I have always liked Aytyba Rubin. he has a nasty streak and I really liked him coming out of College.

(2nd round) I don’t know of any promising prospects as of now, does any one here know of any?

the current group is definitely lacking run stuffing ability. No matter how much we shout about this glaring need it seems to be overlooked every single year. The addition of Houston and Seymour (from last year) will help going into this year as these guys are good solid players, but we just don’t have a running down space eater.

From the team’s perspective though (and maybe you pointed at it a bit SOB), there aren’t a lot of guys available to pick up, especially with the RFA’s this year. Kind of a lean market.

in the later rounds or even undrafted guys. So maybe this guy is alot better than we think, or maybe he’s just a big guy who’s going to be used for rotation. Who knows.

As for vetrans, there’s no way we can bring in Ngata or Ratliff. Mostly because those guy’s are awesome and their teams absolutely love them. Pat Williams is like 40 years old, and Kevin Williams would be a tough guy to grab as well. Shaun Rogers would be perfect though..Big and powerful. He’d look awesome in Silver & Black

seein the oakland raiders makin a move on any one of those DTs not one! why? because i feel like we wouldve attempted a move on someone other than Henderson, god gregg would great and haynesworth would be even better! ugh i dont see baltimore or washington cuttin ties tho…

however I think Houston and Seymour allow a lot of flexibility when on the field together interchangeable between the DE and DT position so i think we could possibly add more depth but i dont think we are in need of spending major FA dollars.
Speaking of which it sounds like LaMarr really made an impact at mini camp but this pick seems to be being overshadowed by big Ro and the tackles and after watching more and more tape of him i am really excited to see what he can do.

There complete lack of concern has eased my worries, but I still think they need something in the middle.

I like the DT position for passing downs, but I worry that the defense will ever get teams to these passing downs.

Forgive me of my bar graphery ignorance, but do you have a link to the explanation of the process that raised those fabulous green and red towers?

how many teams can take on seymours salary for the 1 year and i believe he is being paid 12.5 million?

I like his size, I like his experience on both sides of the line, and I like his demeanor.

I think we need one more DT at 320lbs.

http://www.gotigersgo.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/heard_kellen00.html

8 linebackers
4 d tackles
6 d ends
note seymour is counted as a d end but can play dt. maybe a trade with one of those teams sons listed would take a lb and d end for a good d t!

The Raiders released Gerard Warren on March 11th. He signed with the New England Patriots as a free agent on April 24th. He was not traded.

Anthony Montgomery just got released by the Redskins. He’s 6-6 330 and has more experience than Heard. A possibility?

The truly solid interior offensive line teams will collapse our defensive middle, and we’ll see some of the same thing we saw last year.

It’s tough to find tapes that demonstrate it perfectly, but while some above mentioned it was linebackers failure to plug holes, I argue that their vision into backfields was almost immediately compromised when they failed, and the line of scrimmage was dominated by opponents’ offensive lines more often than not. This is not the job of linebackers; if the D middle could simply win the line of scrimmage more often, the qb’s would have no pocket to step up into and out of trouble, and the defensive ends would’ve gotten to the qbs more often.

I’m afraid there are few impact guys available on any teams, at least those with whom the respective teams would be willing to part. I hope we can do something to acquire a true NT to play zero technique, and free up the UT, the DEs, and rushing LBs and safeties to do their thing. Where we’ll get him, I don’t know, but I remain hopeful.

As it stands, we’ll still demonstrate inconsistency against the run. We will see improvement, but the inconsistency will haunt the current interior D line. I expect big things from Houston (I think he’ll line up at UT and DE, but more often UT), Desmond Bryant, and even Tommy Kelly, with improved play from the ends and linebackers, but a hole remains at our DT spot.

Now he is back at his original position and it has been said he will line up over the “TE” to use that miss-match to his advantage to be disruptive while providing run-support on that side of the line…So he will be going against the "RT"s n "TE"s which means their “O” can’t release their “TE” into a pattern because he’s needed as a blocker…Meanwhile their “LOT” will be matched up against Richard Seymour and have his hands full there…The “LG”-“C”-“RG” will have to contend with our "DT"s in rotation and "LB"s blitzing…If our "DE"s can squeeze in while the "DT"s n "LB"s hold the middle the “QB” n "RB"s are in troubled waters…Meanwhile our "DB"s are in coverage and don’t have to worry about the “TE” or "RB"s as often because their needed as blockers…

Well…On paper anyway…

The real thing that will make all this work is an improved “O” that can score points and force the "O"s into playing into the teeth of our “D” which is our pass defense…We have stocked up on "DB"s with speed toughness n size who could be part of a “Hi-Bread” like a 4-2-5 and get after the "QB"s n "RB"s w blitzes from all possible directions…Can’t wait to see it in application…

It’s not the greatest but there is a massive improvment. We needto stay where were we are and build through the draft.

Before the draft, I was saying the Raiders needed to draft at least 2 DT’s ,or draft one and pick one up in free agency or trade for one. When they didn’t do that, and Cable said Houston will play DE, it’s only obvious that Seymour will exclusively play DT. By the way, the Raiders didn’t trade Warren, they flat out released him and the Patriots picked him up. There is still plenty of time for the Raiders to get a DT off waivers or trade for one. If I was running the Raiders, I would cut Russell and trade for Haynesworth and give Russell’s money to Albert. I was really surprised when the Raiders didn’t draft Cam Thomas, when he slipped so far down in the draft. Maybe the Raiders really like DT Bryant and figured he will rotate in and out of the rotation just fine.

And thanks for the link to that site. Had never heard of it before.

We talk about the necessity of size to play in the middle. Ideally, that would be muscle mass, would it not? Now Vince Wilfork is listed at 6-2, 325 lbs, and Lamarr Houston at 6-3 305. But, here’s Vince:

and here’s Lamarr:

The only difference I see is a big gut on the former. So why couldn’t Lamarr play DT?

Let me go ahead and put my “Fuck the Donkies” icing on that cake.