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I will be doing a series of Raiders camp position battles throughout the off-season starting with wide receiver. I will continue to update these battles throughout camp as roster events take place such as injuries, cuts, new signings, etc. Here is a list of the wide receivers on the Raiders 90 man roster including links to their player profile and my written summary breaking down each one individually. Denarius Moore #17 Darrius Heyward-Bey #85 Jacoby Ford #12 Juron Criner #84 Eddie McGee #16 Rod Streater #80 Louis Murphy #18 Derrick Carrier #89 Duke Calhoun #14 Brandon Carswell #13 Thomas Mayo #19 Travionte Session #87   I believe the Raiders will carry six wide receivers this season, with realistically 2 spots up for grabs. The amount of prospects the Raiders have brought in speaks to the fact that no one will be handed a job anymore. Performance in training camp will go a long ways in deciding the future of a lot of these young players with the Raiders. The competition at the po...

Darrius Heyward-Bey #85 College: Maryland Height: 6'2" Weight: 210 lbs Arm Length: 38 5/8" Hand Size: 9"   40 Yard Dash: 4.3 3 Cone Drill: 6.8 20 Yard Shuttle: 4.18 Bench Press: 16 reps Vertical Jump: 38.5" Broad Jump: 126"   The projected starter along side Moore is currently Darrius Heyward-Bey. Darrius’ road to this point has been rocky to say the least. After having a forgettable rookie season he has steadily improved his game each of the last 2 years and finally began to “breakout” last year hauling in 64 catches for 975 yards and 4 scores. While there are still many things Heyward-Bey has to improve with his game, there are also many things to like about him. He excels at down field blocking in the running game which is very under-rated by many because it doesn’t show up in a stat line. It’s also hard to find someone to plays harder or has a better work ethic than Heyward-Bey. The improvement in his game reflects those things as well. Much ...

I talk about the division, the schedule and the roster on my drive home. [powerpress]

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...

Allow me for a moment to walk the Raider Nation through a timeline of Hue Jackson's tenure with the Raiders. 2010 Al Davis hires Hue Jackson to revamp an offense that hadn't been good in many years. With the aide of competent quarterback play and a healthy Darren McFadden, Jackson is wildly successful in his first year. 2011 Tom Cable is fired for an 8-8 season and Hue Jackson is promoted to Head Coach. Situation He is working with a roster constructed by Al Davis and defensive coaches hired by Al Davis. October 8, 2011 Al Davis dies and Hue Jackson is forced to take a more active role in managing player personnel because-although unqualified-he is the most qualified person in the building. Mark Davis begins to gather his advisory team or John Madden, Ron Wolf and Ken Herock. Problem 1 Hue Jackson loses his starting quarterback to injury for the season. Jackson knows with the passing of Al Davis that a new front office would be coming in and in all likelihood he would be fired ...

Prediction 1: Matt Shaughnessy will have 10 sacks or more. Result: Shaughnessy played in three games registering 1 sack. There is no way of knowing is Shaughnessy would have made it to 10 sacks and the three games was too small of a sample to project out a full season. 0 for 1. Prediction 2:   Taiwan Jones will have at least two touchdowns longer than 70 yards. Result: Jones also had an injury that derailed what could have been a promising start to his young career. No dice. 0 for 2. Prediction 3: Darren McFadden will have 2000 total yards from scrimmage. Result: Yet again injury hurts he possibility of the bold prediction coming true. McFadden had 768 total yards from scrimmage in seven games. Projecting McFadden's season over 16 games means he falls short at 1751 total yards. 0 for 3. Prediction 4: Darrius Heyward-Bey will catch twice as many passes as he did last year. Result: Twice as many? That wasn't enough for DHB who caught more than twice as many passes and it w...

