08-31-11 12:01 am pac                   

Photo Tony Gonzales                                                                       OL Stephon Hyer

OL Stephon Hyer

Back from a triceps injury suffered in camp the former Redskin Offensive Lineman Stephon Hyer became every DBs nightmare on Sunday. He showed amazing reflexes hauling in a batted pass, immediately securing the ball and bursting up field for 1st down yardage and terrifying the Saints center fielders.

Hyer has seen game reps at Guard where he was a liability in protection but has been much better at Right Tackle. If he pulls off a stellar night against Seattle he could potentially up end veteran Khalif Barnes who is the odds on starter at the troubled position.

Or he could become Oaklands new 6-6, 330 lb goal line destroyer...

G/C Stefan Wisniewski

Wizzer 2.0 looked good more often than bad against the Saints D line maulers, looking up other numbers when his primary was on the ground or negated.

He locks on and mauls his victim to the whistle. He showed instinctual and taught hand skills that are impressive at any level. His punch is League worthy and we can't remember seeing him on skates once. His anchor, thanks in part to his great hand placement, is often immediate and stands fast. 

We thought he looked better at Guard but he did switch to Center with about 4 minutes left in the 3rd where again, he faired surprisingly well. We think once he gets his confidence and field vision he'll be a great addition but for now he looks awkward in space. He actually injured himself on one play awkwardly falling in open space untouched.

Despite this, Wisniewski got second level and made nice blocks for big gains.

He sat out practice today with a bandaged right knee. Coach Jackson says its minor.

We hope so. We'd like to see much more of Wisniewski please.

OL Joseph Barksdale

We like his moxy and attitude but he looks more like a developmental player and seems to give up on run plays too early.

He's bounced around on the line and seen the most reps at Right Tackle where he looks slow and out matched too often.

He shows some flashes at Right Guard though, impressive pad level, decent leverage and just a little bit of nastiness that could get him a further look at a rotational slot on the O line.

 RG Cooper Carlisle

The wiley old vet finds a way to get it done but for the first time since his sojourn from Denver to Oakland, he actually has some competion at Right Guard.

Too often we've seen Carlisle bulled into the pocket in protection. We think Carlisle is likely the starter day one unless someone has a monster game on Sunday.

Speaking of monsters...

OT/RG Bruce Campbell

Okay, so he wasn't named after famed B horror movie star Bruce Campbell but Evil Dead is a pretty cool nick name for one of the most athletic big men you've ever seen.

Not just a work out warrior, Campbell studies hard to improve his game and really, really likes to hit people.

He didn't see as many reps against the Saints as the Raiders rotated Linemen in and out, but we think when he's focused and on, he's one of Oaklands most promising Linemen.

He just needs to be more consistent.

C Samson Satele

Satele has won praise for being a leader on the line and thats a good thing. He's been knocked for not being able to handle the Leagues bigger NTs but who really can?

Satele's got good hands and knows a trick or two. He's also got good pad level and solid leverage but occasionally he's susceptible to the rip or a counter move and gets our Quarterback killed.

How back up QB Kyle Boller scrapped himself off the hard pack we'll never know but New Orleans DT Shaun Rodger's should be fined for lifting Boller and driving him into the ground with his entire weight.

At Center, Satele can scoot for a big man and makes good blocks or at least gets in the way when blocking down field but he struggles too often getting second level blocks on LBs.

LT Jared Veldheer

Honestly, it looks like Jared Veldheer has struggled at times this off season. Like the drummer in a rock band, when your Left Tackle is doing a good job, you don't even notice him.

When he's not...well, its not so good is it?

Veldheer hasn't been bad, but with 15 lbs of pure muslce added this off season, we'd hoped to see the promising 2nd yr man mauling bishes.

Veldheer has struggled with edge rushers and despite some excellent tactical holds, no doubt garnered from Assistant Coach Wizzer.1, Veldheer so far, hasn't dominated as expected but its pre season and his remarkable rookie year is bound to have a learning curve. 

He'll be sorely tested week one against the Broncos Elvis Dumervil, and #2 overall draft pick Von Miller, the fastest pass rush in the NFL.

