Commitment to Excellence - The Oakland Raiders

[Downgoesfrazier]

Oakland Raiders - 2011 Depth Chart - Regular Offense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
WR	Emmanuel Sanders	Louis Murphy	Johnnie Lee Higgins
TE	Zach Miller	Brandon Myers
LT	Mario Henderson	Bo Thran
LG	Robert Gallery	Cooper Carlisle
C	Kyle Kosier	Erik Pears
RG	Bruce Campbell	Cooper Carlisle
RT	Khalif Barnes	Cooper Carlisle
WR	Danny Amendola	Chaz Schilens	Darius Heyward-Bey
QB	Marc Bulger	Tyrelle Pryor	Pat White
FB	Peyton Hillis
HB	DeMarco Murray	Darren McFadden	Laurence Maroney

Oakland Raiders - 2011 Depth Chart - Base 3-4 Defense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
LDE	Richard Seymour	Lamarr Houston
NT	Tommy Kelly	Ronald Fields	Marcus Harrison
RDE	Matt Shaughnessy	Osi Umenyiora
LOLB	Thomas Howard
LILB	Rolando Mcclain	Slade Norris
RILB	Jovan Belcher	Quentin Davie
ROLB	Kamerion Wimbley
CB	Nnamdi Asomougha	Stanford Routt
SS	Tyvon Branch	Michael Mitchell
FS	Michael Huff	Brodney Pool
CB	Chris Johnson	Walter McFadden	Jeremy Ware

OperationSports.com

[Downgoesfrazier]

2011 PRE-SEASON

WEEK 1


L 32-28

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WEEK 2


W 17-16

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WEEK 3


L 28-12

Transactions:

- CUT Quentin Davie - ROLB

- TRADE HB Laurence Maroney + 6th Round Pick -> TB for QB Charlie Whitehurst

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WEEK 4


L 28-12

Transactions:

- CUT Pat White - QB

- Signed Willie Parker - HB

- Signed Fabian Washington - CB

- Signed Kendall Simmons - RG

- Signed Ben Leber - LOLB

[Downgoesfrazier]

OAKLAND TRIBUNE

Page 6 - Sports - Football - Raiders
$0.49
__________________________________________________

It was a huge off-season in Oakland, California.

Al Davis sold the Raiders to Ice Cube, half of last years roster didn't return and they drafted a new running back to build the team around.

But something that wasn't as big was the training camp battles. They got lost somewhere along the line, but we here at the Tribune are going to fill you in on everything that happened as far as who gets the starting nod at their positions.

Running Back
Starter - Demarco Murray

It should come as no surprise that DeMarco Murray is the starter. He was the first round selection out of Oklahoma that head coach Brian Schottenheimer plans to build his offense around.

Darren McFadden made a pre-season splash, but they plan on using McFadden to give them the burst of speed Murray doesn't have on special occassions. Laurence Maroney was brought in but with three backs with not really any top speed, they traded Maroney with a pick for QB Charlie Whitehurst.

Willie Parker was brought in again to fill in the third RB spot.

Quarterback
Starter - Charlie Whitehurst

This was the most interesting. Oakland had Pat White on the roster, but he was cut when they saw what Tyrelle Pryor had to offer. They only wanted one mobile quarterback.

They then went out and signed free agent Marc Bulger. Coach Schottenheimer named Bulger the starter going into pre-season saying it was his job to lose. It seems he lost it as he had a less than mediocre pre-season and they traded a late round draft pick and RB Laurence Maroney for QB Charlie Whitehurst.

Whitehurst currently has the starting job going into week one and Oakland hopes to not have a mess at the position like last year where they had three different quarterbacks starting throughout the season - one of the reasons, I believe they were as bad as they were. I think if you stick with a guy the team will rally around him unless he is doing awful. But for three different starters in one season? It's unacceptable.

Hopefully we don't have the same fate as last season.

Wide Receiver
Starter - Emmanuel Sanders

Sanders was traded to Oakland for a fifth round pick from Pittsburgh. He went on to outplay that fifth round label and earn the starting job. He has top speed and great hands.

The team plans to use Sanders and Louis Murphy to stretch the field while putting aquired receiver Danny Amendola in the slot, planning to mirror New England's style of receivers over the past three years with Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

Right Defensive End
Starter - Matt Shaughnessy
The team had high hopes when they traded for RE Osi Umenyiora. They loved his speed, but unfortunately he didn't have the strength to get past the best of the best.

Shaughnessy gives them that strength. He won over the staff even last season, when during the last half of the season he got to play more than Umenyiora.

Other Battle Winners
FS - Michael Huff
SS - Tyvon Branch
C - Kyle Kosier
LT - Mario Henderson

[DEPTH CHART GOING HERE, CODE DIDN'T WORK - WILL BE UP SOON]

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Next Game:
Week 1 2011:
@ (0-0)

Injury Report:
OAK: Jovan Belcher - MLB - Partial Groin Tear | Bruce Campbell - RG - Upper Arm Fracture
HOU: Eugene Wilson - FS - Partial ACL Tear

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NFL Scoreboard - Raiders (0-0) at Texans (0-0)

September 11, 2011 1 2 3 4 F Raiders 2 7 6 3 18 Texans 7 3 7 0 17 Top Performers Raiders - Stats Demarco Murray - 27att, 74yds, TD, 4rec, 26yds Texans - Stats Matt Schaub - 20/37, 247yds, TD, INT

Team Stats Comparison OAK HOU First Downs 12 14 3rd Down Efficiency 3-13 5-13 4th Down Efficiency 1-2 0-0 Total Yards 301 401 Passing Yards 80 231 Rushing Yards 128 81 Penalties-Penalty Yards 6-30 4-40 Turnovers 0 1 Time of Possession 33:56 26:04

