Rebuilding the Fear - Oakland Raiders M13 CCM

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by JHeyBraves

Tough loss with McClain going down. That is pretty cool that Warner signed with Arizona. You got a lot of big contract to deal with this season. How long does McClain have left on his deal? You may have mentioned it already but I must have missed it.

Looks like McClain will be up for contract next season.

Oh, and Lamarr Houston is down too. UGH.

[KBLover]

Week 5 - Midweek News

No new NCAA Football news this week.


NFL News:

QB Mark Mallet rejected the Texans' offer.

The Vikings are stunning the league with their 4-0 start.

Larry Fitzgerald passed Tim Brown on the all-time receiving yards list.

Adrian Peterson is now 7th on the all-time rushing yardage list.


Raiders News:

NFL Standings - Updated: Week 5,
AFC WEST	W	L	T
Raiders	2	1	1
Chargers	2	1	1
Chiefs	2	2	0
Broncos	2	2	0

Division is tight...and unimpressive. Raiders give one up to their rivals while the Chargers win to tie for the lead. Vikings and Jaguars are the lone unbeaten teams now.

Madden has the Chiefs in 1st place with the Broncos in last - not sure how 2-1-1 is lower than 2-2, though...

Injury Report:

Raiders get LB Jake Olsen back, but lose DE Lamarr Houston for 4 weeks with a torn bicep. Both starting defensive ends are now on the mend.

Raiders Injury Report
Pos	Player	Injury Note
LE	Lamarr Houston	Out 4 weeks (bicep)
MLB	Rolando McClain	Out 3 weeks (thumb)
RE	Keiwone Walters	Out 2 weeks (shoulder)
C	Sergey Wainwright	IR (fibula)
WR	Bryan Mills	Out 1 week (ribs)

Transactions:

OLB Tevin Ash agreed to a 4-year extension worth $10.8 M.

HB Julio Caulder signs a extension for 4 years, $15 M.

CBs Paris Cooper and Shaquille Carillon were given extension offers according to each players' agents.

The teams is still considering whether to talk more with Tyvon Branch. This is probably the hardest decision in that Branch is up and down in his play and his salary demands are on the high side...on the other hand, there are very few quality safeties out there and not many have come through the draft it seems.

Back up defensive ends Matt Shaughnessy and Quinterrius Fields are looking for extensions, but the priority is low - and probably non-existent in Fields' case.

RT Jeff Otah is another decision to make. He's good in run blocking but terrible in pass blocking. It's likely that the team will let him walk and either look to the draft or free agency for a new tackle.


Roster News:

Ndamukong Suh will move back to the interior line as he's clearly been out of sorts working on the edge. The team will try rookie Immanuel Dawn on the LDE while Matt Shaughnessy will likely see some time on the RDE spot.

The team will stay with the 4-3 and place Jake Olsen in the middle linebacker slot. Bullock returns to the LOLB position and Tevin Ash will get the ROLB spot with some playing time given to K.J. Wright there as well.


Scouting:

Perhaps even Lyle is starting to wonder about his young Schumacher. The team has started scouting QBs again, focusing on Nevada's Austin Duncan. Reports have been that Duncan may not stand out in any area, but he is solid all-around, including throwing on the run and selling the play action.

SS Maurice Peters (Baylor) looks to have higher-end speed and some physical presence. He has some ability to diagnose plays and doesn't fall for too much deception, but he needs work on trusting his instincts and react with more decisiveness on the field. Overall, he'd be a work-in-progress, but it is a possible option should Tyvon Branch be allowed to pursue free agency.

WR Jon McCoy (Houston) garnered interest among scouts because of his size (6' 5") and is ability to use that size to make great catches. He displayed good timing when leaping for passes - able to muster a strong vertical reach even while on the move. He's currently listed at a low 5th round projection, so he could be a nice low-risk pick come draft time.


Notable Progression:

SS Tyvon Branch
POW: 85 to 86

WR Denarius Moore
RTE: 86 to 87

TE Karl Kruger
CIT: 75 to 76
RBK: 63 to 64

[StizzyOG]

If your looking for a new qb draft Danny Martens, a 5th round prospect. His storyline happens towards the end of the season.