Overall, Oaklands O line had its moments but it showed on Sunday that a speedy, elusive Running Back like Darren McFadden or Taiwan Jones can make an average O line suddenly look pretty good.

08-29-11 12:01 pm pac

Photo / AP                                                                                                                  CB Stanford Routt

The Saints first string offense did what it does and thats move the ball and score points. The Raiders aren't the only ones who will struggle to cover and pressure New Orleans.

The Raiders D line was of particular note. We really haven't seen the Raiders starting D or its second because Richard Seymour is being held in reserve and veteran block eater Big John Henderson is out with a foot injury.

For what its worth, the Raiders haven't generated a pass rush even with several all out blitzes in recent weeks.

Bresnahan is bringing both Safeties, CBs and LBs in all combinations and none of it is doing much of anything. Granted some of those are coming from 7th round players and DT Desmond Bryant, who was in on unsuccessful goal line stands with one hand. The other one wrapped in a big white club.

Most of the Saints big running plays especially up the middle in the 2nd quarter were against the line up of Trevor Scott at LDE Lamarr Houston slid inside to LDT and one handed Bryant at RDT.  

DT Tommy Kelly had a poor outing and got shoved around especially on two goal line TD give ups. DE Jarvis Moss drew attention but for lining up offside. LB/DE Trevor Scott like we mentioned, lined up at DE and was stonewalled even by a Saints WR , or so it seemed.

Actually Scott was tackled.

Unflagged hold.

Kam Wimbley was handled for the most part in pass rush duties but there is a marked difference when he lines up hand in the dirt rather than as a stand up at Linebacker.

Saints QB Drew Brees has one of the quickest releases in the game and that in and of itslef eliminates the pass rush.

DE Matt Shaughnessy didn't have a big day but he drew double teams that allowed LBs to close and rocked up Safety Michael Huff to make plays on the perimeter.

MLB and Defensive Captain Rolando McClain looks impressive especially in coverage an area many considered suspect when he came out of college. He came on one of the only blitzes we;ve seen him make. Brees got the ball off but McClain slung him to the ground to make him pay.

Speaking of coverage many would say the Raiders got scorched in coverage by the Saints first string and it did but frankly, Oaklands DBs had good coverage on many of the Saints completetions its just that Brees and his Wides are just that good and its difficult for anyone to defend perfect passing.

Rookie CB DeMarcus Van Dyke has been victimized by the best but has had surprisingly good coverage on his Receivers.
Veteran Stanford Routt looks like he's already tired of the ghost of Asomugha and is playing like he's going to show everyone how wrong they are.
To quote Lloyd Christmas:
"We like it alot."

Undrafted Free Agent Sterling Moore simply keeps making plays at CB in very limited exposure. We can't see how they could cut him.

S Chimdi Chekwa is a work in progress but missed most of camp and is being switched from CB to Safety.

We miss Mike Mitchell and hope he recovers soon. Fellow Safety Tyvon Branch means business against the run but still struggles in coverage. Again, against Brees, everyone does.

7th round pick Stevie Johnson is in his second year and it shows on occasion. He has a knack for the  ball though. 

DBs Jerome Boyd, Joe Porter and Jeremy Ware were all victimized badly by Brees as expected and this is where alot of damage was done in the Saints putting up 40 points.

This is the good and the bad of it on the D. The first string once it gets CB Chris Johnson and DTs Richard Seymour and John Henderson back will be much better.

08-24-11 3:07 pm pac 

Photo Tony Gonzales                             

We knew going in to this film study session this wouldn't be pretty and it wasn't, but there are some good things O line wise in there too...

The Starters

LT Jared Veldheer

Veldheer put on 15 lbs of solid muscle in the off season and should be set to have a dominant year. He didn't look that way at times against San Fran.

We're hoping those 15 lbs haven't slowed him to the point speed rushers will simply run around him.
We're thinking Saturdays mediocre performance was most likely a fluke.
Most of Oaklands line looked flat and uninspired.

LG Daniel Loper

Loper missed the last few practices to attend the birth of his child. Its ok if he takes a few more off too.

Theres a reason Loper's never sealed a starter spot in 7 yrs in the NFL.

Loper was pushed around and literally dumped on his ass in what we assume was pass protection.

He was little better in run blocking.

C Samson Satele.

