A New Era Of Excellence - Oakland Raiders (M12) Franchise

[PFellah]

OAKLAND, CA -- Only Al Davis could manage to upstage the end of the NFL lockout.

The Oakland Raiders announced that Al Davis would be taking on an assistant for the first time, which didn't turn a lot of heads. Maybe it was a realistic concession to his advancing age. But the choice -- a 41-year old IT guy, sometimes-blogger, and former college sportswriter... and a guy who grew up on the Steel Curtain Steelers, no less... by the name of Ian Baxter* -- THAT got the Internet and airwaves buzzing.

The more incendiary press like Mike Wilbon and Jim Rome were in full assault mode, wondering openly if Al had finally lost it, and wondering if the league could step in. More moderate voices such as Chris Mortensen circled, waiting for the exclusive interview where America would meet Al's new protege....

*=Ian is my son, Baxter is my dog. Felt better than going with PFellah for the whole thing.

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Platform: XBox 360
Quarters: 11 min, accelerated
Sliders: Modified dfos81
Rosters: EA Week 1
Draft Classes: Have NCAA classes for years 1-4, vanilla after that. May curate oddball "Jamaal Schwartz" names or draft classes that have 10 "Carpenter"s in them, but that's about it.

I've done some NFL 'chises on other boards, and wanted to give it a crack here. Usually I do build-ups of bad teams and/or relocations, but I mostly want to go straightforward on this... though moving the Raiders to LA might be on the table. After kicking the tires on different teams, I decided to give Oakland a whirl... they've got some interesting pieces, but they also still need some work. The 2012 draft will be interesting since I lose a 2nd and 4th; not sure how to handle the 3rd since I can't "trade" the Pryor pick -- I'll either call it a compensatory pick for Asomugha or take a scrub and pretend it was a UDFA. Still deciding on that.

As a writing convention, I try to write for realism, but if I ever want to break the fourth wall to comment about something meta-game (player ratings, sliders, pushed the wrong button on the controller, etc.), I'll usually do that in red. Ex: "Campbell dropped back and threw a wounded-duck pick that was returned for a touchdown (Ed: hit the wrong button)."

Props to all the other franchise writers out there who inspire me and motivate me to raise my own game. Particular tip of the cap to M2H's Bengals franchise... some great stuff there.

[PFellah]

RESERVED - SEASON CAPSULES

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RESERVED - AWARDS

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RESERVED - RECORDS

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LOS LINKS!!!! - QUICK LINKS

Current Season (2011) Schedule and Results
Current Season (2011) Roster
Current Season (2011) Depth Chart

[PFellah]

(open for business)

[PFellah]

"MORT REPORT" EXCLUSIVE
ESPN's Chris Mortensen lands the first interview with Al Davis' new assistant

CM: Mr. Baxter, first of all, pleasure to have you in studio with us. First of all, what is your official title and level of responsibility with the Oakland Raiders?

IB: Well, officially, I am "Assistant to the Managing Partner" which doesn't exactly clear things up, but in terms of job function, I am pretty much in a traditional general manager role, though Al has oversight and approval of anything I might do.

CM: Well now that that's out of the way, the question every NFL fan wants to know... how does a guy with no prior NFL experience land a job that seasoned executives would kill for, and furthermore, a job that didn't even exist because Al always exerted control over his team?

IB: Mort, I ask myself that question every day. In all seriousness. I guess what happened is Al got a hold of some of my blog posts, and actually called me about one of them. I don't even remember the exact content of the conversation, but I remember that we disagreed, but in a constructive way. And I thought it was the end of it at the time, but then I'd hear from Al every so often about something I wrote.

CM: So how did that lead to this job?

IB: Well the conversations continued here and there, but I think what really pushed it over was the Terrelle Pryor supplemental draft pick. I wrote something really strongly in Al's camp, that you couldn't suspend a kid for something he did in college -- that you either had to take a stance and say he couldn't be in the supplemental draft and live with those consequences, or let the kid play. One or the other. It was a couple days after that that Al called me up and asked me if I'd like to fly out to discuss a role with the team.

CM: Did he say it was, essentially, a GM-level position?

IB: No, I thought it was going to be something in the marketing department.... maybe writing press releases or something. I was shocked as anyone when he offered me the job.

CM: Amazing. So what do you think he saw in you?

IB: Well, in the end, you'd have to ask him. I wouldn't want to speak for him. But I got the feeling that he respected constructive disagreement. I didn't just get star-struck that the great Al Davis was talking to me; I stuck to my guns when I disagreed with him, and I got the feeling that impressed him in a positive direction. But again, that's really something only he can answer.

CM: Looking more to the day-to-day path ahead of you, what sort of football mind are you? What sort of strategies do you envision bringing to the Raiders?

IB: Well, I think I'm in pretty good alignment with Al's direction. Strong defense, run the football well, speed on the outside.... these are all concepts I've taken to heart. I may not be quite so speed-driven in my drafting style, but it's still an important facet of the game. You can teach a guy technique, but you can't teach a slow guy to run a 4.3 40.

CM: You mentioned the Terrelle Pryor signing. Initially, it was said he was being brought in as a receiver. Is that still the direction?

IB: This is one of the places where Al and I differ. I feel like you can find receivers anywhere, but finding a quarterback who can throw the ball and run is a rare commodity, even if he's a little rough around the edges. So we're going to develop Terrelle as a quarterback. I don't want to say we can get receivers anywhere, but we can get receivers. Someone of Terrelle's skill, you make use of what you've been given there.

