A Reasonable Expectation for Gradkowski

by Joesickness on Nov 19, 2009 12:13 PM PST Comment 30 comments

I hope everyone in the Raider Nation knows to temper their expectations for Gradkowski this week. He will be facing a monster D and is taking over a very hot seat. Personally, I'd be happy to see him have 1 interception or less, NO fumbles, complete 50% of his passes (even if that's only 7 or 8), and have a total of anything over 120 passing yards. If he can do that his first week out, agains an exceptionally strong team, then I think there will only be room for improvement. I'd love a breakout performance, but like I've said, we have to be reasonable here.

I think the most critical element to watch for will be his decision making and limiting mistakes. I've watched Denver do well with a QB who doesn't have a big arm or great completion percentages, but gets them into chances to win based on small progressions and few mistakes. The biggest think keeping the Raiders from being 5-4 right now is bad throws, and a weak running game. The running game isn't there because most defenses can play a zone or prevent for any potential pass play, and put extra players on the line because they know Russell will miss the mark 50% of the time, won't check down, and with a stacked line will have less than 3 seconds to get the ball in the air. This gives the running backs, at best when they find a hole, a 5 yard gain per carry.

If Gradkowski can at least make the opposing D back off the line even 1/2 the time, the RB's may actually have a chance for some good yards. Keeping the offense on the field will give the Raider D more time to review the opposition's play scheme and maybe make some adjustments. I know I'm being really optimistic here, but I really believe that any improvement in the completion and decision making of the QB can really change the Raider's chances in ANY game.

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Hey guys,

just visiting over from Buc ’Em. For your sake, I hope Gradkowski has vastly improved since he was ran out of town here. I almost wanted to pull my eyes out of my sockets when watching him play. Russell is bad, but at least he is athletically gifted, Bruce is bad and untalented. I feel for you guys, but not too badly. You do have twice as many wins as we do after all :-)

"Three or four plane crashes and we're in the playoffs" - John McKay

by LeeCaz on Nov 19, 2009 12:37 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

Kind of agree

I know his numbers have never been that great but from everything I’ve seen and read I thought he was always a back up QB. Besides, you never know what a QB has in them- look at Collins; Hot for the Giants, cold for Oakland, then Hot in TN.

by Joesickness on Nov 19, 2009 12:54 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Here's my best expectation

100% on handoffs

Rookie: "Why did you bench me?"
Nellie: "You're a rookie"

by dubzfan on Nov 19, 2009 1:21 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Having seen Gradkowski play.

I am a Browns fan stationed at Travis AFB. Seeing how the Raiders are going to start Gradkowski over Russell i feel i need to say something. Bruce was in cleveland last year and replaced 3 injured QBs. He had a passer rating of 2.8. He is not the answer over Russell. I think the better option would be Charlie Frye. He has starter experience, he was drafted and started for the Browns, and is a much better QB than Gradkowski. He would not be a long term fix but he could get you through the rest of the season.

by holmes213 on Nov 19, 2009 1:50 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I get the point;

That Gradkowski is not a GOOD QB, and maybe Frye would be better. My point is simply that at this point, not changing anything is complete insanity and any improvement, however slight, will have a larger impact on the team as a whole. He may not be the future, or may even be benched in favor of Frye later, but until then I’m just looking for small steps of improvement.

by Joesickness on Nov 19, 2009 2:11 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I understand that.

Cleveland is going through the same thing with Anderson and Quinn.

by holmes213 on Nov 19, 2009 4:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think my expectation is a better understanding of the offense and game plan.

My hope is that it motivates Russell to pull his head out of his large ass. I don’t see this move as vastly improving the offense in the short term.

Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.

by noontide on Nov 19, 2009 5:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

who knows?

he marched us down field on a 2:00 minute drill only to be ruined because DHB couldn’t catch swine flu if he tried.

Evey- "Are you a crazy person?"
V- "I'm quite sure they'll say so."
V for Vendetta, blowing your mind away since 2005.

by KA1Z3R on Nov 19, 2009 5:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

It can't hurt it right?

The quality of the defense over the next month may make it hard to tell.

The government should take DHB’s blood and somehow manage to make a more effective swine flu vaccine with it! Hell, it could be a all in one vaccine. Whoever gets it won’t catch anything!

Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.

by noontide on Nov 19, 2009 6:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Hah!

If Bey fouls up again anywhere close to the dimension he did v. KC, he replaces russell as Oakland’s scapegoat.