[Raider510]

Your next draft class is stocked with talent at all levels. Have fun with this one Are you looking for any type of Red zone threat receivers, like someone 6'5 or so that can go and get the ball with solid developmental skills? Maybe scout WR Bryan Henry. He's not the fastest, but he's a solid guy to have when you're driving down the field. I think he's projected at the 3rd round or so.

I've got several players from this draft that are starting on my team, or are major contributors. Every position is represented well.

[KBLover]

Efficient Was Good Enough
Nothing Great on Either Side of the Ball,
But it was Enough for 24-10 Victory.

If the Raiders fans were bored with this game, they had reason to be. Nothing exciting seemed to happen, yet the Raiders scored three offensive touchdowns and the defense did enough to hold down the opposing Patriots.

"This was one of those games you look back and wonder how they won by 2 scores. No takeaways, no big huge plays, not stifling defense, but they won by two touchdowns, " a local sportswriter commented.

So it was. The Raiders did turn to the run game and that means Caulder, and he did well. He pounded out the team's first touchdown of the day, fighting in from a couple yards out.

Then it was Wade Schumacher showing one positive thing. Actually, two things. One, he spread the ball around. That helps everyone think it's not Denarius-or-bust in the passing game. Rice can make place. Blackmon can make plays. Favors can contribute. Kruger is becoming a main target. Two, another effective, patient day from the young QB. Nothing gaudy, but no interceptions and a couple touchdowns.

It helped that the offensive line held up in protections today. Schumacher took just one sack - Brandon Spikes got through on a middle blitz and no one was able to get free in time so Schumacher just ate the ball. Other than that, he had a clean pocket and no need to try to move around and buy time.

Karl Kruger, though, might be starting to emerge as Schumacher's favorite target. He didn't pick up any touchdowns, but he again led the receiving yardage for the Raiders.

"I have to keep telling Denarius that I haven't forgotten about him. It's just that if the linebackers are going to come after me or if I can hold them with a play fake, he's usually the one open over the middle, " Schumacher spoke.

Moore had one of the least productive days in which he played a full game, just 2 catches for 20 yards. He's not upset, though.

"Eventually, it will benefit me, too. They just can't lock in on me and come after Wade. He'll find someone else, " Moore commented.

Schumacher's TD passes went to Rice and Favors.

Defensively, it was good enough. The run defense still let up 100 yards, this time to Peyton Hillis, and a touchdown on the ground, but there were no huge runs or breakaways that really gashed the team, unlike last week.

The tackling, though, has gone south and that's going to be a concern. The defense is really missing McClain in that department if nothing else. It shows the team needs to still address the linebacker position in terms of consistent physical threats against the run. Olsen is a coverage linebacker, Wright is anything but consistent, same applies to Ash, and Bullock is a rookie.

Also of some concern is the lack of lockdown pass defense. The team isn't giving up much in the way of yardage - holding Schaub to just a hair under 200 yards on the day, but they aren't generating takeaways or causing the opposing pass game to struggle making completions. Schaub completed 65% of his passes on the day.

Still - it was a win, and on the score sheet, it's just 10 points allowed.


Box Score:

