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Bruce Campbell was recently on Jay Richardson's Radio show and confirmed he would be moving back to tackle in 2011. This is surprising considering the drafting of Joseph Barksdale and the pending release of Cooper Carlisle and begs the question if Mario Henderson and Langston Walker will be retained. It will also be very interesting if Campbell and rookie Joseph Barksdale battle for the starting job at right tackle. The other possibility is the Raiders are sticking Campbell behind Veldheer at left tackle and his opportunity for snaps will decrease even further. It could also be a sign that the Raiders have targeted a guard in free agency and are shuffling the line around to accommodate him.

Raiders wide receiver Louis Murphy was arrested in Florida and charged with drug possession without a prescription, disobeying a police officer and resisting arrest without violence. The drug Murphy allegedly was in possession of was Viagra. The bottle had no label and Murphy could not provide the prescription for it to the police. This marks the third arrest for the Raiders this offseason, following the DUI arrest of Michael Bush and Mario Henderson's arrest for carrying a concealed firearm. All the charges against Murphy are misdemeanors and likely carry nothing more than a hefty fine. Viagra seems like an odd thing for the 23-year-old Murphy to use. Why he would resist arrest for a simple traffic citation?

by Rick Drummond , Profootballfocus.com It’s best to refer to this group as a work in progress. Unfortunately for the Raiders, it has been in that state for several seasons now. In obvious need of an improvement over their 2009 output, the Raider O-line had to be overhauled. Recognizing that, the Raiders began the multi-season process by letting Cornell Green walk in free agency, selecting two linemen in the draft, and hiring a play-caller which freed Tom Cable to spend more time assisting with the line. Four of 2009’s five regular starters returned for 2010 with Green’s former spot at right tackle being the only immediate opening. Langston Walker won that job in camp and held it all season. Khalif Barnes, who was also in the running for the vacated right tackle spot, settled in as the utility player, spending the majority of his time checking into the game as an extra lineman / tight end. Of the four returning starters, only Robert Gallery at left guard was viewed as a fixture, leavin...

Now the hard part; recovering from the win. The Raiders have had the uncanny ability to recover from losses, but a marked inability to recover from a win. Back-to-back wins would be a marker for this team. The concept is simple. Take one game at a time. Win a game, the next week you are 0-0 and looking to go 1-0. Lose a game, the next week you are 0-0 and looking to go 1-0. It’s cliché, but that doesn’t reduce it to rubble. Each team must be able to do both, focus on the next week instead of the prior week. Next week Pete Carroll’s Seattle Seahawks come into Oakland on Halloween. The Raider Nation doesn’t need a holiday as an excuse to dress up, but on Halloween you will get more than your fair share of crazy costumes and the FOX broadcast will love it. A win next week means the Raiders could be playing for the division lead when the Kansas City Chiefs visit Oakland in week nine before a bye in week 10. The Raiders sit at 3-4 and have yet another chance to get back to .500 for the ...

Last season, the Raiders went into Denver and got a win on the back of JaMarcus Russell. Charlie Frye started the game and Russell came in when Frye was injured to lead the Raiders to victory. Michael Bush had 144 total yards and a touchdown. Darren McFadden had 74 yards rushing. Chaz Schilens made the game-winning catch. Brandon Marshall had seven receptions and a touchdown and Kyle Orton went 19/34 for 278 yards. The Broncos couldn’t run the ball that day and haven’t been able to run the ball much this season. The worst rushing offense in the league happens to be doing very well passing. The addition of receiver Brandon Lloyd and subtraction of Brandon Marshall has the Broncos ranked third, behind San Diego and Indianapolis in the NFL. Offense The Raiders may not be able to run the ball on Denver like they did last season. The Broncos added nose tackle Jamal Williams to help with their woes stopping the run and have held five of six opposing rushers under 100 yards. Maurice Jo...

The Raiders wasted an opportunity an opportunity to get to 2-1 last week, while the Houston Texans fell to 2-1 after a loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams will try to rebound in week four and put tough losses behind them on the 100% grass surface at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum this Sunday. These teams are familiar foes, having traded blows each of the past four seasons. The Texans defeated the Raiders 29-6 almost exactly one year ago in Houston. The previous three games were in Oakland with the Raiders winning 27-16 in 2008 and the Texans defeated the Raiders in 2007 and 2006. Offense The Texans pass defense has surrendered 369 yards per game through the air in the first three weeks, having played Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo. Bruce Gradkowski has the opportunity to expose the Texans young secondary with a big day. The Texans have surrendered pass plays of 60 yards or more in each game this season. It is possible the quality of quarterback...