Son-of-Blanda

by Sons-of-Blanda on Nov 20, 2009 9:43 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

continue throwing to Bey

who does, at least, get open … after a few more games decide whether he’s worth keeping.

Son-of-Blanda

by Sons-of-Blanda on Nov 22, 2009 8:52 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think if he works on the drops.

Maybe he needs to put sand paper on his hands for grip, but if he works on the drops he can be alright.

I’m not willing to write him off yet. And I wasn’t willing to write Russell and DMC off their rookie years either (Russell’s 2nd year == rookie year, but that excuse is over now).

Win, Lose, or Tie, Raiders til I die!

by mikesd1981 on Nov 22, 2009 9:17 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That's why I'm picking the Raiders this week

Gradkowski looked like he was going to pull it off last week. Cinci is due for a let down, and we all saw what happened to the Eagles.

(Raiders game 1 should be listed here, 409 yds off, we let them off the hook)
(Cowboy's should be listed here - They are who we thought they were)
Skins
Raiders game 2

Next victim?

by cpa913 on Nov 20, 2009 12:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

any predictions for this week????

I’m afraid to make the call, because mine turn out bad! Is Mr. November due too?

by brhynno on Nov 25, 2009 11:33 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm worried though

that Davis will make them switch back if we lose like when Kiffin wanted to Blitz last year and we lost and Davis made him go back to following the script.

Win, Lose, or Tie, Raiders til I die!

by mikesd1981 on Nov 19, 2009 6:14 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Davis seems to hate the blitz as much as he does Shanahan or Kiffin

The Raiders best defensive effort this year was against Philadelphia when they blitzed like crazy (well at least for the Raiders) and then you never see it again.

It’s just another reason why the whole “Just win baby” stuff is BS it’s more like “Just win my way baby” with Al and of course his way doesn’t work anymore.

As far as Gradkowski goes I hope he plays well but his career stats are worse than Russell’s so I’m not overly confident of his success.

by sirbed on Nov 19, 2009 8:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the key thing ppl are saying about Grad

is the management of the game.

Win, Lose, or Tie, Raiders til I die!

by mikesd1981 on Nov 20, 2009 4:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Is there even a question who the better field manager of the two is?

I still need to be convinced that Jamarcus is even capable of being a field general. at whole garbage about not running three receiver sets because they were too complicated for him is just unbelievable in this league. Especially for a first round pick. Iron clad proof the guy wasn’t ready to play at this level in my book.

I have a confidence we’ll be in many more games than we have with Jamarcus I haven’t yet had this year, and believe me, it’s not because I think Gradkowski is even good. I do believe, if we use him properly, he’ll be enough a threat to get that eighth guuy out of the box, and therefore effectively help the run game, and therein the defense, and hopefully more chances to win games.

by brhynno on Nov 20, 2009 5:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That's the point of what I wrote...

I don’t expect a win, and I don’t think he would put up great numbers; I just think that his overall management of the game, combined with one or two extra (well thrown- or at least better) passes will probably improve the team. Even if only slightly.

by Joesickness on Nov 20, 2009 9:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Played Cinci using Gradkowski and the current lineup with Murphy as my number one

and Schilens as my number two. I beat them twice, somehow getting better protection and a pocket for Bruce than I’ve been able to with Jamarcus (weird aspect of Madden game, could they possibly put that in there????) and hit Schilens, Murphy, Miller, Bush, Russel, Fargas, and McFadden, and they caught more balls than they ever did using Jamarcus.

It was a lot of misdirection runs from singleback formations, I form, and weak and strong I variations subing Fargas, Bush, and McFadden pretty randomly. When Cinci would stack the box with eight, I’d audible to shotgun formation 2rb 3wr sets and hit Murphy and Schilens for TD’s and DHB for some big gainers. I was expecting him to drop them, like he has been every other time I played using JRock all those times, and he dropped 60%!

I’ve done this weekly and sometimes it’s uncanny how close the turnouts have been to actual results, but definitely the themes of the game—our defensive line showing up, ints by CJ and Huff, fumbles by Jamarcus under pressure, Sacks by key players…

Not saying I think that will be the outcome, but just found it very interesting that it somehow all worked a little bette using Bruce, with a noticably weaker arm and less ability to throw deep downfield; he was just a bit more accurate, and our young guys got free after the catch.

