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Mike Mitchell's journey to the NFL has not exactly been the path of least resistance. The strong safety from Ohio University put up some impressive numbers in college including 212 total tackles, 7 interceptions, and 4 forced fumbles. However, like many that come from a lower tier college, Mitchell was met with a lot of doubt because of the level of competition he played against. A player who never seems to be lacking confidence on the field, would need to quickly find an abundance of it in order to make one last effort to prove his value to scouts prior to the NFL Draft. Mike's impressive play on the field was not his only meal ticket though. He also had the measurables that most scouts would drool over. At 6' 1" 220 lbs Mitchell ran a 4.39 forty yard dash and put up 22 reps on the bench. With those kind of numbers he was sure to be noticed by scouts all over the place. The classic workout numbers that sends guys shooting up draft boards every February and making them...

Terrelle Pryor was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2011 supplemental draft. It was the late Al Davis' last draft pick for a franchise that he ran for half a century. His last pick was the perfect story book ending to his great career. Selecting Pryor with a 3rd round pick not only fit Davis' mold of targeting the biggest and fastest players, but by selecting him so high he proved once again that he only cared about one opinion and one opinion only, his. That was last year though, and this year the Raiders find themselves with new management and a new agenda for building this team. Where Pryor fits into those plans, will likely be determined by his development over the next couple of seasons. Because last years supplemental draft wasn't until August 22nd, Pryor did not get much practice time with the team in training camp. He also faced a 5 game suspension to begin his first NFL season for his violations of NCAA policy in college. While this is techn...

As seen on Bleacher Report : As with any fan base, the Raider Nation is not immune to overrating players. Every offseason coaches and front office personnel across the league lock themselves in the film room to study their own roster. It's not uncommon for a player to lose snaps the following season after the team had time to evaluate their play relative to other players in the league. There are a few players on the roster vulnerable to a loss of snaps or even a loss of a job after the Raiders new general manager Reggie McKenzie and new head coach Dennis Allen have time to evaluate them. Who? Matt Giordano Giordano lead the Raiders in interceptions in 2011 with five and it has many fans thinking he is the solution at free safety and Michael Huff should be released or move to cornerback. It's important to remember Giordano only served as a nickel free safety and injury replacement for Huff in 2011, starting more than four games for the first time in his career. Dennis Allen coac...

The looming question headed into the off season is if Tom Cable will be retained as head coach. Cable's contract expires January 18 unless owner Al Davis picks up a one-year, $2.5 million-dollar option. That means Al Davis will have a couple weeks to evaluate his team and its performance this season. Davis convinces himself every year that his team is primed for a Super Bowl run. This is why there is a vast difference between 7-9 and 8-8 in the eyes of Davis. At 7-9, the team had a losing record and wasn't a real threat to challenge for the playoffs. At 8-8, you are close and just need to catch a break and win a couple close games to be in the playoffs. Going 8-8 also means 6-0 in the division and owning the division is a good springboard into the next season and something Cable can sell to Davis as reason to keep him around. Players almost always say they want a coach to return when asked. It isn't what players say, it is how they play. When players play hard and fight for...

Nnamdi Asomugha went down with a high ankle sprain injury against the Seahawks and when he returned last week against the Dolphins after three weeks of rest he clearly wasn’t himself. Now it appears his ankle is worse than previously believed or got worse during the game on Sunday. Asomugha could miss more time. Chris Johnson was also out with a groin injury and could also miss this week’s game in San Diego. That leaves Stanford Routt and rookies Jeremy Ware and Walter McFadden as the only healthy cornerbacks. Jeremy Ware drew poor reviews from the coaching staff in Pittsburgh and was inactive last week. Walter McFadden was active and had a rough day against Miami. Both will be relied upon against the second best passing team in football. When the Raiders defeated the Chargers in Oakland, Philip Rivers threw for 431 yards and two touchdowns. He was unstoppable against the Raiders secondary, which included Asomugha and Johnson. Michael Huff will likely see additional snaps at corn...

