Oakland Raiders
Head Coach: Dennis Allen (8-24 all-time in Oakland)
Last Year's Results: 4-12, no playoffs
Projected Starters:
(My Player Rankings Guide:
E - Elite Starter: Franchise changing player at his position
HQ - High Quality Starter: One of the best in the game at his position
GS - Good Starter: If this guy's on your team, he's likely starting and you should be perfectly fine with it
AS - Average Starter: This guy is OK, but if possible, I'd be looking for an upgrade
BAS - Below Average Starer: This guy should not be starting, but he will because he's the best option
??? - Not enough information regarding this guy and the jury is still out on him
R - Rookie: Pretty self-explanatory
PS - Poor Starter: This guy shouldn't be starting for your football team. NO EXCUSES!)
OFFENSE:
QB: Matt Schaub (BAS)
RB: Darren McFadden (BAS)
FB: Marcel Reece (HQ)
WR: James Jones (GS)
WR: Rod Streater (AS)
TE: Mychal Rivera (BAS)
C: Stefen Wisniewski (GS)
RG: Austin Howard (AS)
LG: Kevin Boothe (AS)
RT: Menelik Watson (???)
LT: Donald Penn (GS)
DEFENSE:
DE: LaMarr Woodley (GS)
DE: Justin Tuck (GS)
DT: Pat Sims (AS)
DT: Antonio Smith (GS)
WLB: Sio Moore (AS)
MLB: Nick Roach (BAS)
SLB: Khalil Mack (R)
CB: D.J. Hayden (???)
CB: Carlos Rogers (AS)
SS: Tyvon Branch (GS)
FS: Charles Woodson (AS)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Sebastian Janikowski
P: Marquette King
Schedule:
vs. @ New York Jets
vs. Houston
vs. @ New England
vs. Miami
BYE WEEK
vs. San Diego
vs. Arizona
vs. @ Cleveland
vs. @ Seattle
vs. Denver
vs. @ San Diego
vs. Kansas City
vs. @ St. Louis
vs. San Francisco
vs. @ Kansas City
vs. Buffalo
vs. @ Denver
Predicted Results: 4-12 (1-5 in division)
Team Analysis: The Raiders are the Raiders. What more can I really say? People talk all the time about the dreaded "Super Bowl Hangover" that looms over the NFL these days, and how either team that plays in the big game can typically suffer disappointing results the following season. Well, the Raiders have been looking for the cure for the "Super Bowl Hangover" ever since losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2002 Super Bowl. That's 12 years of disappointment that the Raiders fans have had to endure. Unfortunately for them, I don't see things getting better anytime soon. For the first time in along time this past off-season, Oakland found themselves with some spending money. Raiders fans got themselves all worked up because this was why they hired GM Reggie McKenzie a few years back. To repair the salary cap damage and bring in some good talent that would make the "Silver and Black" into a winner again. Guess what the Raiders did? They stood by and watched all these other teams get the big-time free agents and they took the scraps. Instead of bringing in some big-named free agent to get the fan base excited, the Raiders patched together a team that would have actually looked pretty solid 4-5 years ago, but is a big poo-poo platter as of today.
Even though I don't expect the Raiders to do much this season, there are some things to like about this team. The defense should be pretty good and should get considerably better as the seasons pass if they continue to do the smart thing and draft well (Khalil Mack was an excellent selection this year). I don't expect Matt Schaub to start all-season as I'm sure he'll throw 7 pick-six's in the first 3 games and will eventually get benched for Derek Carr who could end up as Oakland's "guy" going forward. Unfortunately for Oakland's QB's, the RB's are two injury-proned guys who, if you put them together, could actually end up playing 16 games and rushing for over 1,000 yards. Why these guys let Rashad Jennings go in free agency is beyond me. The Raiders will struggle to put up points this year (the addition of James Jones in free agency is nice, but who's going to throw him the ball?), but like I mentioned earlier, they should show signs of an ever improving defense. A 4-12 season is very much a realistic possibility for the Raiders. If you have your sights set on the playoffs Raider fan, you may want to lower those expectations just a bit. That "Super Bowl Hangover" is a real bitch sometimes.
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