Duds Jason Campbell (+6/-7) Overall -1 Old habits may die hard for Campbell. The Titans found and used a tell in Campbell's game. He tips pass plays by sinking and sliding away from center just before he snaps the ball. This was the case in Tennessee and at various points last year. This puts the offensive line at an disadvantage, as they begin their rush as soon as Campbell sinks. The offensive line is put as a disadvantage and this group of offensive lineman aren't very good to begin with. Correctable, but a very poor habit. Cooper Carlisle (+0/-8) Overall -8 Carlisle was the worst of the offensive lineman. Even Mario Henderson held his ground in pass protection better. He was blown into the backfield by the bull rush, blitzers just went around him and on more than one occasion Carlisle just blocked the wrong player. In some cases Carlisle would disengage his blocker to help out Langston Walker, leaving his man to pressure Campbell. It would be hard to imagine Daniel Loper or...

If the Raiders expect to win more than five games behind the current offensive line, they are mistaken. There were silver linings in the loss, but there are no moral victories. The Raiders stunk up LP Field in Nashville. A rotting corpse may smell better than the Raiders did during a 38-13 spanking. The Raiders didn’t just get beat by a better team. If they did, you wouldn’t have received so many postgame apologies. Richard Seymour and Nnamdi Asomugha weren’t apologizing. Tyvon Branch did and Quentin Groves followed that up. Branch made multiple mistakes. At least one of them resulted in a touchdown. It could be that 14 points are on the hands of Branch alone. How different would the game have been in the first half without the Nate Washington catch for a touchdown and Javon Ringer 15-yard rush for a touchdown? The key to beating the Titans was always to grab a lead and force Vince Young to beat you. The Raiders were doomed if Chris Johnson received 20 or more carries. Johnson re...

What went wrong? An offseason of hope turned to misery when the Raiders were punished in Nashville, Tennessee. The Raiders were beat in just about every facet of football. The most glaring weakness was obvious. The Raiders offensive line could not give Jason Campbell any time. Mario Henderson was the worst offender. Excuses could be made for him, such as how defenders were lining up in the neutral zone or even offsides. Still, Henderson must block the defenders and he simply was doing a terrible job at even getting in front of them. You might also point to rookie center Jared Veldheer, who at times was slow to snap the ball. Langston Walker had a false start and Cooper Carlisle was beat more than once. Even Khalif Barnes when given time at left tackle picked up the wrong man and it resulted in sack of Campbell. Robert Gallery played decent enough, but was hurt in the second half and replaced by Daniel Loper. When the offensive line managed to block for Campbell, the ...

Chaz Schilens will miss 3-6 weeks after undergoing surgery on his knee. He is more than likely out for the opener and likely will also miss the first few weeks of the season. His injury history is now pages long and he can't stay healthy enough to stay on the field for more than a few games at a time. Michael Bush will have a procedure on his left thumb. Tom Cable said he will not wear a cast, but will wear protection on the thumb. This is good news as it may have already been determined that he can play through the injury or wouldn't miss significant time. Michael Bennett may have secured his spot on the roster with the injury to Bush and the injury history of Darren McFadden. Jason Campbell is likely good for the season opener. The more severe injury sustained in Saturday nights game was not the stinger but the right wrist injury from the drive before. This likely isn't an issue, he came back into the game after the injury. The Raiders will be cautious, but I don't ex...

We learned quite a bit about the 2010 Raiders in the third preseason game, often considered a regular season primer. Although the Raiders lost the final score, the score when the bulk of the starters exited the game was 21-17 with the Raiders leading. Bruce Gradkowski played significant time with the starters taking over for Jason Campbell when he was knocked from the game with a stinger. The injury to Campbell is not considered serious. Campbell was hit on the blindside by Travis LaBoy, who blew by left tackle Mario Henderson.  Henderson continues to be a below average left tackle. If the Raiders had a legitimate alternative Henderson would be benched. The only other option is rookie Jared Veldheer. Although Veldheer's talents may be put to better use as the center if Samson Satele misses significant time with an ankle injury. Veldheer failed to diagnose an A gap blitz by Patrick Willis, but otherwise performed well. Langston Walker has been inconsistent at right tackle ...