When the Raiders exit the field Sunday, there are three possible scenarios for the Raiders: Division Champs, Wildcard winners, or out of the playoffs. The Raiders could be division champions with a win and the Chiefs can beat the Broncos, the Raiders could be wild card winner with a win, Bengals loss and either a Jets win or Titans loss. The last scenario is one no Raider fan wants to think about, the Raiders lose or the Broncos and Bengals both win. It's been a very up and down season and the Raiders must win and get a little help to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Perhaps it is fitting that the Raiders would let the possibility of a playoff berth come down to the final game. The Raiders have seemingly given opponent after opponent the opportunity to win the game, if only a few took advantage of the opportunity. The primary issue has been a porous defense, but the Raiders defense played one of their best games of the season in San Diego a few short weeks ago a...

It was such a painful football game to watch a second time that it took three days to get entirely through it. Searching for answers to what happened in Miami, I put some extra focus on finding the performers and pretenders this week, so let's take a look. STUDS Darrius Heyward-Bey Magnificent day from the Raiders' breakout receiver. No he didn't have great yardage numbers or multiple touchdowns, but he was the only offensive weapon the Raiders had on Sunday. He had 21 yards taken away from him via holding penalty on the offensive line and made a highlight one-handed touchdown grab. Knowing how far his team was behind, Heyward-Bey flipped the ball to the official. There would be no celebration of his second touchdown catch of the season. Stefen Wisniewski The rookie has a rough game last week and although the rest of the offensive line crumbled around him he stayed strong. It wasn't a great performance, but no other Raiders seems to qualify for studs this week. Stanford...

Quarterback Carson Palmer is lighting up the field now, and helping to win football games. With the recent slew of quarterback injuries league-wide, you should seriously consider picking up Palmer. He's back in the saddle and playing well, even in the Fantasy world. Last week he threw for 300+ yards, but had one interception. Depending on if you have a league that's focused more on yards than points then play him, however, if you rely heavily on a QB's ability to score, he may not be as beneficial. Last week he threw for no touchdowns, but his stats were great. Again, play him if you're looking for yardage, but do so while accounting for one or two interceptions. Running Backs Michael Bush is a must play this week. Darren McFadden in still out with no word on when he'll return. Rookie Taiwan Jones also did not practice on Wednesday, which doesn't bode well for his chances on Sunday. These factors taken into account, Bush is going to get a ton of carries. While h...

With Jay Cutler going down to injury the Chicago Bears will start Caleb Hanie on Sunday. Hanie has played well in short spurts, but will make his first career start on the road. I'm sure the record for quarterbacks in their first career starts on the road isn't good. The focus shifts on what the Raiders can accomplish on offense versus an opportunistic Bears defense. Rushing Fortunately for the Raiders, the Bears weakness has been against the running game. The Bears rush defense has allowed 4.9 yards per carry to opposing running backs, but only 6 rushing touchdowns. Raiders will want to run the ball in the middle of the field and attempt to pass in the redzone for opportunities to score. Expect Michael Bush to have a big day on the ground, but don't expect too many touchdowns as the Bears clamp down against the run in the redzone. The Raiders offensive lineman must get to the second level in the running game and put clean blocks on Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher to spring...

The Raiders slogged through the second half again and it nearly came back to bite them. A better team may have been able to capitalize on the Raiders penalties, but the Vikings without Adrian Peterson were powerless to do so. The defense looked suspect again and the Raiders offensive line struggled more than they have all season. A few welcome surprises this week and the reappearance of duds from 2010. STUDS Jared Veldheer Veldheer handled Jared Allen on Sunday and held him without a sack for the first time this season. The Raiders finally found their franchise left tackle from Hillsdale College. If Veldheer can handle Julius Peppers this Sunday, he'll start getting national recognition and should get a decent amount of Pro Bowl consideration. Allen did get pressure on Palmer on back-to-back plays in the first half, but Veldheer adjusted and was pushing Allen well wide of Palmer for the rest of the day. On one occasion Veldheer flattened Allen on a run. A great performance from the...