People line up to declare the next Al Davis draft selection a bust because the Raiders are well known for draft blunders. These people point to a lack of football instincts in the players Al Davis drafts. They say things like, “He’s just a track star, he’s not a football player.” Let me know if you can figure out what a saying like that means. It sounds good but means nothing. Can a track star not be good at football also? You don’t hear people say, “He’s a wrestler, he’s not a football player.” Those same people turn around and say, “Speed kills.” What? So now speed is good in the NFL player? Yes, there is much more to being a good player than speed, but much of it depends on how smart the player is, how much they can learn and if they are dedicated. Are these traits not also desirable in a track star? Why does running track have to be a negative stereotype? Some guys have more smarts, have learned more or have been more dedicated to football when they enter the NFL. This is the re...

Stevie Brown has been signed to the Raiders practice squad,  according to Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times. Wilson also notes that there was quite a bit of interest in Brown and that his stint on the practice squad could be short lived . The Raiders could decide to promote Brown themselves, but they would have to move someone off the 53 man roster.

Stevie Brown is indeed  the Raiders final cut to get down to 53 players. A small controversy may have been stirred up by a South Florida radio host named Andy Slater . According to his bio, he once worked as the tech who chopped up game film for the Raiders. Salter claims the coaching staff didn't want Mike Mitchell and insinuated it was due to an off-the-field problem. He goes on to say that only Al Davis could step in and save Mitchell. This apparently happened as Slater later claimed that Stevie Brown would be cut instead. While he ended up being correct about Brown, there are more than a few people skeptical about his claims about Mike Mitchell. Mitchell performed well in limited action last season. Releasing a seventh round draft selection isn't usually a big deal and Brown being cut at the last minute could simply have been the Raiders trying to sneak Brown for the practice squad. In NFL circles releasing the cut list at the very last possible moment is common...

There were whispers all afternoon that it could be Stevie Brown being cut. He was just removed from Raiders.com . Although no formal announcement has been made. This comes as a bit of a shock to many who thought it would be a receiver or Hiram Eugene. Andy Slater correctly called this cut after predicting earlier that Mike Mitchell was going to be cut. There are still some questions to be answered. Update: Brown is now listed as released on the transactions page .

Earlier this evening Michael Lombardi reported on NFL Network that one high profile name that could be traded on Saturday was Raiders safety Michael Huff. Lombardi confirmed that Huff was on the bubble to me on Twitter . Also noteworthy was a report from radio host Andy Slater of 640 WFTL out of South Florida that Mike Mitchell would be cut on Saturday . There is no reason to put much stock in these rumors at this moment. I believe both to be ridiculous. Of course, nothing is shocking to those that follow the Raiders. 

Every year and in every city the preseason is when the fans watch to see if they have the next impact rookie. This year’s top crop includes Rolando McClain, Lamarr Houston, Jared Veldheer, Jacoby Ford, Bruce Campbell and Walter McFadden. What is often lost in the rush to evaluate the rookies is just how much a second year player can improve and make an impact for a team. One recent example is Tyvon Branch. Branch, as a Sophmore, lead all safties in tackles. He figures to be an impact player for the Raiders in 2010 and beyond. The 2010 sophmore crop includes: Darrius Heyward-Bey, Mike Mitchell, Louis Murphy, Matt Shaughnessy, Desmond Bryant and Marcel Reece. These sophmores will all see significant playing time in 2010. The offseason has been filled with reports on Heyward-Bey’s improvement. He’s looked like the best player on the field at times and his route running is much better. All the reports a vast departure his the drop-filled 2009. Mike Mitchell’s rookie campaign was hind...

Nnamdi Asomugha is a lock to start when healthy. No surprise there, but what about the rest of the secondary? Chris Johnson is penciled in as the starter opposite Asomugha, but he was picked on last year. Quarterbacks completed 64% of passes thrown at Johnson. He was burned for six touchdowns and quarterbacks had a staggering 101.2 rating throwing at Johnson. Johnson did defense 12 passes and intercept 3 others, but it is clear Johnson takes a lot of risks. Is the risk worth the reward? The Raiders only other options at cornerback are rookies and Stanford Routt. Routt was actually worse than Johnson in limited snaps. Quarterbacks had rating of 123.0 while completing 29 passes out of 41. That is 70.7% completion percentage! He also gave up two touchdowns. The Raiders have one good option: move Michael Huff to cornerback. Huff was a corner prospect coming out of college. Many teams thought he was best suited in coverage to cover up his inability to tackle. Raiders forced a square p...

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 am...