Yeah, so I was thinking that I wouldn't write some overly optimistic, kool-aid drinkin' post about our chances this year, but rather look at this season from a pessimistic yet obvious point of view. We all want our Oakland Raiders to be the best of the best and sometimes (some of us) drastically accentuate the positive and foolishly downplay the negative.

Here are some negative but real points to think about:  (Jump Over)

1. Hue Jackson is a rookie coach = he will make some rookie mistakes
2. Zone Blocking transformed to Power Blocking = The mix of the two schemes worked last year but realistically, we don't have the right personnel across the O-Line to effectively run an all out PB scheme.
   
3. Darren McFadden = Injury Issues. Going into his 4th year and hasn't played a full 16 game season yet.
4. Darrius Heyward-Bey = You know the story
5. Chaz "Mr. Glass" Schilens = Same issues as D-Mac above. Only difference is, he hasn't had a 1000 yard receiving season yet. (or even close)
6. Jacoby Ford: He didn't get tremendous playing time at WR until almost mid-season because the coaching staff didn't know his capabilities. He was a weapon that surprised teams. The opposition will game plan for him now. Additionally, his effectiveness at KR will be minimized due to the new ball placement.
7. Jason Campbell = Not a big fan of his but he's the best we have right now. He doesn't have the killer instinct that you look for in starting QB. If we used BSPN's Total QB Rating, you would see just how bad Jason Campbell is. He's a game manager at best.
   
8. Samson Satele gets pushed back way too much and he's the best we have.
   
9. Quentin Groves at WLB = Nothing more need be said.
10. Kamerion Wimbley = One trick pony. He needs to develop some moves to effectively shed blockers.
11. Micheal Huff = as a veteran, you would think that he would have learned to take better angles and tackle better by now. No such luck.
12. Kyle Boller = Our back-up QB. Really?
13. Rolando McClain = My Bama Boy. My Guy, He hasn't shown in pre-season that he's ready to be a run stopping MLB yet. (Roll Tide)
14. Stanford Routt = This will be the year that he proves worthy of his big contract or whether he was a 1 hit wonder.
15. We swept the division last year = The Chargers didn't have LT- Marcus McNeil or WR- Vincent Jackson and had that "Tuck Rule" call gone against us, we would have lost our first meeting. The Bronco's had a dumb head coach who let go of 2 of their best players on offense and the stud OLB converted to RDE -Elvis Dumervil was out for the entire year. Now they have him, Von Miller and D.J. Williams to rush the passer. I see a long day for Jason Campbell next week.
    

Of course there are many positives to write about as well but these are the things I think about as potential drawbacks to thwart our bid for AFC West Champions in 2011. All of these are valid reasons to be concerned.

Your thoughts....