The Raiders success on offense this Sunday in Minnesota relies on the massive shoulders of the offensive line.  The big boys up front dominated the Chargers defensive line last Thursday night, providing big holes for Michael Bush and a solid pocket for Carson Palmer.  But it’s a horse of a different color waiting for them in Minnesota: a big purple horse wearing number 69.   Match-ups To Watch LT Jared Veldheer vs.  DE Jared Allen Jared Allen leads the Vikings front seven.  He is a tenacious, relentless pass rusher, and leads the NFL with 13.5 sacks.  His motor never stops, he has a wide range of pass rush moves and has embarrassed even the league’s best tackles.  He can electrify the loud raucous crowd in Minnesota with one play, and it’ll be up to 6’8” left tackle Jared Veldheer to slow him down.  Don’t expect him to shoulder the burden alone, Hue Jackson will have tight ends Kevin Boss or Brandon Myers stay in and pass block on some plays, and he may also chip Allen with a back....

Quarterback Carson Palmer is a name that is generating a lot of buzz this week, partly because of his solid stat line in Week 10 (299 yards, 2 TD passes, 1 INT). It also has to do with the fact that a lot of quarterbacks are injured in fantasy land (Matt Schaub, Matt Cassel, Michael Vick). Facing off against a depleted Vikings secondary this week, Palmer is a recommended start this week. The Vikings placed cornerback Antoine Winfield in injured reserve and will be counting on Benny Sapp. Unfortunately for Sapp, he will most likely going up against one of the hottest receivers in the NFL in Denarius Moore. With a plethora of options in the passing game, fantasy owners should be able to count on Palmer against a weak Vikings' secondary this week. Running Backs Michael Bush has been a force in the running game, scoring double-digit fantasy games in three straight games. While Darren McFadden has been seen out of his protective walking boot, he has been ruled out for week 11. Fantasy o...

The Raiders really took it to the Chargers on Thursday night and came away with a seven-point victory in San Diego. The Raiders played well and a few players really stood out in a good way and a couple in a bad way. Special mention to the Raider Nation's Southern California division for making the game an extra home game for the Raiders. STUDS Kamerion Wimbley An impressive performance by the Raiders franchise player. The Chargers backup tackle had no answer for Wimbley and the rest of the Raiders defensive line on Thursday. It's a big reason Phillip Rivers didn't look comfortable all night. The Raider Nation has been waiting for Wimbley's coming out party and they were blowing out birthday candle after that four sack performance. Stanford Routt If you wanted to be critical, he was unable to breakup the Vincent Brown touchdown grab. I saw was a heck of a catch and Stanford Routt clawing at the pass the whole way down. Just a superb play by the receiver to come down with...

Quarterback There’s absolutely no way you should play Carson Palmer this week. He’s averaging 3 INTs a week and his yardage certainly isn’t making up for that. He threw for 3 touchdowns last week, but the INTs nearly balance out the point gain. The only reason he should start on your Fantasy roster is if it’s 10 minutes before kickoff, you have no backup and your usual starter is on a bye. Otherwise, no Palmer for you! Running Backs From all appearances, DMC will be out again this week. If you didn’t pick up Bush or Jones, then you didn’t miss too much. Bush had an impressive showing in comparison to previous weeks. He had 96 yards and his first touchdown of the season. That being said, the Chargers are fairly tough against the run, but Bush is going to have the majority of work in this game. Jones, however will get a few touches, but it most likely won’t translate into fantasy points. Consider Bush a strong RB2 this week after back-to-back strong showings. Wide Receivers What in Al Da...

