So far

Al can totally ruin all this progress with one silly pick. And that silly pick be either Taylor Mays or Bruce Cambell. Otherwise, this draft is almost fool prove.

I like the way things are going and besides the Routt tender and the failure to RESIGN Richard, everything seems dandy

You left out that riduculous 1st and 2nd round tender on that bum Routt. Speaking of corners, where is ours? Nathan Vasher is available, we let Robinson resign. Other than Nnamdi we have WEAK corners. Fargas was the only reliable back we had. I would have cut D-mac. On top of that we resigned Charlie Frye?? He is HORRIBLE! Worse than Russell in my opinion. We should have defiantely made a play for Anderson or Quinn. I don’t care if they are 3rd string they are 10 times better than Jabustus or Frye. So we cut old guys that produce instead of the young ones who don’t. Sounds like Old AL logic. This offseason thus far has been a collosal fail!

I’d probably go with a “B-” or “C+” so far. I’m not disappointed with anything and I’m not really overwhelmed with anything. Cutting guys like Warren and Walker shouldn’t warrant high grades. It was almost common sense.

Besides resigning Bruce Gradkowski and letting go Justin fargas. The raiders have done nothing but keep the same ole lame line up they used from last year which includes most of the front office/Tom Cable in this case. My mind might change depending on the Draft tho but I won’t get my hopes up especially looking at all the bust we picked in the past….

Only because you can only compare the Raiders to themselves. They’ve gotten rid of people we never thought they would but we wanted them to in Green, Warren, and Alston. Fargas is gone leaving more carries for Bush, which is always a good thing. The tenders placed on Morrison and Howard are spot on; I’d be fairly surprised if Morrison is back. Getting Grad resigned as he should start for in the meantime between finally cutting Russel and finding a new future QB. Resigning Frye as he truly IS a 3rd string QB; he basically is an assistant TO THE QB coach. No huge ridiculous FA signings; we learned our lesson on that front. JR having someone assigned to watch him; I think after last season things are starting to set in with Al about who this kid really is, or is not. I think there is still a good possibility he get cut sometime in training camp provided he doesn’t have some miraculous QB-epiphany.

Things I have fail to understand are mainly the Routt tender and still keeping around JR. We were going to keep Routt, no one can disagree with that, but putting that tender on him and thus providing him that salary? I have no idea.

As it relates ONLY to the Raiders, it’s been an above average off-season so far for them, though only slightly above.

OC-Hue Jackson. I consider that a HUUUGE improvement

DL Coach- Mike Wauffle. He should really motivate Kelly and our young guys

Positive Moves:
1. Bringing in Hue Jackson to relieve Cable (and all of us) from the oaf’s play calling and game ‘strategy’.
2. Replacing DL coach Dwaine Board with Mike Waffle
3. Bringing on Lionel Washington to coach DBs (he’s a Raider and knows his shit)
4. Releasing Cornell Green (a one-man disaster to sustained drives and (teammate) MCLs)
5. Releasing Javon Walker (an obvious move but a great relief that it came about)
6. Signing Bruce Gradkowski (restricted FA)
7. Signing Sebastian Janikowski
8. Acquiring Kam Wimbley (for 3rd round pick)
9. Releasing Gerard Warren
10. Acquiring Yamon Figurs
Neutral Moves:
1. Releasing Justin Fargas
2. Releasing Greg Ellis (he did well for us but we must do better)
3. Signing Khalif Barnes
4. Signing Charlie Frye (restricted FA)
Bad Moves:
1. Retaining Cable (Tom is loser and we will never hit double digit wins with him as HC)
2. Continuing with the failed O-line Zone-blocking scheme
3. Designating Rich Seymour as restricted Franchise Player and paying him $12,398,000/year (for past
     achievements elsewhere and vain hopes for hell knows what.
4. Signing 6 year non-starter, Stanford Routt, to a multi-million dollar contract
5. Failure to trade Carlisle and upgrade Guard through FA (we can’t fix this line enough through the draft in 1 year and
    O-linemen quality flattens out mid-way through the 2nd Round)
6. Failure to sign Thomas Howard – if we lose him we’re in deep shit – and not paying the man what he’s worth is
     wrong (especially when guys like Routt are making obscene money for nothing)

and Stanford Routt, instead of paying both salaries way out of sync with their performance levels. Salaries that could be better spent on almost anything else.

thought to signing TO if it doesn’t cost us much. He will bring a much needed vet to the receiving corps..TO has great work ethic, and is still one of the top receivers in the league in production. He is also a player that teams will have to game plan for, especially when you consider the speed of our other wideouts. Also, he would be great for the young guys, because TO works on his craft, if he didn’t he would not be able to play at that level at his age. Do not believe for a split second that our receivers are great, we DON’T have a great receiver on this roster, what we have is a track team and none are consistent. I believe in time they will come around, but TO lends immediate credibility to our receiving corps. And I believe his confidence will flow right to our other receivers.

of the time I don’t…I agree with you completely..I do believe since we are wasting money we should sign TO..Last season everyone cried when I said sign Mike Vick, however, he would have been great until we fix our QB problem…Vick or Grad..go figure…And Vick would have cost no more than Grad is…

At least until we cut Ja-Carcass, he better be a changed QB or he will get cut at the 53 man cut down in August.
I can only hope and pray!

