08-10-11 7:42 pm pac
                       
Photo Tony Gonzales                                                                


Coach Jackson tried to cram everything into the final session of Oaklands strike shortened off season including rehearsals for tomorrow nights introductions and the National Anthem.

We just hope everything else is in place.

The off season is rarely any indicator of how a team will fare in the regular season and this one, with its new Coaches and lack of prep time should be even worse. Pre season will allow the Raiders to figure out some key components like what their going to do for an O line.

Two of Oaklands rookie Linemen received their rookie hair cuts ala DE Lamarr Houston and OT Khalif Barnes. Houston gave C/G Stephen Wisniewski a Fryar Tuck and Barnes gave OT Joseph Barksdale some kind of mohawk looking thing.
Honestly, Barnes may have a little animosity toward the upstart Barksdale. Both are vying for the Right Tackle position.

Barksdale may be winning. We'll know more tomorrow night.

OT Stephon Hyer got 1st team reps today and the former 4yr Redskin will get a hard look against the Cardinals.

RBs Darren McFadden and rookie Taiwan Jones are both injured and out for tomorrows match up and Michael Bush, who was late to camp should be used sparingly. We still have photos of him pre op before surgery to correct a broken thumb suffered last pre season.

We're still not sure if Bush will face any kind of League sanction for a DUI arrest during the off season strike.

No one is talking about it.

RBs Rock Cartwright and Louis Rankin should see the most reps and if camp has been any indication Rankin will see the most play. Rock has proven himself far too valuable a leader on Special Teams to be risked excessively in pre season.

Rankin will likely be auditioning for another team rather than a slot in Oakands crowded backfield.

WR Darrius Heyward Bey finally made it into practice just as camp ended. He could see time but his undisclosed injury could have Oakland playing him sparingly.

After looking good early on WR Louis Murphy is expected to sit with his undisclosed injury.

WRs Chaz Schilens and rookie Denarius Moore could get alot of time but Oakland also has a boat load of srubs at the position as well who should see a lot of filler time.

WR/PR Nick Miller seemed to be better and is slated to return punts against Arizona. Thats good news because Moore was rumored to get the duty if Miller couldn't.

Moore has proven in camp that he is far too intriguing a prospect at WR to be risked in returns where he faired poorly in practice.

It will be interesting to see how Oaklands secondary fares without Nnamdi and we'll be watching to see how our young DBs look. Rookie Chimdi Chekwa shoulder injury will have him sidelined tomorrow night though. UDFA Sterling Moore is making a play for a roster slot and DeMarcus Van Dyke seems to be champing at the bit to prove his skills.

He'll get a chance staring at 7:00 pm pacific time tomorrow night.

The Raiders broke camp and are now in Oakland awaiting a new beginning for the Raiders and entering the Hue Jackson era.

We can hardly wait...

Speaking of...

The wait is over... Camp Hair cuts!!!    

  DVD

We love this man!!! DE extraordinarie / Photographer

Lamarr Houston. Heres a pic of Lamarr's Hair doo last year...

Raiders!!!

08-10-11 12:22 am pac

                        
Photo Tony Gonzales                                                 OC Al Saunders, QB Jason Campbell


Oakland prepped for its up coming pre season opener this Thursday against the visiting Cardinals by working on its Red Zone, Goal Line and No Huddle packages.

RB Michael Bush looks good. He's a load to bring down and has really good hands out of the back field. Expect a little from him against Arizona but with Darren McFadden and Taiwan Jones still dinged look for Oakland to conserve Bush and go with Louis Rankin and Rock Cartwright toting the ball.

Speaking of Taiwan...the rookie running back out of EWU has been sidelined with a dicey hamstring but was fast enough to catch QB Jason Campbell trying to doorbell ditch him.
He caught Campbell peeking at him from around the corner.

All joking aside Campbell and the Raider passing game has looked sharp at this years camp.

In years past that has not been the case.

Part of the passing games success this pre season is due to rookie WR Denarius Moore who has dazzled with his ability to haul in even the most difficult catches.

WR Chaz Schilens follows close behind but his fellow Wide Outs Jacoby Ford, Louis Murphy and Darrius Heyward Bey have languished on the sideline with injuries for much of the off season. Bey has been making progress and might get some playing time in the upcoming opener.

WR Derek Hagan is a career back up who likely won't make the final 53 but he's done some good things the last few days.

WR/TE David Ausberry is a fast, big man with solid hands. He's caught several nice passes in days past and looked good today on an end zone fade route. Touchdown!

With WR / PR Nick Miller dinged up this session fielding punts could get interesting on Thursday.

Speaking of dings Safety Mike Mitchell has been nicked up this pre season too. He'l miss the game against the Cards but should only be out a few more days after that.

On the Defensive side of the ball DE Jarvis Moss was burned by a Jason Campbell hard count but immediately attoned himself on the next play by falttening RB Rock Cartwright behind the L.O.S.

We mentioned D Coordinator Chuck Bresnahan is looking at giving Oakland a more varied look with disguises and mis-reads. Maybe.

We'll see how long that lasts if it ever really materializes.



 

 

08-08-11 5:48 pm pac

                
Photo Greg Trott                                                                           RB Darren McFadden


Oakland enjoyed a day off yesterday. We didn't.

We published twice, once about DT/DE Desmond Bryant as One of our Raiders to Watch and another story updating "the Saunders Strategy".

*Update: A strategy confirmed by Jason Campbell himself after practice today. He said:

"I was telling the guys, the Saunders offense, when he was in St. Louis, they had fast guys like Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and that's the main thing the Raiders are about is speed," Campbell said. "Darren (McFadden) reminds me of Marshall Faulk because he's so quick and is such a good route runner.

