Silver and Black Pride's Sunday Community Poll: The Raiders Offseason Recap, Your Grades
With this coming week's final OTA, the Raiders 2009 offseason will have concluded. We then have a lull in football activity as we await the start of the 2009 season with the Raiders reporting to the training camp complex in Napa at the end of July. The only news that we can really expect is the July signings of their 2009 draft class. All the draftees are expected to be inked and in camp by the reporting date as is typical for the Raiders, with the exception of 2007 with the a-typical Jamarcus Russell signing.
The 2009 Raiders offseason was very active with players added, subtracted, re-signed and drafted. In addition the the players, the coaching staff saw a major turnover, as the Raiders will attempt to rise out of the 6 year pattern of losing and try to get on the winning path. Part of that offseason turnover and different from previous years, is that the Raiders did not go out and just throw big money at players and hope that they would work out because they were being paid so much. Now they went with a more intangible trait with their offseason selections - character and that is something that this young rebuilding teams needs.
The 2009 offseason recap:
Players Subtracted:
- Rashad Baker - Safety
- Drew Carter - Wide Receiver
- Ronald Curry - Wide Receiver
- Kalimba Edwards - Defensive End
- Justin Griffith - Fullback
- Jake Grove - Center
- Kwame Harris - Offensive Tackle
- Ashley Lelie - Wide Receiver
- Seth Wand - Offensive Tackle
- Gibril Wilson - Strong Safety
Players Kept (re-signed):
- Nnamdi Asomugha - Cornerback
- Rickey Brown - Linebacker
- Cooper Carlisle - Offensive Guard
- Jon Condo - Long Snapper
- Isaiah Ekeijuba - Linebacker
- Hiram Eugene - Safety
- Chris Johnson – Cornerback
- William Joseph - Defensive Tackle
- Shane Lechler - Punter
Players Added:
- Bruce Gradkowski - Quarterback
- Erik Pears - Offensive Tackle
- Khalif Barnes - Offensive tackle
- Jason Horton - Defensive Back
- Samson Satele - Center
- Ryan Boschetti - Defensive Tackle
- Marcus Johnson - Offensive tackle
- Jeff Garcia - Quarterback
- Shawn Bayes - Wide Receiver (UDFA)
- Nick Miller - Wide receiver (UDFA)
- Jonathan Compas - Offensive Tackle (UDFA)
- Jerome Boyd - Linebacker (UDFA)
- Desmond Bryant - Defensive Tackle (UDFA)
- Chris O'Neill - Tight End (UDFA)
- Frantz Joseph - Linebacker (UDFA)
- David Nixon - Linebacker (UDFA)
- Lorenzo Neal - Fullback
- Gary Russell - Running Back
- Samie Parker - Wide Receiver
- Danny Southwick - Quarterback
- John Paul Fochi - Tight End
- William Franklin - Wide Receiver
- Keith Davis - Defensive BAck
- Charlie Frye - Quarterback
Player Drafted:
- Darrius Heyward-Bey - Wide Receiver
- Michael Mitchell - Safety
- Matt Shaughnessy - Defensive End
- Louis Murphy - Wide Receiver
- Slade Norris - Linebacker
- a
How do you grade the Raiders 2009 offseason?
A
B
C
D
F
759 votes | Poll has closed
0 recs |
15 comments
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Comments
New Format
Very frustrating. After spending 4 hours on what should have only taken me 30 minutes, I am unable to end the story with what I intended. The new format makes it very difficult to edit because of the requirement to include tags and somehow because of those tags, my last two concluding paragraphs disappeared and are not included. Even this comment I am unable to include in the story and instead have to put it in the comment section.
Your team is your child...You love it no matter what.
by TheRaiderWay on Jun 14, 2009 4:23 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I give it a B
we did nothing to address DT and that alone angers me greatly. The draft also wasn’t very good because we drafted way too many pass rushers. I mean come on, we picked people like Norris and Sulak when we could have got a great run stopping DT in Terrance Taylor.
Randy Blythe, Singer of Lamb of God- "Words can be broken, so can bones....." Omerta by Lamb of God
by KA1Z3R on Jun 14, 2009 6:36 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree K
and as I stated in my conclusion if the new tagging feature didn’t kill my ability to format and edit, the Raiders had so, so many holes to fill that there was no way in one offseason that they would be able to fill all of those holes.
However, it quite possibly is the fact that they, 1. have so many dollars invested in the DT’s that they have now, 2. believe that Rob Ryan’s defense did not properly use the talent they had at DT, 3. Tommy Kelly needed more than a year to recover from major knee surgery and finally, 4. they maybe just didn’t like the DT’s that were available compared to the players they selected instead.
Additionally, I had stated that the new coaches the Raiders brought in this year are a major upgrade over the previous inexperienced staff. I believe the Raiders have assembled one of their better coaching staffs in several years and we will see the difference this season.