CM: How do you feel about Hue Jackson and the rest of the coaching staff?

IB: I've gotten along great with the coaching staff great in our initial meetings, but we have to get into a day-to-day routine and see how we work together. In a collaborative environment like this, you have to do the job to get a feel how the personalities mesh and work together. But that's not a vote of no confidence in Hue... I need to understand how my style works in this organization as well.

CM: One more question before we go... do you feel like you're ready for this? There have been guys who have done this for years, and you're dropping right onto the biggest stage in the sport. Can you look into that camera and say you're up to this challenge?

IB: Absolutely. Look... I have moments of doubt like anyone. I listened to Jim Rome's callers talking about how Al had gone senile, how the only way I got the job is a ran a good 40-time or that he mistook me for John Madden. And as a fan, I get that... it's a big responsibility for anyone, but particularly for someone who hasn't done this at this level before. But at the same time, I have confidence in myself, and in my ability to make the decisions that will make this team a winner.

[PFellah]

2011 PRESEASON PREVIEW

RAIDERS ADD THREE TO ROSTER
The Ian Baxter era began in earnest as the Raiders made their first roster moves of training camp, with a dash of Pittsburgh flavor -- a pair of Big East alums and a Steeler reclamation project.

Raiders add QB Tony Pike, cut QB Kyle Boller: Baxter: "I wanted to take a look at a younger guy, and Pike put up some pretty decent numbers the year Cinci made their run at the national championship. I think he got dinged coming out because he was a little old for a rookie and doesn't have elite arm strength, but I think he's a guy we can work with."

Raiders add HB Noel Devine, cut HB Rock Cartwright: It's a little unclear why the Raiders need Devine when they also drafted speedster Taiwan Jones, but it does fit the Al Davis need for speed. "The kid was a player for West Virginia," said Baxter. "We couldn't believe he was available, so we wanted to take a look at him in camp."

Raiders add WR Limas Sweed, cut WR Derek Hagan: Well, this is awkward, considering the blogger Baxter once referred to Sweed as "Limas Scissorhands" during his Steeler days, but GM Baxter is singing a different tune. "Look, there's a player in there somewhere, a guy with a great size-speed combo. As a fan I remember being really excited that the Steelers landed this guy when they drafted him. For whatever reason -- injuries, confidence, whatever -- it didn't work out there, but maybe a change of scenery will be what makes it click for him."

Ed: I suppose there are better min-max guys to take, but I like having a few of "my guys" on the roster.

The Raiders are also reported to be looking at help at tight end, outside linebacker, cornerback, and offensive line, but haven't made any moves yet. "We have a few places where we're counting pretty heavily on rookies," said Baxter. "We haven't identified players yet, but if we see some veteran guys who can help us in those areas, we'll definitely consider it."


POSITION BATTLES

Tony Pike vs. Terrelle Pryor (backup QB): Jason Campbell is the starter, but who is next man up? The more conventional but more low-ceiling guy (Pike) or the wildcard (Pryor)?

Taiwan Jones vs. Noel Devine (3rd-down back): D-Mac starts and Michael Bush is the change-of-pace/short-yardage guy, so this is the battle for 3rd-down reps. Then again, considering McFadden's ongoing health concerns, it may not be a throwaway battle after all. Initial rumors are that both Jones and Devine will make the team, but who sits and who plays? Jones is a little faster and a little bigger, so give him the initial edge.

Louis Murphy, Jacoby Ford, Darius Heyward-Bey, Chaz Schilens, Denarius Moore (all four WR spots): Murphy, DHB, and Schilens all fit a similar profile (6'2"+, and fast), but DHB has a speed edge on the other two. Ford is a smurf, but an explosive one. As the rookie in the hunt, Moore is an X-factor in all of this -- if he has a good camp, he could at least crack the conversation.

Joe Barksdale vs. Khalif Barnes (RT): initial depth chart gives Barksdale, the rookie, an edge. But will it hold up once we see him in action?

Trevor Scott vs. Matt Shaughnessy (RE): Scott's a little faster, Shaughnessy is a little stronger. Some sort of formation-based job share could be the end result, where the stronger guy plays on run plays and we get a little more speed out there in obvious passing situations.

Quentin Groves vs. Ja'Mario Durham vs. Fabian Carnes (LOLB): Groves is the incumbent, but he's nothing special (72 OVR). Durham and Carnes are both UDFAs (and Carnes technically a ROLB), but they're both having good camps (Ed: good initial estimated OVRs -- Durham is in the 80s, Carnes is a 99?). If either one of them turns out to be a player, Groves is not so locked in that they couldn't win a job.

A bunch of guys (nickel, dime, quarter): Stanford Routt and Chris Johnson are the starters but it gets messy fast after that. A couple true rookies (DeMarcus Van Dvke*, Chimdi Chekwa), a couple UDFAs (Darius Franklin, Jabari Gordon), maybe even some safties who might be fast enough to take a look. With most teams running three-wide or more, a veteran signing may also be in the cards -- the team was rumored to be talking with the agents for Bruce Johnson and Joselio Hanson, to have them come in for workouts.

*Ed: Profanity filter won't let me type the guy's actual last name, so you get "Dvke" instead.