New England Patriots at
Jan 1, 1 2 3 4 F NWE (2-2) 0 3 0 7 10 (2-1-1) 7 3 7 7 24 Top Performers PASS: QB Wade Schumacher (OAK) - 14/21, 180 yds, 2 TD, 125 QBR RUSH: HB Peyton Hills (NE) - 26 att, 132 yds, 1 TD REC: TE Karl Kruger (OAK) - 6 rec, 81 yds	Team Stats Comparison NWE First Downs 18 20 3rd Down Efficiency 3-12 (25%) 7-12 (58%) 4th Down Efficiency 1-2 0-0 Total Yards 435 397 Passing Yards 187 175 Rushing Yards 138 176 Penalties-Penalty Yards 4-35 1-3 Turnovers 0 0 Time of Possession 30:20 29:03
New England Patriots PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Matt Schaub 19/29 (66%) 199 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Peyton Hillis 26 132 5.1 1 Damion Young 3 6 2.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Peyton Hills 6 26 4.3 0 Rob Gronkowski 4 49 12.3 0 Wes Welker 3 61 20.3 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Brandon Spikes 9 1 0 0 Hussain Abdullah (1 FF) 9 0 0 0 Jarod Mayo 7 0 0 0 Brodney Pool 5 0 0 0 Angelo Likely 5 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Stephen Gotskowski 1/1 21 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Zoltan Mesko 5 226 45.2 1 PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Wade Schumacher 14/21 (66%) 180 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Julio Caulder 30 145 4.8 1 Charles Johnson 4 16 4.0 0 Takuei Griggs 4 13 3.3 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Karl Kruger 6 81 13.5 0 Sidney Rice 3 28 9.3 1 Denarius Moore 2 20 10.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jake Olsen 6 0 0 0 Brandon Madison (1 FF) 6 0 0 0 K.J. Wright 6 0 0 0 Immanuel Dawn 5 1 0 0 Paris Cooper 5 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Sebastian Janikowski 1/1 56 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Shane Lechler 4 165 41.3 1

[KBLover]

Week 6 - Midweek News


No new NCAA Football news. Been quiet with the storylines so far.


NFL News:

LB Stephen Tulloch extends with the Lions for 4 years and $28.2 M.

Larry Fitzgerald reaches 6th on the all-time receptions list.

Eli Manning is now 9th on the all-time passing yards list.

Andre Johnson is now 8th on the all-time receiving yards list.


Raiders News

NFL Standings - Updated: Week 6
AFC WEST	W	L	T
Raiders	3	1	1
Chiefs	3	2	0
Broncos	3	2	0
Chargers	2	2	1

AFC West starting to look like the dogfight it usually is. Raiders keep the pace with Chiefs and Broncos also winning. Those two teams are on 2-game win streaks.

Elsewhere, the Jaguars and Vikings remain unbeaten at 5-0 and 4-0, respectively.

Next Game: Seahawks (3-2) @ Raiders (3-1-1)


Injury Report:

Raiders Injury Report
Pos	Player	Injury Note
LE	Lamarr Houston	Out 3 weeks (bicep)
MLB	Rolando McClain	Out 2 weeks (thumb)
RE	Keiwone Walters	Out 1 week (shoulder)
C	Sergey Wainwright	IR (fibula)
WR	Sidney Rice	Out 5 weeks (elbow)
WR	Jacoby Ford	Out 4 weeks (abs)

Injuries continue to strike - this time taking out starting WR Sidney Rice and PR Jacoby Ford (again).


Transactions:

CB Paris Cooper agreed to a 5-year, $30 M contract extension.

CB Shaquille Carillon agreed to a 4-year, $10 M contract extension.

QB Colt McCoy is now interested in an extension. No word on if the team will talk extension with him.


Roster News:

The revolving door at linebacker continues as the team tries to find something that can work consistently for the next two weeks - that's how long until McClain returns.

Bobby Wagner takes a turn at middle linebacker while Olsen moves to the left and Bullock replaces Ash on the right. Meanwhile, Ash will play RE in place of Matt Shaughnessy.

At running back, Chris Johnson will be the #2 back this week. With the offensive line playing more solidly, the team wants to see if that was the reason why Johnson was unimpressive earlier in the year.

At wide receiver, Blackmon and Favors move up a spot on the depth chart and #4 WR will be occupied by HB Steven Grant.

Fred Marshall will take over punt return duties and Patrick Peterson will get his wish - he will start running back kickoffs in place of the injured Ford while Bryan Mills joins him.


Scouting:

MLB Dontae Brown (Arkansas P.B.) might be a candidate for the team to draft as he seems to have solid tackling foundation and intimidates ball carriers with his power. However, his speed might be lacking for what the team wants. That said, he is projected to go in the 6th round, so he might be worth a look there.

