Why I Believe The Raiders Should Trade For Kyle Orton.

I'm pretty sure you all just read the headline and figured I'd lost my mind.

Of course Orton hasn't had a great season - there's a reason why the Donkeys pulled him for Jesus H. Tebow even though he can't succeed at that most basic quarterback skill of throwing the ball.

Nevertheless, there are a few reasons why I would trade for Kyle Orton.

Firstly, he'll come cheap. I'm pretty sure Denver will cut him and his $5 million if they can't work a deal before the deadline. They'll probably take anything for him right now - even from a division rival. I reckon we could get him for a 2013 No.4 with the potential to become a 3 under certain circumstances which he'll never meet (let's say a Pro Bowl and a 60+% completion rate for arguments' sake). That makes him more attractive than a washed up Carson Palmer or Matt Flynn, both of whom will cost a kings' ransom if we go after them at all.

Secondly, it's hard to see how he couldn't have struggled this season. Ever since the lockout ended the Denver fans have been calling for his head and the coaching staff/management never really gave him full support, no matter what they said - the blown trade to Miami was enough. The quarterback position is one of the most confidence dependent in the league. All these goings on probably shot it out of the water.

Thirdly, just imagine him starting against Denver in Week 7. He's going to be fired up to show the Donkeys and the entire AFC West that he's still got something in the tank.

Now the question has to be asked - can he help the Raiders?

Contrary to popular belief, the stats show Orton to be a pretty good long ball passer. Pro Football Focus broke down the statistics of all starting QBs last year throwing over 20 yards. Orton had the lowest interception rate on those passes of any quarterback and had a better completion rate on these balls than Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Peyton Manning, Josh Freeman and, yes, Jason Campbell. And it's not like this was an extremely small sample size - out of 73 passes attempted over 20 yards last season, he completed 27. That's more than all the guys I mentioned except Manning.

Of course, part of that came from playing in Josh McDaniels' offense and it didn't exactly lead to many wins. However, let's look at his time in Chicago where he played in a run-first offense like ours where he had to manage the game. In 2005 (his rookie season), he started 15 games and led the Bears to a 10-5 record (albeit with poor personal stats). In 2008, the only other year where he played more than 10 games, he had a 9-6 record with a 58.5% completion percentage, just under 3000 yards and 18 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. That's comparable to Jason's stats last year with us - 59% completion rate, 13 TDs to 8 INTs and 2,387 yards.

As some of you know, I struggle with numbers (I had to copy those off Wikipedia) so I can't figure out what exactly they all mean in the greater scheme of things. But it's clear to see that a motivated Orton playing freely without worrying about the lovechild of Jesus and Elway breathing down his back would, at worst, give us production similar to Campbell. If he could bring his deep throw success last year to Oakland the playoffs would still be worth a dream.