Oakland Raider News: Who Stays and Who Goes, Part 1:

First, Al Davis needs to die. Then, Tom Cable can get the axe. Greg Knapp will probably go to Seattle and join Jim Mora, Jr. and his staff. I wouldn’t mind seeing Rob Ryan go.

Al Davis/General Manager:
With Al Davis as the owner we all know who makes the big decisions and creates the template for the team. Even if he hires a “GM”, that person will likely have about as much power as Brian Cashman does for the Yankees – that is, everything gets run past the Steinbrenners.

The one thing that Cashman does better than anyone for the Raiders is the day-to-day decisions and forcing action by the owner. The Raiders have to be the absolute worst team when it comes to making in-season roster moves, including waiting to IR Javon Walker. This is an area where it is not a good idea to emulate the A’s.

Still, Mike Holmgren might be on your short list, but the Raiders aren’t anywhere near Holmgren’s. Much like our head coaches, Al will pick someone who has worked in a front office before but has never been a general manager before. Still, its progress.

Head Coach
I like Coach Cable’s attitude as well, and he’s an absolute trooper for stepping up and taking such a thankless job, but the deficiencies you pointed out are too much for him to retain his position. He simply has too much on his plate being HC, play-caller, and O-Line coach. The best evidence of this is the fact that the O-line has regressed since he left his O-line coaching position full time. I’d like to see him retained as O-line coach to help continue the O-line’s progression, hopefully with a nice new LT from the draft.

I like Jim Fassel for the job. He has HC experience, is considered a QB guy, and understands the complexities of working for Al Davis and thus cannot plead ignorance when facing such a situation. I don’t like John Harbaugh for the job. Despite “really liking Al Davis”, we really need someone with NFL coaching experience. Since few people that meet that criteria will actually take the job, I’ll go with Fassel.

Offensive Coordinator
Coming in, Knapp was known for operating a strong running game and being overly passive with the passing. Add in Kiffin protecting/choking the life out of (your choice) JaMarcus Russell for a year and a half, and the results have been the same for 2 years now: Top 10 in rushing, absolute bottom in passing. Russell haters will pounce on these stats, and there’s no doubt that he’s been inconsistent, but using the B word is simply ignorant.

Given what has transpired this year it’s obvious that Knapp will not be with the Raiders next year. A name that I’ve mentioned before keeps popping into my head for OC next year: Al Saunders. As the OC for the Rams this year its entirely possible that he gets let go given how poorly the Rams have played. However, Saunders has had success pretty much everywhere he’s been, including running powerful offenses in Kansas City and Washington in the past 8 years.

More importantly, Saunders incorporates things that Al Davis likes (power running, vertical passing game) with things that have proven to work more effectively than others with our current personnel (zone blocking scheme).

The bad news would be that Saunders would bring in his huge new playbook and terminology and hand it over to the youngest QB in the NFL. A challenge – but not impossible.

Defensive Coordinator
Rob Ryan is an interesting guy. He’s fiery, competitive, and has a lineage and heritage of NFL defense. The owner loves him, the players love him, and the fans have a love/hate relationship with him. Rob runs a very simple offense which usually consists of 2-Man Under, WLB Blitz, MLB Blitz, Nickel, and Dime (there were more options on Tecmo Super Bowl). This fact is usually what has fans ripping their hair out, hoping that Ryan would take a page or two out of Steve Spagnolo’s or Jim Johnson’s “Ridiculous Blitzing” defenses. Rob defends himself by stating that such schemes are prone to giving up big plays (he’s stated as much in several press conferences). Yet, the Raiders seem to be able to give up big plays even in 2-Man Under, usually due to poor gap discipline, missed assignments, and poor tackling.

The defense shows moments of being dominating, but the overall numbers don’t seem to match what we see on the field. Still, with the support of the owner and players, it’s hard to see Rob Ryan going anywhere unless he chose to leave.

I’m assuming that Part II is for players, so I’ll hold off on that for now.

as all people hired by Al usually are. If he isn’t, then we’ll have a respectable organization. Fassel is the only reasonable candidate for the head coach. But I’d like to see Schotty here. I agree the d-coordinater should be keith. Put Cable back to O-Line. I’d like to see Tim Brwon on here as well, but i’d also like Gannon to be the QB coach. Just some thoughts