jerry McDonald’s Blog Recap

Steve Corkran Article – DHB needs STM and TLC

David White Article – Garcia as a Mentor

Washington Post Mother’s Day Article about DHB and his mother.

Thankfully it’s not as uncomfortable as the story about Frantz Joseph and his mother.

Phil Barber – Mini-Camp Recap

Phil Barber - Garcia article

DHB had a tough practice so tomorrow will be important to see how he bounces back. Hopefully being held out of the evening practice was a precaution and that he will be fine.

Russell has been streaky. Inconsistent might be another word, but so far no one seems to be worried.

I like the calmer atmosphere of this coaching staff as opposed to others. It isn’t like Art Shell, who forbade talking or Kiffin who was constantly running his mouth in camp. Cable is even-keeled, calm, cool, collected, confident. Everything you want in a coach if you are a player.

Hopefully two days and four practices will be enough learning to see some improvement on Sunday. It will take time, I believe Cable wanted to get this new group of players together early and that is why he had the mandatory mini-camp be the first one. He wanted the vets to get assimilated with the new guys. He also might be hoping to get the vets to stay around for voluntary activities.

Mandatory Mini-Camp Day 1 Recap

 Posted by at 6:16 AM  No Responses »
May 092009
 

If you haven’t been following @Raidersblog on Twitter, you need to start. There is just too much good stuff on Twitter not to join and I’m posting mini-camp practice updates in real-time. I’ll only be posting a wrap-up here tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. This is a compilation of the posts today, wrapped into one post.

Participation Report:
Lorenzo Neal is a Raider – Welcome aboard. Happy to have you!
Derrick Burgess is not practicing for unknown reasons – Holdout? Injury?
Zach Miller not practicing – unknown injury
Oren O’Neal – dressed, but not practicing
Arman Shields – dressed, but not practicing
Gary Russell – RB – signs with the Raiders.
Javon Walker watching without a helmet.
Derrick Burgess is now on the field.
Andrew Walter is not getting snaps at QB.
Samson Satele not practicing – pre-existing knee injury
Gallery and McQuistan sit out for no reason at all.

Depth Chart Watch:
Wide Receiver: Heyward-Bey and Schilens
Running Back: McFadden
Offensive Line: Henderson, Gallery, Wade, Carlisle, Green Left to Right.
Starting Safeties: Eugene and Branch
Starting SLB: Jon Alston
Running Back: Fargas and McFadden splitting snaps
Linebacker: Ricky Brown playing backup MLB, Alson first team SLB.
Super Mario 1st Team LT all practice – Tom Cable said it was just because they needed a place to start and that is how he finished the year (Same goes for Green at RT)

Performance Report:
DHB praised by Ted Tollner.
WRs catching the ball well.
Drills are lacking defense. Offense looking good against ghosts.
Tommy Kelly stops McFadden twice at the line
Nnamdi drops Russell pick – Asomugha was covering DHB
Morrison swats Russell pass on stunt blitz – DC John Marshall adding wrinkles already
Gradkowski dropping center snaps – Still no Walter.
Thomas Howard with an INT
Defense tipping lots of passes
Mishandled snaps seemed to be theme of the day.
Chaz Schilens had a nice day catching the ball
QBs are inconsistent, but it is VERY early.
Stanford Routt is faster than DHB, by .03 seconds over a 40 yard span. He made it known.
Michael Bush is still a load to bring down.

Misc Updates:
Mike Mitchell was told to take it easy on teammates. You think the coaches are trying to get him to play more in control?
Javon Walker had surgery the team didn’t know about. I smell injury settlement coming.
Raiders sign Sammie Parker. Walker headed out?
The rookies look like they will get plenty of chances to prove they can play before the season starts.
Neal is talking like a true mentor. I think this is a very good signing, he brings a strong leadership quality lacking since Gannon left.
Passing game was spotty and running game looked crisp by most accounts, but it can be hard to tell without full contact.

Tim Brown: Russell Two Year’s Away?

 Posted by at 7:22 AM  No Responses »
Jun 032008
 

Some of you may have heard the Sports 1140 interview with Tim Brown live from Fred Biletnikoff’s Charity Golf Tournament. Freddie B was interviewed as well and even JT the Brick stopped by to chat. Also, I believe there was a Steve Wisnewski sighting off air.

Tim Brown seems to think that Russell is still two years away from being fully developed and that he could struggle this year. That said, Tim Brown said that when he played he did things to help his developing or weak QBs (Lord he knows better than anyone). IF his QB didn’t throw a certain pass well he ran routes that played to their strengths, etc.

Let us pray that Javon Walker and Drew Carter have that kind of attitude. Tim Brown is a class act, we can only hope any of the players we have are half as classy as Tim Brown.

Mini-Camp starts tomorrow, check back for all the late breaking Raiders detail and analysis.

Notes:

Odell Thurman isn’t really the type of guy the Raiders or Kiffin wants on the team. Good talent, but just not worth the trouble.

Lamont Jordan should have been cut already, if he shows up to camp, the Raiders have a malcontent hanging around our young RB core. That has got to end. Jordan should be gone by tomorrow…will he…anyone can guess.

Travis Henry got cut…and half of the single promiscuous women in Denver cried and promptly put their Prada bags on eBay for some extra cash.

Mandatory Mini-Camp Preview

 Posted by at 6:46 PM  No Responses »
May 242008
 

June 3-5.

We get three days to see a preview of how the team might look. So what can we expect from a mandatory mini-camp?

1. Will Burgess show up? Yes, he isn’t the type of guy who will hold-out. He is unhappy and I suspect he might want to leave when his contract is up, but he isn’t going to be a malcontent.
2. Will Nnamdi sign his tender and show up? No, Nnamdi loses his contract negotiation power if he does. The Raiders REALLY need to sign this guy long term.
3. How will the RB rotation look? I’d suspect they go even carries across the board.
4. Which WR(s) will Russell develop chemistry with? Word was Drew Carter was so far. You’d think Curry has the edge, but in my mind Curry needs to get his act together or he is going to find himself as the #3 WR or worse.
5. Who might be in line to return kicks? JLH, Arman Shields, Tyvon Branch, etc We went from having hardly anyone who could do it to having a team full of them, some might be more prospects, but I’d think we can find a productive returner this year.

News and Notes:

Kiffin a dead-man walking….hardly. I think he realized he needed to be himself and not try to be a Jon Gruden. His enthusiasm seemed a bit on the forced side as Jerry McDonald observed, and I’d have to agree, it seems almost goofy. If anyone saw the locker room video after the first win you’ll see what I am talking about. He just appeared to be too enthusiastic to the point of fakeness. His players hardly responded and any good leader might change his coaching methods. Everything is in the past now. Only a horrible start could cost Kiffin his job.

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