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Raiders "Next Man Up" Policy ... and cruel reality


Hue "Action" Jackson, has dealt with his fair share of injuries so far into the brief preseason:

Darren McFadden RB, Jacoby Ford WR/KR, Louis Murphy WR, Chaz Schilens WR, Chimdi Chekwa DB, Taiwan Jones RB, SS Mike Mitchell, and the latest and most severe - FS Hiram Eugene ... plus, recovering from last season DE/OL hybrid Trevor Scott. Hue presents these decimations to our roster as "part of the process" and downplays them mostly as "nicks" before reiterating the Raiders' new policy, "Next Man Up."

There comes a point however, when looking at our roster that cruel reality manifests - "what do we do when there is no viable "Next Man?"

Most of us realized early that Oakland has a strong group of starters but lacks depth - with the exceptions of our RBs and DTs - and that while it's nice (in theory) to have a "Next Man Up" policy, it doesn't help much if there is no viable  next man.

Thursday's game, we witnessed a significant, if not drastic, fall-off in performance once the starters retired; thankfully, there were some notable exceptions: the Moore brothers - WR Denarus and CB Sterling - played terrifically as did TE David Ausberry, Travis Goethel, WR Derek Hagan, DE Jarvis Moss, LB Sam Williams, P Glenn Pakulak, John Henderson, and OT/G Stephon Heyer

Now Huff is working part-time with the CBs and Eugene out for the season. If either starting safety, Huff or Branch, leave the game we have only Stevie Brown (Mitchell is still injured and Boyd is an unthinkable option. We need to bring in another Safety immediately.

At CB, if Routt or CJ leave the game, we have only the very green DVD and the promising, but unproven, Sterling Moore, at least until Chekwa is healthy (and we don't know how he'll play at this level).

The real limitation and unfeasibility of Oakland's "Next Man Up" policy can be demonstrated with the scenario of either Walter McFadden or Jerome Boyd being "The Next Man Up."  This could happen unless we bring in through FA more help at Safety and Corner Back.