LT Kris Scavone (Navy) got more looks this week to get a beginning assessment of his blocking skills. He looks decent overall, able to do most of the basic things required of the position and should not be a liability, especially combined with what seems to be exceptional strength. The one concern that keeps cropping up is his (in)ability to make blocks down field and in space.

The team also took a look at the outside linebackers, finding few, if any, that would interest the team further. Asa Davidson (UCLA), might be the lone exception, but he's projected as a top 10 selection, and the team would not likely go get him at that level...and he's unlikely to fall to the team with that lofty a projection.


Notable Progression:

RG Cale Welch
IBL: 86 to 87

HB Julio Caulder
BCV: 87 to 88

RG Aaryn DePriest
RBK: 87 to 88

LB Jake Olsen
PUR: 83 to 84

DT Immanuel Dawn
PRC: 81 to 82

CB Patrick Peterson
PRC: 80 to 81

[KBLover]

Defense Comes Alive
Takeaways Assist Offense in Piling on
the Points. Raiders Win 39-20.

This is more like how the Raiders defense is expected to play. All game long, they were aggressive and hard-hitting. They harassed young Eric Rancour and Schumacher was again efficient and took advantage of the field position his defense gave.

The physical nature showed in the injury toll taking by both teams. The Seahawks had two of their halfbacks knocked out while Moore was lost to the Raiders.

The Raiders were able to cause fumbles for one of the few times this season. The team recovered three of them, two on kick off returns, which really set up the offense for scores. Both of those fumble recoveries led to touchdowns. One score came from Chris Johnson breaking a run off a counter play and the other was a play action strike to Karl Kruger, who got behind the linebackers for the touchdown.

Earlier in the game, Patrick Peterson made his presence felt with an interception and Jake Olsen forced a fumble. Those turnovers led to 10 points, a Moore touchdown and a long FG by Janikowski. In all, 24 of the team's 39 points game off turnovers.

While the defense was flying around and hitting hard, they still let up big plays in the run game. That remains the biggest difference in the defensive play, but this time they were at least able to get takeaways to offset the damage.

Otherwise, the Seahawks' young trio of running backs did their damage. Tyrell Kenon, a rookie, ran for 84 yards on just 10 carries, scoring 2 touchdowns. David Wilson, the "oldest" of the three had 66 yards on 12 carries.

Eric Rancour didn't play terribly, especially before the score got out of hand. Immanuel Dawn was just all over him for much of the game. Dawn picked up 3 sacks.

The Raiders' run game was solid. Chris Johnson showed well overall, though most of his 47 yards came on his 19 yard run while Caulder produced 111 yards on 23 carries, along with a touchdown.


Box score:

Seattle Seahawks at Oakland Raiders
Jan 1, 1 2 3 4 F SEA (3-2) 6 0 7 7 20 OAK (3-1-1) 0 13 6 20 39 Top Performers PASS: QB Wade Schumacher (OAK) - 22/32, 238 yds, 2 TD, 111.1 QBR RUSH: HB Tyrell Kenon (SEA) - 10 att, 84 yds, 2 TD REC: TE Greg Olsen (SEA) - 6 rec, 58 yds	Team Stats Comparison SEA OAK First Downs 15 19 3rd Down Efficiency 7-13 (53%) 7-16 (43%) 4th Down Efficiency 0-1 0-0 Total Yards 470 467 Passing Yards 171 222 Rushing Yards 169 156 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-10 1-5 Turnovers 4 0 Time of Possession 25:39 34:21
Seattle Seahawks PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Eric Rancour 17/29 (58%) 197 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD David Wilson 12 66 5.5 0 Tyrell Kenon 10 84 8.4 2 Austin Stewart 6 19 3.2 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Greg Olsen 6 58 9.7 0 Tyrell Kenon 4 35 8.8 0 Rueben Randle 2 23 19.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Steven Bradley 13 0 0 0 Earl Thomas 8 0 0 0 LeRoy Hill 7 0 0 0 Nolen Scarr 5 0 0 0 Haloti Ngata 4 2 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Graham Gano 2/2 46 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Jon Ryan 3 134 44.7 0 Oakland Raiders PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Wade Schumacher 22/32 (68%) 238 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Julio Caulder 23 111 4.8 1 Chris Johnson 11 47 4.3 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Karl Kruger 5 65 13.0 1 Justin Blackmon 5 54 10.8 0 Denarius Moore 4 39 9.8 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Bobby Wagner (1 FF) 9 0 0 0 Jake Olsen (1 FF) 7 0 0 0 Steven Barker 6 0 0 0 Davarius Bullock (1 FR) 6 0 0 0 Patrick Peterson 5 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Sebastian Janikowski 4/5 56 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Shane Lechler 3 125 41.7 1