Whether you believe the Raider Coaches or not Satele was not first choice to hike the rock in Oakland this year.

Injured early and often in his brief career Satele finally started to look good in the back half of last season especially looking up defenders second level.

He wasn't great at it, but he got in the way enough to allow ball carriers past. 

His knock is struggling against big 3-4 Nosetackles. (Who doesn't?) He showed last Saturday he has a few other knocks too.

RG Cooper Carlisle

Carlisle is past his prime. That was the general consensus 3 years ago. What he's still doing in there is a testament to our inability to field great linemen. Carlisle downplays the departure of Tom Cable's ZBS but Carlisle the lighter, "faster" former Bronco was brought in specifically for that particular system.

Carlisle was on skates, stonewalled and dumped on his ass against San Fran. 

Off night? Maybe.

Sign Oakland needs to accept reality?

More likely.

RT Khalif Barnes

He's a mess. Oaklands 7 yr search for even a decent Right Tackle continues.

If not for any serious challengers, we wouldn't be shocked if Barnes didn't even make the roster.

The Right Tackle spot was almost a given for returning vet Mario Henderson but he ate his way out of at least $2 million dollars and failed a physical.

Barnes played hard to get and tested the FA market only to find a ghost town of dis-interest. 

Once Mario flopped out he had a little more leverage but still only ended up signing the original one yr offer.

If he "wins" starting RT it won't be much of a victory and a loss for the Raiders.

Even as a back up and extra "TE" in Jumbo packages Barnes wasn't great.

The Potentials

A few rookies and hopefuls worth mentioning also saw reps. Its harder to gauge how they'd play against real NFl starters since of course most of their reps come against 2nd and 3rd stringers themselves.

Rookie C Stephan Wisniewski

Saw time at Center has a solid punch off the ball. Good hand placement and quick hands too. Doesn't give ground and never saw him on skates.

Looked awkward in the open field getting second level. Not the insta-Hall of Famer some were hoping but much better looking than alot of our starters.

Wizzer 2.0 is seeing alot of time at LG in place of Loper and thats a good thing.

He's better better than Loper day one.

Rookie Jospeh Barksdale

Vying for Right Tackle duties we'd love nothing more than to say he looked out standing in his field.

Instead it looked at times like he was out standing in his field.

Can't recall a single play where we saw him beat the defender off the snap. Slow hands, slow to react and looked genuienely lost at times. 

Bad as that sounds he did have moments where you could see him working into a solid Lineman. He's got something but it may take a little while to put it together.

It may be he's overwhelmed and under studied at this juncture. Too early to tell or worst case scenario, he may just be slow.

We'll be watching against the Saints.

Bruce Campbell missed valuable reps with a non football related knee injury this already truncated pre season. We wish he hadn't.

Rumor has it one of the many things Cable was fired for was not playing Campbell.

Early, preliminarily, it looks like Cable was right.

Campbell did good things. Once he locks on, that defender is nuetralized. He has the power to bull even the biggest DTs off the line and  the stregth to turn and steer them out of running lanes.

His pass protection was actually surprisingly adequate.

He has no problem playing to the whistle and looking up other defenders numbers once his man is on the ground.

Now for the bad news.

Bruce "Evil Dead" Campbell needs better knee bend, footwork and hand placement.

Far too often Campbell let defenders hands into his body and it nealry completely negated him. Defenders much smaller simply stiff armed his chest and stood the big man up in the hole clogging run lanes.

Once he learns to swat that arm away and more counter moves Evil Dead is going to be a force though.

We pray he's in conctact with King Richard Seymour begging for tips and sage advice...and that he keeps his damn pads low.

When he does, he looks like a top 10 draft pick.

Its pre season, so no need to panic...yet but it doesn;t look great based on what we've seen so far.

Its not easy being true Raider fans sometimes. You've got to be real if you're ever going to get anywhere.

The reality is Oaklands O line is an undecided, under talented, ineperienced mess at the moment.

If Saturday was any indication and things don't improve, we better hope our 2nd and 3rd QBs can win for us.

08-21 -11 9:10 pm pac

Photo Jose Marcio Sanchez /AP                                                                                        S Michael Huff     

Upon further review Oaklands drubbing at the hands of San Fran wasn't quite the beating it seemed to be.