Every year around this time something happens in the NFL, but not usually in Oakland. Al Davis had a grip on the Raiders for decades so it hadn't quite taken root until now. The influence of the Head Coach begins to percolate through the team's play and demeanor. Hue Jackson is making the Raiders an image of himself. Jackson is aggressive and undisciplined on defense and conservative and bland on offense (outside of "trick plays"). Balance is not on his list of personality traits. Hue Jackson’s inconsistent nature only works if he is actively supervised and held in check. Up until October 8th he was. Coming into the Kansas City game, dating back to 2009, the Raiders had an 8-game wining streak inside the AFC West. Now, regardless of what the records say, the Raiders are playing the worst football in arguably the worst division in football. It's still interesting in Oakland, but the attention Oakland is getting is reminiscent of 2002-2009. Darrius Hayward-Bey was i...

Hue Jackson essentially benched Darrius Heyward-Bey, the team's most productive receiver, in favor freshly signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh and rookie Denarius Moore. Moore's production has dipped since taking over punt return duties and was targeted on three of the six interceptions against the Chiefs and another one Sunday against the Broncos. Benching a guy just starting to get confidence is terrible mistake if he is to be part of the Raiders future. Al Davis wouldn't have let this happen and by pulling this move Jackson is essentially urinating on whatever legacy Al Davis left behind. Houshmandzadeh hasn't played a down in months and he gets more action than your top receiver? Palmer is paid to throw the receivers on the roster. Houshmandzadeh was not a terrible sign, but it's subtraction by addition if he plays more than your top receiver. The only valid reason to bench Heyward-Bey was for discipline reasons. By all accounts Heyward-Bey is a model teammate. Jackson h...

Quarterback This position, in regards to Fantasy, is less of a crap shoot than it was two weeks ago, but there's still no way to confidently say play Palmer over other QBs in the NFL. Palmer's play against the Chiefs was not an indication of his future play because he was unprepared and didn't have his go-to: Darren McFadden. He was just trying to clean up Boller's mess. This week he still won't have McFadden, but he will have T.J. “Who's-Yo-Mama” Houshmandzadeh with whom he practiced during his “retirement.” Housh will give Palmer a reliable target that he's comfortable with and can go to on third downs, or any other down for that matter. It would irresponsible to give a definitive “go!” for starting Palmer on your team this week. On the bright side, Tebow will make him look like a pro-bowler again. Running Back All of you who have been reaping the benefits of McFadden's success have probably been drinking yourself to sleep after seeing him leave practi...

Who said there wouldn't be studs and duds because of the bye week? Studs Phillip Rivers Thanks for dropping the ball. The Chiefs are the luckiest 4-3 team in the league right now and the Chargers now have the most difficult second half schedule. A Chiefs win put the Raiders in the driver's seat in the AFC west despite not playing a game. Thanks Mr. Rivers! Raiders Receivers Giving up your vacation to work isn't a choice a lot of people would make. Most of the Raiders receivers stayed to get their timing down with Carson Palmer. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Jacoby Ford and Louis Murphy were together at dinner on one of the off days indicating they stayed behind. It's possible other receivers stayed also. Studs of the bye week. John Fox/John Elway Thanks for sticking with Tim Tebow for one more week. Poor guy might not make it out of Oakland uninjured.   Duds Hue Jackson Stop it. If you wanted to bring in T.J. Houshmandzadeh since the beginning of the season and he was any good h...

Studs Michael Bush While he was stone-walled at the goal line by Derrick Johnson three times he still managed to put up a very respectable game with 99 rushing yards on 17 carries. That's a very healthy 5.8 yards per carry. He managed a respectable game despite little to no threat passing and an early two score deficit. He wasn't amazing, but no one was on Sunday. Darrius Heyward-Bey He snarred another 5 balls for 89 yards and he's the Raiders leading receiver and it isn't close. Heyward-Bey is on pace for over 1100 yards receiving on 72 receptions. Over the past four games Heyward-Bey is averaging 96 yards and 6 receptions. If that trend continues he'll finish the season with 82 receptions for nearly 1400 yards. It probably will not continue at the same level, but it is worth noting. Ten receivers finished the 2010 season with more than 1100 yards and only Brandon Lloyd finished 2010 with more than 1400 yards. The sample is still relatively small, but Heyward-Bey m...