Oakland Raiders

Owner: Mark Davis
Founded: 1960
Stadium: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
2011 record: 8-8
Last playoff appearance: 2002, 11-5, AFC West Champs, W30-10 NYJ, W41-24 TEN, L48-21 TB Super Bowl XXXVII
General Manager: Reggie McKenzie (2012-current)
Head Coach:
Offensive Coordinator: Al Saunders
Defensive Coordinator: Chuck Bresnahan
Defensive alignment: 4-3
2010 NFL Rankings:
OFF: 22.4 PTS (16h)          379.5 YDS (9th)                PASS ()              RUSH ()
DEF:  PTS ()         YDS )                PASS ()               RUSH ()
Pro Bowlers: Zach Miller TE, Richard Seymour DT, Nnamdi Asomugha CB, Shane Lechler P
2011 schedule:
  1 Sep 12 at Broncos 10:15 PM Tickets
2 Sep 18 at Bills 1:00 PM Tickets
3 Sep 25 vs. Jets 4:05 PM Tickets
4 Oct 02 vs. Patriots 4:15 PM Tickets
5 Oct 09 at Texans 1:00 PM Tickets
6 Oct 16 vs. Browns 4:05 PM Tickets
7 Oct 23 vs. Chiefs 4:05 PM Tickets
8 Bye
9 Nov 06 vs. Broncos 4:05 PM Tickets
10 Nov 10 at Chargers 8:20 PM Tickets
11 Nov 20 at Vikings 1:00 PM Tickets
12 Nov 27 vs. Bears 4:05 PM Tickets
13 Dec 04 at Dolphins 1:00 PM Tickets
14 Dec 11 at Packers 1:00 PM Tickets
15 Dec 18 vs. Lions 4:05 PM Tickets
16 Dec 24 at Chiefs 1:00 PM Tickets
17 Jan 01 vs. Chargers 4:15 PM Tickets

TEAM NEEDS: QB, OLB

Potential Free Agents:
JT O’Sullivan QB
Charlie Frye QB
Kyle Boller QB
Rock Cartwright RB
Michael Bennett RB
Khalif Barnes OT – re-signed – 1 yr
Mario Henderson OT
Langston Walker OT
Daniel Loper G
Samson Satele C
Jarvis Moss DE – re-signed – 1 year, 1.25 million
John Henderson DT – re-signed – 2 years, $8 million
Richard Seymour DT - re-signed – 2 years,$30 million
Kamerion Wimbley OLB – re-signed – 5 yrs, 48 million
Sam Williams OLB – re-signed
Ricky Brown MLB
Stanford Routt CB -re-signed – 3 years, $31.5 million maximum
Michael Huff FS – re-signed – 4 yrs, 32 million
Hiram Eugene FS
Jon Condo LS

Free agent acquisitions:
Trent Edwards QB (Jaguars)
Kevin Boss TE (Giants) – 4 yrs, 16 million
Stephen Heyer OT (Redskins)

Free agent losses:
Bruce Gradkowski QB – Signed with Bengals
Johnnie Lee Higgins WR – Signed by Eagles
Zach Miller TE – signed with Seahawks
Robert Gallery OG – signed by Seahawks
Thomas Howard OLB – Signed with Bengals
Nnamdi Asomugha CB – Signed with Eagles

Picks in 2011 NFL Draft (overall draft grade: B): The Raiders needed quite a bit of help on their offensive line and addressed that with Wisniewski and Barksdale. Speed was the theme yet again as Al Davis selected top speedsters of the 2011 class in Van Dyke, Chekwa, and Jones. I’m not a huge fan of this draft, just glancing over the names, but when you look at my values off of my draft board, it’s not too bad. Tennessee’s Denarius Moore is one of my sleeper picks from this class.

(! Indicates draft pick who was interviewed, had a private workout, etc. prior to the draft according to my compiled list):
Rd 2, Pick 16 (48) Stefen Wisniewski OL, Penn State – His uncle Steve played for and now coaches for the Raiders. They needed upgrades on their offensive line. Perfect fit and value. According to some, Wisniewski had a late round or undraftable grade by some teams.
Grade: A-            Rated: 49

Rd 3, Pick 17 (81) Demarcus Van Dyke DB, Miami (FL) ! – speed kills and Van Dyke used his speed to zoom up draft boards. Asomugha’s left for free agency.
Grade: C-             Rated: 168

Rd 3, Pick 28 (92) Joseph Barksdale OL, LSU – The Raiders get more help that they’re desperate for along their offensive line. Barksdale has good athleticism so it’s no surprise that Al Davis took him.
Grade: B              Rated: 118