"We've got the ability to stretch the field and become a dynamic offense."

Even with an emphasis on RB Darren McFadden and new TE Kevin Boss, none of will make a difference unless Oakland slaps together an O line and fast.

2nd round draft pick and Raider legacy Stephen Wisniewski has been suspiciously quiet through out camp and was seen playing guard a few times so far this camp.

Today he was at Center mostly, where last years recent re-signee Samson Satele has been of late.

We hope thats a good sign.

Wizzer 2.0 also slid over to the Left Guard slot in place of Daniel Loper during this session.

A bad sign for Coach Hue Jackson was his selection of neon shoes. RB Michael Bennett  had some on last week. Rumor is Coach lost a bet.
                              
Todays walking wounded list included Safety Mike Mitchell, OT Bruce Campbell, RB Darren McFadden, WR Louis Murphy, DB Chimdi Chekwa and WR Jacoby Ford.

Speaking of WRs rookie Denarius Moore has been stellar through out camp and we're very glad he looked less than stellar fielding punts. That would be a waste.

RB Michael Bush is set to make an impact. Clearly he's in the best shape of his life which is fortunate because it just happens to be a contract year.

We think DE Jarvis Moss is quietly poised to wreak havoc. He's finally healthy, keeping his pads low and acting with aggression.

He smacked back up TE Brandon Myers a couple of times but no response from Myers.

Lets see what would happen if Moss shoved Boss...

Lets not forget about WR Chaz Schilens. He hasn't been healthy since a broken foot his Senior year of College. Rehab went wrong but after two years and ill informed fans calling for his release, the former San Diego State star is finally healthy enough to show the world what Oakland and we, have known for years.

He's really good.

People forget the 6-4, 225 lb WR ran a 4.33 40.

H/W/S...

He looked good hauling in a deep sideline pass today and has looked good through out camp.

Darrius Heyward Bey has not.

Again the pricey Wide Receiver sits out of camp with another mystery injury. We hope he's all right but if 5th round pick Denarius Moore and 7th round pick Schilens out shine him Al and Bey will hear about it.

In his first real practice of the year Bey caught a beautiful post pattern in stride. Then again, later in the session, Campbell hit Bey for big yards over the middle but veteran CB Chris Johnson popped the ball out which was alertly scooped up by Defensive Back DeMarcus Van Dyke.

Van Dyke's struggled in coverage a couple of times and thats expected. He's a project who'll be allowed to grow.

We think he could be a good one.   

Snagged his second pick of camp so far today.

QB Jason Campbell laughed off rumors about a groin strain and was rested one practice after throwing alot earlier in camp. After a day off yesterday, Oakland let him air it out down field. 

It looked good.

The leading scorer in Oakland Raider history finally booted some field goals at this years camp and with that, three horns sounded and the day was done.




 

08-06-11 6:07 pm pac               

Photo Tony Gonzales                                                                                                     RB Michael Bush

RB Darren McFadden joined WR Jacoby Ford on the excersize bikes to start off todays practice. The Raiders had a bunch of players sidelined with injury.

Thats part of the reason for the slew of scrub signings in recent days. Part of it is to put warm bodies on the field for the upcoming pre season opener against the Cardinals at home this Thursday.

MLB Rolando McClain returned to the field after missing two sessions with an undisclosed injury. Coach Jackson has raved about him all off season and the smarter, leaner McClain is in prime form.

Swimming sessions in the off season lasting up to 90 minutes have him down 6 lbs and he says, faster. Add that to a year of experience under his belt and he becomes a very dangerous man.

2nd yr man Travis Goethel has been taking reps at MLB and if not for an unexpected back surgery last season might've won the Weak side LB spot occupied by Quentin Groves.

Groves came on in the back half of the season after a slow start early on.

Newly signed former Giant TE Kevin Boss suited up today for the first time. Boss was sporting the number #87 as opposed to his usual #89. That number is currently held by WR/KR Nick Miller. Rather than pay Miller for the rights to it, Boss will wait and see if it becomes available if Miller doesn't make the team.

 We're rooting for DB Killer Nick Miller.

This was Boss' first practice with Oakland and the former New Yorker looked good catching several passes but Safety Tyvon Branch made a solid interception on a deep ball to Boss.

The defense outplayed the offense today capped by a goal line stand to end the practice.

Coach Jackson had this to say about Boss:

"We’re a couple days away from seeing Kevin at his best, because once he learns the terminology and learns his teammates and Jason gets a feel for him and our other quarterbacks get a feel for him, that guy is a big target. He is a big man, he can catch it and he is pretty agile running up through there. So, there’s going to be some good things there.”

RB Michael Bush ended his "hold out" and signed his one year $2.6 million dollar tender.

It was good to see him in pads especially with Taiwan and DMC out but we love Rock Cartwright and Louis Rankin more than filled in during their absence.

Denarius Moore looking like a draft steal yet again today. Excellent CB prospect DeMarcus Van Dyke has an NFL attitude. Much more is learned from failure than success and the better the competition, the sharper your skills.

We hope he's hunting down Rod Woodsen every chance he gets and peppering him with questions. Not every young DBs in the NFL will ever get that chance.  

In battle, its about exploiting opportunity.

Hard to get much more exploitier than than.

We hope all of Oaklands young and rookie DBs take advantage of the Raiders uniquely stocked HOF Secondary Coaches.

Speaking of rookie DBs UDFA Sterling Moore is making a name for himself in camp. He, like everyone else, is getting burned by the other Moore in camp, WR Denarius, but is alos making plays and keeping up stride for stride on some man coverage plays.

He's one to watch too.

Raiders with the day off tomorrow...