[KBLover]

Week 7 - Midweek News


NCAA Football News:

Idaho DE Kooper Cosbert was a pro westler, but now has turned to football at age 26.


NFL News:

The Jaguars and Vikings remain undefeated, and the pressure to remain unbeaten will continue to mount as these teams continue to pile up wins.

HB Maurice Jones-Drew picked up 2 TDs as his Jaguars beat the Bengals 36-18.

HB Steven Jackson is now 3rd on the all-time rushing list.


Raiders News:

NFL Standings - Updated: Week 7,
AFC WEST	W	L	T
Raiders	4	1	1
Broncos	4	2	0
Chiefs	3	3	0
Chargers	2	3	1

Broncos and Raiders look to take the inside track towards making this a 2-team divisional race.

Raiders Next Game: Raiders (4-1-1) @ Chargers (2-3-1)

Teams met in a tie last time out on Opening Week. Chargers need a win and would love to get it against one of their arch rivals.


Injury News:

Raiders Injury Report
Pos	Player	Injury Note
LE	Lamarr Houston	Out 2 weeks (bicep)
MLB	Rolando McClain	Out 1 weeks (thumb)
WR	Denarius Moore	Out 4 weeks (back)
C	Sergey Wainwright	IR (fibula)
WR	Sidney Rice	Out 4 weeks (elbow)
WR	Jacoby Ford	Out 3 weeks (abs)

The Raiders swap DE Keiwone Walters with WR Denarius Moore on the injury list. Both starting WR are now out and three total when counting Ford. At least McClain will be back after the bye, as will Lamaar Houston.


Roster News:

The offense will have 4 weeks to prove that it is indeed no longer Denarius-or-bust in the passing game. Blackmon and Favors become the starting WR. C.J. Gortman, not the most durable of players himself, moves up to #3 WR.

Chris Johnson will get another shot at #2 HB this week.

Keiwone Walters will take the RE spot, moving Dawn back inside next to Suh. When Lamarr Houston returns, it will be interesting to see what happens with Ash, who has no business doing anything except rushing the passer. Perhaps if the team returns to the 3-4 once McClain returns (and assuming no other LB injuries occur this week), Ash will survive as a starter.


Scouting:

OLB Bryan Jacko (Army) is an odd mix of abilities. He has really high agility for a linebacker and hits very hard it seems. But his tackling is questionable and does a terrible job with the mental aspects of the game. However, he's not totally lost in space in coverage. Hard to know what to consider him or make of his prospects.

MLB Earl Williams (Ohio State) might be one for the team to consider if it wants to go the "put a middle linebacker outside" route. He looks like he's got well-rounded abilities and plenty of power behind his tackles. Like many MLBs, he's got some ability in zone coverage.

The team checked into WR Akia Green's injury history and found little of note - which is a good thing. Green also has a reputation for having sound hands that secure the ball. While he'll need some development, he sounds like he'll be one of the team's top targets on draft day.


Notable Progression:

DT Immanuel Dawn
High Motor: No to Yes
PRC: 82 to 83

FB Marcel Reece
RBK: 87 to 88

TE Karl Kruger
RBK: 65 to 66
AWR: 70 to 71

CB Paris Cooper
PRS: 77 to 78

LB Davarius Bullock
AWR: 80 to 81

CB Brandon Madison
AWR: 68 to 69

CB Patrick Peterson
TAK: 52 to 53