Preseason is not a time to worry about wins and losses. The coaches aren't worried about wins because too often a score is the result of little to no game planning. The coaches will go back and evaluate every player in the film room, but only a few fans even watch a preseason game more than once. Tom Cable has stated the offensive problems in last week's preseason game were minor things that can be tweaked. That theory will be put to the test today in Chicago. So what should the fans be looking for in the second preseason game of 2010? Since this will be the first action of the season for Bruce Gradkowski, Jacoby Ford and Colt Brennan this will be the first chance the coaches and fans have to evaluate their performance and progression. The poor showing from Jason Campbell and the receivers in last Thursday's preseason win over Dallas will likely bring a more critical eyes to both groups. Darrius Heyward-Bey has missed nearly the entire week worth of practice due to fatigue....

The first preseason game could answer questions or it could create new ones and complicate old ones. There is no way to know what will happen Thursday night in Dallas. More than anything, the coaches want to make it through the preseason without significant injuries. There are plenty of questions that need to be answered and the coaches will start to answer them Thursday in Dallas. Who will win the third running back job: Michael Bennett or Rock Cartwright? Each back has a different style despite similarly small statures. Cartwright being the better special teams player and much more physical. Bennett is a quicker, faster and can get to the edge. This will be a tough call the coaches will have to make. Cartwright is a little more useful as long as McFadden and Bush are carrying the load, but should the third back be pushed into starter duty as it was multiple times last year, Bennett would probably be the back you’d want to have. Will the return game improve? The coaches would p...

The Raider Nation must wait until Monday to begin assessing the team behind the leadership of new starter Jason Campbell. Thanks to Tom Cable’s ‘learning intensive’ practices, the Raiders will not put on pads until Monday. The offense could put the defense to shame in non-contact drills, and with little risk of getting hit or tackled, the offensive players have an advantage. Equally, a poor offensive performance in non-contact drills doesn’t mean much. The coaches could be testing things out and the players are adjusting timing. Enjoy the weekend for what it is, a non-contact, buzz generating walk-through. Sad to say, the Raiders have deprived the fans the opportunity to assess their favorite team for the first four days of camp. Hopefully Cable is right and the learning intensive practices make for fewer mistakes and fewer soft tissue injuries for the rest of camp. Monday is when the assessment can truly begin and questions can be answered. 1) Can the linebackers cover? – This can be ...

There were approximately four major needs the Raiders wanted to address this offseason. 1 - The Quarterback 2 - The Run Defense 3 - The Offensive Line 4 - The Return Game Time will tell if the offseason moves will actually improve these areas, but the Raiders took significant steps to that end. The Raiders have done just about as much as they can do to address the quarterback, the run defense and the return game. The offensive line has some depth, but will Bruce Campbell and Jared Veldheer be immediate starters? Can either play left tackle? It would make sense at this point for both guys to compete for spots at right tackle and right guard. Tom Cable has made comments alluding to this kind of start for the Raiders young lineman. This leaves incumbent start Mario Henderson the lone man at left tackle, with very little competition to push him. The good news: - Both Bruce Campbell and Jared Veldheer have the potential to be a good left tackle - The line has depth - Khalif Barnes and Coope...

The Raiders had a few basic goals this offseason: Improve the rush defense without sacrificing a pass rush, protect the QB, improve the return game, and acquire a better QB. I'm not sure even the Raiders believed they could address all these goals like they wanted to, but they did about as good as you could hope for them to do. There are still lingering questions the Raiders must answer before they play a regular season game in 2010. 1 - Can Rolando McClain play three downs and cover a running back or tight end? 2 - Will Lamarr Houston make an impact against the run in the base 4-3 and 3-4? 3 - How long will it take Jared Veldheer to catch up to the speed of the NFL game? 4 - Will Bruce Campbell put the effort in to improve his technique? 5 - Does Jacoby Ford have the ability and hands to go along with the speed that will make him a good return man and slot receiver? 6 - Will Quentin Groves develop into something more than he was for two seasons in Jacksonville? 7 - Will Jason Camp...

Earlier today I posed the question via Twitter , "Mr. Russell: Are you or aren't you doing the things it takes to be good and win?" I asked the question amid a flood of information regarding Russell missing and/or being late to meetings. Raider Nation would quickly give up on him, if they haven't already, if he wasn't putting in the effort. So what happens? I just so happen catch a clip on Fox Sports Radio where Petros and Money interviewed ex-teammate Dwayne Bowe. Bowe said missing or being late to meetings wasn't the JaMarcus he knew at LSU and that he hadn't heard that to be the case and didn't think it was true. Then comes this excerpt from Mario Henderson's Blog date October 8, 2009. I've had reporters coming up to me all week asking about JaMarcus and why he isn't playing better and all this stuff, but I tell them that the guy is doing everything right in order to try and get better. He gets there early, works hard, watches film an...

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 o...