Your team is your child...You love it no matter what.
by TheRaiderWay on Jun 14, 2009 7:02 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
yeah you're right
about the DT’s. But I’m just saying that will probably be our #1 concern next offseason.
Randy Blythe, Singer of Lamb of God- "Words can be broken, so can bones....." Omerta by Lamb of God
by KA1Z3R on Jun 14, 2009 8:29 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Vince Wilfork
check this out NE drafted Ron Brace outa Boston College and with Wilforks contract expireing next year he wants a new deal and was going to hold out but then came in recently to the madatory stuff the patriots never pay big money to players THEY LET THEM WALK. ALSO TOM BRADY IS GONNA NEED A CONTRACT EXTENSION I THINK AFTER NEXT YEAR so with thier history (asante samuel adam vinateri wilie mcginist ty law lawyer milloy) of letting players who were solid vets go i think he would be a solid fit here in oakland he would command big bux but i think he would solidify our run d
by BRIANMULHALL on Jun 14, 2009 9:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
and with Sands and burgess most likely leaving
some money will be freed up for him. hee hee!
Randy Blythe, Singer of Lamb of God- "Words can be broken, so can bones....." Omerta by Lamb of God
by KA1Z3R on Jun 14, 2009 5:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
i give it an A
i think that the coaching upgrades especially at QB coach and DC are huge upgrades also all the players that seem to be great special teams players like some of the draft class (norris and sulak) and re signed players (Ekijuba) i think thats a part of our game were goin to excell at and thats important also the HC is emphasizing leadership and thats the difference in the NFL those things like character,intangibles whatever u wanna call it at this level the talent is so close its pretty much those minor thinks that set teams apart thats y great teams underachieve and poor teams overachieve week to week its all confidence those unquantifieable things heart, etc.
by BRIANMULHALL on Jun 14, 2009 6:53 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I voted an A
Gone are the days of drunken sailor spending on prima donnas, gone are some guys who thought"team" started with “I”. New coaches were brought in, accountability was stressed, and a foundation has been set up. Who knows about the draft? Some teams that got high marks will turn out to be failures, some teams who were given “D” marks will have excellent results. I just like the lack of drama, the singular voice from the team, the signings of key players. I have never believed that the problem with the running defense is the sole fault of the DT’s. That is far too simplistic, defense is a coordinated responsibility, and we have a weakness at LB and SS/FS. In the draft the Raiders have tried to resolve that, will it work, no idea, but I like the direction. I have also felt that the DE’s of the Raiders have been weak against the run, the Raiders tried to correct that through the draft. From where I sit, the off season has been an “A”. No problem if other guys think a “B”, that is all right with me also. It has been positive.
by Laoren on Jun 14, 2009 7:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I would give a B+
Could have gotten some players of need here and there but, overall it was a good off season with a new mentality.
Amazing, Jamarcus Russell hands off to McFadden who pitches it back to Russell who finds Darrius Heyward Bey in the Middle of the Field wide open 30, 20,10,5 Touchdown Raiders! Amazing. This telecast is Brought to you by Cable.
by nishal26 on Jun 14, 2009 10:44 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I gave it a “C” and it would be a low “C” because we didn’t address the oustside linebacker position and I don’t think we did enough to improve at safety. No matter what you do at safety, though, could recoup the loss of Gibril Wilson. The draft, I thought, was poor and the free agent signings were pretty elementary, so I gave it it an average grade. If we had gone out and improved the defensive line and the linebackers, I would’ve given it a “B” and if we had done something really drastic to improve the team, I would’ve given it an “A” overall. That’s why I gave it a “C” instead.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Jun 14, 2009 12:06 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
agreed
wasn’t happy w/ the draft, esp heyward bey (but i could be wrong about him). not sure why we let ronald curry go. our receiving core is full of no names who’s JR gonna throw the ball to? i guess just hand the ball off to one of our many running backs
by theintz on Jun 14, 2009 4:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don’t have a problem with letting Curry go. I’m content with the five receivers being Heyward-Bey, Schilens, Higgins, Walker and Murphy. Miller is better than all of them and let’s see McFadden in the passing game.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Jun 14, 2009 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I Give It A B
Every move made sense to me. The only loss that still stick in my head is Gibril Wilson, but that boy always screwed us up in pass coverage. Now we got Mitchell who looks decent in pass coverage with his range and speed.
J-Mac got arm, D-Mac is unique, DHB got the hands, and he can move his feet.
Niners got Hill, he is really cheap, now they got Crabtree, hey don't fall asleep.
by Rayder K on Jun 14, 2009 1:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I give it a B
B+ now with the Ellis add. I like this move as the pass rush was one of the major problems with our team last year. I do have to wonder if this is the first step to trading Burgess.
PREPAREDNESS_Because those goddamn zombies aren’t going to kill themselves
by adragon on Jun 15, 2009 10:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

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