At least not for our 1st string D.

Both of our DE's Matt Shaughnessy and Lamarr Houston discovered TE Vernon Davis holds.

Alot.

Big runs around the edges that kept the 9ers 15 play 1st quarter drive alive were the result of Davis holds. One blatant hold against Shaughnessy you can see Davis staring at the side judge to see if he's going to throw a flag as he mugs our DE.

But hey, thats the game. It takes 15 lbs of pressure to break a persons thumb. Fact. Its very difficult to hold with an injured thumb.

MLB Rolando McClain simply didn't have a good game nor did any of our Linebackers. They need to learn to wrap and tackle and get some pointers in coverage from Rod Woodsen.

McClain took bad angles several times and 9er RBs cut the ball back on our over pursuing defense.

WLB Quentin Groves has been seeing alot of time with the 2nd and 3rd string. Not sure if he's on the bubble or not. Raiders are pretty high on Travis Goethel.

We're not sure why.

CB DeMarcus Van Dyke is going to be good. He's been victimized by two of the Leagues best and frankly, there are very few rookies who won't struggle against the some of the best WRs the League has to offer.

He is in position more often than not though. If he learns to play through to the whistle and not give up on plays he's going to be dangerous.

Jeremy Ware maybe not so much. He saw alot of time and though he was burned several times by Pro Bowl TE Vernon Davis, it was a 3rd and 11 catch that netted San Fran a 1st down and set the tone early for our first string D.

Our 2nd and 3rd strings got man handled. Lets just say the D line of Bryant and Cumbie are not ready to strike fear into O coordinators.

Oakland is a young team and Oakland is an injured team. There are alot of guys and difference makers on the mend.

The San Fran game sucked. Plain and period we hate to lose anything, but in perspective and after further review things are no where near as grim as some would think.

Next: The Offense

08-13-11 12:12 pm pac                   

 Photo Ezra Shaw / Getty Images                                                   DT Big John Henderson

Oaklands D line looked impressive.

Its second string looked even better stuffing the Cardinals first string offense on a 4th down goal line stand.

DE Lamarr Houston snuck into the line up for the play, but up till that point it was mostly Oakland 2nd stringers taking it to Arizona.

Pass rush fell off slightly without the A team in the line up, but thats to be expected. This was a shortened pre season so alot of 2nd and 3rd stringers saw action to spare established starters so and so they could be evaluated as depth or potential practice squad fodder.

DEFENSIVE END

Oakland has quietly built one of the best Defensive End rotations in the League and we mean that.

6-3, 305 lb 2nd yr man Lamarr Houston is beastly, fast and throws defenders away like yesterdays trash. In 2011, look for him to improve on his 39 tackles, a forced fumble at 5 sacks he posted his rookie year. 

At Right Defensive End 6-5, 270 lb 3rd yr man Matt Shaughnessy is poised to have another big year. Last year we saw Shaughnessy develop, moves and counter moves in his pass rushing game that resulted in 7 solo sacks. Run stuffing was supposed to be his strong suit.

With a well rounded game and Richard Seymour beside him to eat up double teams Shaughnessy could could be the one going Pro Bowl next February.

Listed as a DT, 6-5, 290 lb Desmond Bryant is slightly under sized in that role and it shows in the run game but scoot him out to DE and sparks start to fly. An elbow strain hampered him last season. If he can stay healtheir this year, the skies the limit. Hes smart, he's quick, he provides invaluable depth.

A former #1 pick and cast off from Division rival Denver, DE Jarvis Moss is poised to make some noise looking good not only as a situational pass rusher but as an effective cog aginst the run as well.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

Entering season 11 veteran Richard Seymour played a few downs, ate up blockers and saved himself for more meaningful action. Same with starter 6-6, 300 lb vet Tommy Kelly who should've been credited with a sack after chasing down Arizona QB Kevin Kolb.

Like we mentioned, Desmond Bryant made an appearance at DT but suffers against double teams and occasionally against the run.

Big John Henderson manning the middle on 2nd string was part of Oaklands big goal line stand. A broken foot saw Hendu lose nearly 8 games last year. If he stays healthy this season look for Oaklands run defense to improve.

The big man can still play.