I would give him 5 million for two years. Mentor!!! He doesn’t have to be a mentor, all he has to do is make plays, he has a great work ethic and he practices hard as well. The other receivers can’t help but benefit from that. Vick, was a deal last year not now..Yet he is stil better than any QB on this roster, it just costs to get him now.. Go figure…No vision, Vick sould have been jumped on last year..And if the tackle is soft, Vick is a talented athlete, more than you can say for any QB on this roster, and he makes other players better…No matter, he won’t where Silver and Black..TO is a great option, I am sure to get flack from this, however, a play maker is what we need on Offense, and TO is just that, he requires a defensive coordinators attention or he will burn you…Something no one on our offense requires…But again when all your wishes for mediocrity come true the Raiders will be 4-12..If they go into the season like this, forget it…Point Blank…Even with the draft picks, won’t matter, no play maker, no addtional wins…Simple..

would make a difference…If Moss was here now, it would be a huge difference now, 1 playmaker at that position and we win 4 to 5 additional games minimum…,

“WR” is an area of need…“BM” is a very talented player from the Donko’s and I wouldn’t be surprised or disappointed if we go after him in time…He may be motivated to play against the “MuleHeads”…On the other hand he may also live up to his initials and be no more than a Bowl Movement with the Raiders….Who the hell knows but what other “WR” is out there worth going after…“TO”….Yikes!!!…

“QB” is still an area of need and I campaigned for Micheal “DawgMan” Vick last season so will again now…His legs and his versatility would give us another weapon that the "D"s have to defend against…That is if this coaching staff can get their collective heads out of their asses and figure out how to utilize the talent we have on the field….

“CB” is also an are of need and don’t be surprised if we draft one with the 8th pick…If the “DT” n “OT” are already off the board expect it to be the “DE” or “CB”…Al wont pick the second best at any position this high in the draft…He will always go for the best player at any position 1st…

So what happened last year….He took the “WR” who was the best in his eyes and the one that was projected to be the best never suited up for a single game in SadFran so maybe the “OldMan” new something the rest didn’t…..Not to say “DHB” was impressive but maybe he could have done some damage if our coaches had any idea how to utilize him and the rest of the talent on the “O”…

At this point there are far too many unknowns yet to be settled…

  Joe Haden Scouting Report
By Matt McGuire

1. Strengths: Ridiculous level of production
2. Terrific closing burst
3. Eliminates space quickly
4. Breaks on ball smoothly
5. Has long speed to play on island
6. Very fluid hips
7. Physical corner; gets nice jam at LOS
8. Takes on blocks
9. Really lays the wood for a corner
10. Terrific in run support
11. Nice ball skills
12. Locates the football well in air
13. Nice timing on jump balls
14. Has soft hands
15. Effective on corner/nickel blitz (3 sacks, 3 hurries in 2009)
16. Played a lot of press man coverage
17. Well coached
18. Intense football player
19. Wonderful skill set
20. Still has some upside

Weaknesses:

1. Lacks some awareness and instincts
2. Could anticipate routes better
3. Sometimes loses focus
4. Vulnerable to inside moves
5. Some question listed height
6. Unimpressive in zone

Summary: Joe Haden is a very talented cornerback with a very well-rounded game, but some teams might be scared off by his lacking instincts, which is critical at the NFL level where pro receivers are great route runners. Haden’s level of production and consistency will get him drafted in the top 15 picks. He is one of the better cornerback prospects in the last couple years. He shut down Alabama receiver Julio Jones in the 2009 SEC Championship.

draft a tackle, and let me put you on to a little secret…We should select Tony Washington OT from Abilene Christan, he would be a steal in the 3rd or 4th round, he as off the field issues that stem from when he was a juvenile, he will have to register as a sex offender…This kid made a huge mistake when he was 16 inexcusable and though it was consensual, it was wrong and should have never happened, however, all parties are over what happened and he is not a predator, something that is of the highest concern. This kid was a D2 All American and rated higher than most Tackles at the combine, he would fix our Tackle issues for years to come if we could grab him in the first 4 rounds somewhere. We need to take a Tackle at 8 and try to draft Washington later, that would set out O Line for years to come and he is a beast…I still like TO, more for what he can do with building the confidence of our other receivers..

he will go somewhere after the 10th pick I believe, our needs are O tackle and I do hope we focus on that. On Washington, when you f#&ked up like him, you have to be on point or risk losing it all. It did not require a drill instructor for this kid to know he was blessed with the chance to play college ball, regardelss of the division..He is a player. I was born and raised in Oakland, the Raiders got soft after going to LA. With that said, I can care less about all that character stuff as long as the guy is not a retard…Oakland had its best teams with guys that did not grow up functional homes..Hell, if you are from the hood, chances are football is your break, I can’t count how many opportunities football offered people to leave home and see a different world…So, I am not so hard on that, as long as the off the field issues weren’t for doing things while still in school, going out getting involved in criminal activity, smokin weed, problems with women on campus, etc. this sets off an alarm. But if a kid came through college but had issues as a juvenile, I can care less about that. Hell, I got in a little trouble as a Juvenile growing up in Oakland, yet, I am now an very successful businessman. One has nothing to do with the other. Washington if he is there in the second or third round would settle the O line for years to come, Tackle is the hardest position to fill, so I don’t consider him so great a risk due to his talent..He was 16 when that stuff happened..He knows his status, and that should keep him straight, No passes for him, not from the team, but from the legal system. And history dictates the bias there…

I rate this off season B-. We got rid of some fat (Warren, Fargas [great Raider but time has passed for him]) Signed some ok guys and picked up a DE. I think Al is going to draft a DB first although I believe the need is either DT or OL first. We got some stability in the coaching staff with hopefully some autonomy in offensive play calling and line coaching on defense with Wauffle.
I you think we pulled some bonedhead moves take a look at Pete Carrol’s return to the NFL. You signed who? For how much? The third string QB from SD?
I thought we had the market cornered in moves like that.
Dark days for Seattle me thinks.
I am waiting to alter my grade depending on if I drink excessively on Aprill 22 and if I am around and survive and wrist opening in my living room after our first round pick…….unless we make a very good trade up/down/for proven players.