Raiders Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Charlie Whitehurst 8/17 85 0 0 Tyrelle Pryor 2/2 17 0 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD Demarco Murray 27 74 2.7 1 Darren McFadden 7 38 5.4 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD Demarco Murray 4 26 6.5 0 Louis Murphy 2 43 21.5 0 P. Hillis 1 17 17.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD Richard Seymour 3 1 0 0 Sanford Routt 3 0 1 0 Chris Johnson 6 0 0 0 Tommy Kelly 6 0 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG Sebastian Janinkowski 3/3 1/1 10 47 Texans Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Matt Schaub 20/37 247 1 1 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD Ben Tate 14 54 3.8 0 A. Foster 5 24 4.8 1 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD Dorin Dickerson 6 79 13.1 1 Owen Daniels 5 59 11.8 0 Kevin Walter 3 39 13.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD Shaun Cody 8 1 0 0 Brian Cushing 6 0 0 0 Mario Williams 5 1 0 0 Demeco Ryan 4 0 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG Kris Brown 1/2 2/2 5 35

OperationSports.com

This was a fun game to be a part of. We had a new owner, new coaching staff and a lot of new talent.

Charlie Whitehurst did a good job of managing the game and the workload was given to rookie HB Demarco Murray. He didn't get any huge chunks of yardage, but got important ones. We went up against a tough run defense, so it wasn't a huge surprise. I'm sure he'll get his big runs soon.

The Texans were up 7-0 and our great punter pinned them in their own 10. That led to them driving backwards and us getting our safety.

The big moment came when Whitehurst was driving late in the fourth and got NAILED (probably could've been a penalty, but oh well) after completing a pass for a first. He was knocked out of the game and Tyrelle Pryor was next in line. Pryor was able to complete both of his passes that led to first downs and we eventually got in field goal position to kick the game winning kick.

Great game. Thankfully Whitehurst is healthy again and will start vs. Detroit in what we hope will be Murray's breakout game.

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Next Game:
Week 2 2011:
vs. (0-1)

Injury Report:
OAK: None
DET: Lawerence Jackson - LE - Dislocated Ankle

[HeroWorship]

Ice Cube? Well, it's better than some random generated name.

Good first win, though scary that Whitehurst was injured. I like Prior as your backup, and I like how you are keeping it a challenge. Still not very stabilized at the QB position, even with those two.

[Downgoesfrazier]

Quote: Originally Posted by HeroWorship

Ice Cube? Well, it's better than some random generated name. Good first win, though scary that Whitehurst was injured. I like Prior as your backup, and I like how you are keeping it a challenge. Still not very stabilized at the QB position, even with those two.

LOL, I always knew he was a Raider fan and wanted someone who was a huge fan and had the money.

Yeah, I realize neither are franchise QBs, at least right now, but as soon as Whitehurst went down my jaw dropped. I didn't know what to expect from Pryor but gave him limited passes which he completed and than let Murray plow through.

[Downgoesfrazier]

NFL Scoreboard - Lions (0-1) at Raiders (1-0)

September 18, 2011 1 2 3 4 F Lions 3 7 14 7 31 Raiders 0 6 3 29 38 Top Performers Lions - Stats Kevin Smith - 23att, 147yds Raiders - Stats Demarco Murray - 27att, 118yds, 2 TD, 2rec, 4yds

Team Stats Comparison DET OAK First Downs 19 10 3rd Down Efficiency 4-12 7-17 4th Down Efficiency 0-0 0-0 Total Yards 563 464 Passing Yards 205 234 Rushing Yards 195 114 Penalties-Penalty Yards 3-33 7-60 Turnovers 3 2 Time of Possession 35:39 24:21

Lions Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Matthew Stafford 16/31 223 3 2 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD Kevin Smith 23 147 6.3 0 Jahvid Best 6 31 5.1 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD Calvin Johnson 3 102 34.0 0 Nate Burleson 3 40 13.3 0 Bryant Johnson 3 48 16.0 1 Defense TKL SACK INT TD Julian Peterson 6 0 0 0 Deandre Levy 5 0 1 1 Ndamukong Suh 5 0 0 0 Louis Delmas 4 0 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG Leigh Tiffin 1/2 4/4 7 20 Raiders Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Charlie Whitehurst 10/26 233 2 2 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD Demarco Murray 27 118 4.3 2 Darren McFadden 4 2 0.5 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD Louis Murphy 4 127 31.7 1 Zach Miller 2 12 6.0 0 Chaz Schilens 2 93 46.5 1 Defense TKL SACK INT TD Kamerion Wimbley 7 1 0 0 Michael Huff 7 0 0 0 Nnamdi Asomugha 3 0 1 0 Rolando Mcclain 4 0 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG Sebastian Janinkowski 3/3 3/3 12 44

OperationSports.com

I figured this would be much more in my favor, but it wasn't until the fourth quarter that I got something going - but it was worth the wait since we went on to score 29 points.

It was 24-9 in the fourth and it took an 81 yard bomb from Whitehurst to Schilens to spark both sides of the ball. Murray had a better game than last week, again carrying the load, but this time went over 100 yards and had 2 touchdowns. He had some big runs but none resulted in touchdowns, just a few goal line carries.

I was surprised with Whitehurt's arm, he isn't known for having a big one but he threw it up there a few times.

It was a nice win, sloppy at times but we managed to come alive and comeback - again!

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Next Game:
Week 3 2011:
@

Injury Report:
OAK: None GB: None

[tomriddle]

just out of curiosity, what's TP's OVR and POT?