I can’t be the only one who does this. Any one else have similar experiences? I actually played on the Wii. I know the game’s way better on PS3, but I don’t even play anything else on the game. Pretty much a weekly ritual I go through to get my football fix.

by brhynno on Nov 21, 2009 3:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the problem is going to be that especially against teams like cincy

we could be behind early and we will have to throw too much. At this point I think the ideal scenario is 150 – 200 yards and a TD at 50% with a stingy defence and a strong ground game might not beat the better teams but might at least be more watchable and who knows a receiver may even make a play at some time this year and we could definitely surprise some teams still.

There is winning calibre talent on this roster.

"Mel Kiper has his opinion and I respect it. But what does it mean? My 9-year-old nephew can watch film and make an opinion. I think I value the opinion of scouts who get paid to make their opinions. It will carry me through my career. It will serve as motivation for me." - Mike Mitchell

"I'll be the guy on top of the Quarterback" - Richard Seymour

Here they come baby, Just win baby, Feel the storm of the cold autum wind baby
Its the Oakland Raiders, Get your mouthpiece
You in the black hole, With the black beast! - Ice Cube 'Raider Nation'

by Ozraider on Nov 20, 2009 5:34 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

The talent is definitely there

Sadly, it takes a special talent to overcome the many obstacles the Raiders have thrown at them week in and week out, and we’ve been unable to get the formula right to do that thus far.

Pretty sure this is a step in the right direction.

I’m not sure every one outside the Raider Nation knows we’re not expecting this guy to be the guy, but that’s okay. This should’ve been done a long time ago. Too bad the nonsense with Jeff Garcia went down like it did, but I’m almost more pissed at Jeff for not being more professional and understanding he’d probably get a shot regardless of what they announced to the media.

Who’s he playing for right now? What chance of starting does he have? Jackass.

We fucked up there too, but add it to Al’s list…

by brhynno on Nov 20, 2009 5:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah the Raiders took flat in the media (Al Davis could save a baby and it would be a negative story)

but Garcia knew what he signed up for and did nothing but bitch and moan basically from day 1. Everyone was surprised when he signed for the Raiders but he was injured all preseason and was out-performed in the games he played by Bruce and Charlie, even still if he had have kept his mouth shut he would have been the backup anyway and probably got an opportunity most likely before now because having him on the team would probably have brought the change about much earlier.

Garcia Fucked Up!

"I'll be the guy on top of the Quarterback" - Richard Seymour

Here they come baby, Just win baby, Feel the storm of the cold autum wind baby
Its the Oakland Raiders, Get your mouthpiece
You in the black hole, With the black beast! - Ice Cube 'Raider Nation'

by Ozraider on Nov 21, 2009 4:01 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the thing people miss with Al

Is you cant say he hasn’t tried everything to win, I would much prefer someone as passionate about the Raiders and winning than an owner who is in it for the money.
The fact that we even have a youth movement and are rebuilding shows that Al is changing because the Raiders have never ‘re-built’ they have always ’re’tooled’, well we are re-building now and this is really the first year of it.

"I'll be the guy on top of the Quarterback" - Richard Seymour

Here they come baby, Just win baby, Feel the storm of the cold autum wind baby
Its the Oakland Raiders, Get your mouthpiece
You in the black hole, With the black beast! - Ice Cube 'Raider Nation'

by Ozraider on Nov 21, 2009 4:06 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Desperate hope of a dying man

Why would someone renown for burning teams on trades,recycling rejects (who get their second wind in Oakland), and drafting good players at the end of the day, suddenly reverse the successful method and buy brand new merchandise, so to speak? His marvelous talent is gone and desperation and recklessness (a compensation for impotency) remain. Still, he is really trying hard.

Son-of-Blanda

by Sons-of-Blanda on Nov 21, 2009 6:56 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

A car burnign it's tires

trying to push a brick wall 1 inch is still trying hard.

Win, Lose, or Tie, Raiders til I die!

by mikesd1981 on Nov 21, 2009 3:24 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

true

"I'll be the guy on top of the Quarterback" - Richard Seymour

Here they come baby, Just win baby, Feel the storm of the cold autum wind baby
Its the Oakland Raiders, Get your mouthpiece
You in the black hole, With the black beast! - Ice Cube 'Raider Nation'

by Ozraider on Nov 21, 2009 3:42 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

EXACTLY WHAT I SAID!!!!

All it takes it a little offensive management and you can change the flow of the game. Like I said, I didn’t expect the win, but hey- I got what I hoped for and more.
Friggin Russell just sitting there listening to head phones- they need to cut him and take the loss of income rather than let him be the tool that he is!!

by Joesickness on Nov 23, 2009 6:42 AM PST reply actions 0 recs