Rd 4, Pick 16 (113) Chimdi Chekwa DB, Ohio State – another 40 time pick for Al Davis. This time, it’s a player with corner skills to match the pick value.
Grade: A              Rated: 84

Rd 4, Pick 28 (125) Taiwan Jones RB, Eastern Washington! – another player with a great 40 time. His 10 yard split was one of the fastest by any prospect this year. However, injuries are a major concern with him.
Grade: A             Rated: 105

Rd 5, Pick 17 (148) Denarius Moore WR, Tennessee – one of my sleeper picks. However, it doesn’t help my case that he was drafted ahead of where I had him…
Grade: B+            Rated: 158

Rd 6, Pick 16 (181) Richard Gordon TE, Miami (FL)! – good hands, but this is a big reach.
Grade: F               Rated: NR

Rd 7, Pick 38 (241) David Ausberry WR, USC – great speed for a man his size.
Grade: C              Rated: NR

2010 Raiders Draft review:
Here are some interesting nuggets of information I saw in the post-draft press conference of the Oakland Raiders: Former Head Coach Tom Cable described their draft as a “need-filled” draft as they filled lots of holes on the roster. It was a no-brainer when Bruce Campbell got to them. The run defense was thought to have been helped in a big way with the draft, but as we saw last season, it still ranked 29th in the league against the run. They were fortunate that their guy was there after they traded back. The Redskins contacted the Raiders first about the possibility of a Jason Campbell trade. They thought that Walter McFadden was going to be gone by the time they picked, but they were “geeked” about him dropping to them. Cable had talked to Heyward-Bey about Bruce Campbell prior to the draft to find out what type of guy he was and if he’d fit in at Oakland. The Raiders kept having their guys available when it was their time to pick. Listening to Cable talking about when it was their turn, he sounded like each time it was their turn with their first four picks that the guy they targeted was there.

Rd 1, Pick 8 (8)                   Rolando McClain LB, Alabama – 15 games, 15 starts, 85 TCK, .5 SCK, 6 PD, 1 INT

Rd 2, Pick 12 (44)              Lamarr Houston DT, Texas – 16 games, 15 starts, 39 TCK, 5 SCK, 1 FF

Rd 3, Pick 5 (69)                 Jared Veldheer OT, Hillsdale – 16 games, 11 starts

Rd 4, Pick 8 (106)              Bruce Campbell OT, Maryland – 10 games

Rd 4, Pick 10 (108)            Jacoby Ford WR, Clemson – 16 games, 9 starts, 25 REC, 470 YDS, 18.8 YPC, 52 LNG, 2 TD, 10 ATT, 155 YDS, 15.5 YPA, 2 TD, 1 FMBL LOST

Rd 5, Pick 7 (138)              Walter McFadden DB, Auburn – 4 games, 5 TCK

Rd 6, Pick 21 (190)            Travis Goethel LB, Arizona State – 8 games, 9 TCK

Rd 7, Pick 8 (215)              Jeremy Ware DB, Michigan State – 8 games, 1 TCK, 3 PD, 1 INT

Rd 7, Pick 44 (251)            Stevie Brown DB, Michigan – 15 games, 1 start, 30 TCK, 2 PD

Looking back at my grades for the 2010 Raiders draft class: The Raiders received an overall grade of a B from me. The lowest grade I gave to one of Al Davis’ picks was a C+ (to Jeremy Ware). Everyone was surprised of how solid this draft was. In recent years, we were beginning to think that Al Davis was losing his mind, well more of it. But just take a look at the above stats. I know there are more to players than stats, but they got 51 starts out of their class. That’s impressive. I would just tweak a few players’ grades: McClain would be bumped up to a B+, Houston a B, and Jacoby Ford an A. If you get three kickoff returns for touchdowns from a guy, he’s definitely a weapon and deserves that A grade. The overall team grade gets a bump up to a B+

2010 Stat Leaders
Jason Campbell  194-329  59.0%  2387 YDS  7.3 YPA  13 TD  8 INT  84.5 RTG

Darren McFadden  223 ATT  1157 YDS  5.2 YPA  57 LNG  7 TD

Zach Miller  60 REC  685 YDS  11.4 YPC  43 LNG  5 TD

Sebastian Janikowski  33-41  80.5%  59 LNG

Tyvon Branch  104 TCK

Kamerion Wimbley  9 SCK

Michael Huff  3 INT

Out of Season Storylines (Because there is no offseason)
Hue Jackson Named New Head Coach

Al Saunders New Offensive Coordinator