The View from the Upper Deck
The Oakland Raiders' Mid-Season Report
Guest contributor THE CHEF gives us his take on the first half of the Raiders' 2013 season, as well as some of his projections for the remainder of this year and into the next. THE CHEF has been a season-ticket holder since 1996 and a diehard Raiders fan for life. This season (as usual) he has not missed a single snap of Oakland Raiders football, and was kind enough to share his thoughts on the progress of the team.
OFFENSE
QUARTERBACK
After GM Reggie McKenzie gave up a 2014 5th round draft pick and conditional pick in 2015 to Seattle for projected started Matt Flynn, that failed experiment ended with the fan anticipated career start of Terrelle Pryor. Battling through his first year, his footwork, mechanics and decision making has increased with each game. During the offseason, Pryor spend time with pitching guru Tom House to work on his throwing mechanics where Terrelle stated “I never really knew how to throw a football before”. In addition to working in the offseason on his skill set, he has been the Raiders #1 student in the classroom as well.
 |
| "I don't have pressure... I just make plays" (USATSI) |
During his 3 years as the QB for the Ohio State Buckeyes, he averaged a 60.9 completion percentage, QB rating of 144.6 and a touchdown to interception ratio of 47 to 26 with 17 total rushing touchdowns while averaging 5 yards per rush.
In 8 games as the QB of the Raiders, Pryor has a 61.1 completion percentage, QB rating of 72.5 and a touchdown to interception ratio of 5 to 9 with 1 rushing touchdown (7.7 yards per rush). Although the QB completion percentage so far is similar to his college days, his interceptions are higher than his TDs. Some of his INTs were from tipped passes while others were just errant or forced passes. While running mostly an option typed offense, Pryor has had little help from a running game and even less from an offensive line. I believe we haven’t seen the best of Pryor yet and once we get a healthy offensive line in place, we will finally see what Pryor really has to offer.
As for the backup QB position, undrafted Matt McGloin and 2013 4th round pick Tyler Wilson are just that “backups” and at this point haven’t showed much more. I see the Raiders active in the free agent market next year to complete with Pryor for the starting position.
RUNNING BACKS
With the 4th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders selected often hurt and developing bust Darren McFadden. In the last year of his 6-year, $60 million contact, Run DMC has never played an entire season. In the 64 total games he has played as a Raider (nearly 1 million per game}, he has only thirteen 100-yard games, 22 rushing TDs and 11 fumbles to go with a career average of 3.3 yards per rush. All of the Raider fans are still waiting for DMC to have that breakout game, but at this point we are just hoping he completes a game.
5th year pro Rashad Jennings has been solid as the backup running back and even more outstanding as a special teams player. Jennings, who spent his first 4 years as the backup back to Maurice Jones-Drew in Jacksonville, doesn’t have the breakaway speed of DMC but in 46 career games (mostly as a backup) he has 8 TDs with a 4.3 yards per rush average and only 3 fumbles. Jennings runs downhill and isn’t afraid of contact. Overall, Jennings is a better player with more upside.
 |
| Raider fans are beginning to envision a future without McFadden. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images) |
Jeremy Stewart, undrafted 2 years ago out of Stanford, plays hard and is a good special teams player who can come in when needed to take some reps.
On the IR is the Raiders 6th round draft pick Latavius Murray out of Central Florida. Should the Raiders not re-sign DMC in the offseason, he will compete with Jennings for the starting RB position.
Marcel Reece, the matchup nightmare, is a special player who never seems to be involved as much as you would think. A wide receiver turned fullback, his skills are more utilized in the passing game and the occasion run than as a blocker.
Jamize Olawale, a true fullback, needs to be more involved especially in short yardage and goal line formations.
TIGHT ENDS
The tight end position for the Raiders has always been a position of greatness… Raymond Chester, Dave Casper and Todd Christensen to name a few. Years of players with potential including Rickie Dudley, Teyo Johnson and Jeremy Brigham all eventually disappointed. Finally Zach Miller, Doug Jolley and Brandon Myers came into their own just in time to jump ship. As for the current squad, the Raiders have 2 drafted rookies in Mychal Rivera and Nick Kasa as well as a 4 year undrafted player in Jeron Mastrud. Each have shown flashes at times but not enough to unseat David Ausberry after he returns from IR. This is another position where a free agent veteran could come to take this position and run with it.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Like the TE position, names like Art Powell, Warren Wells, Fred Biletnikoff, Cliff Branch and Tim Brown have been associated with Raider greatness. Since the 2002 Super Bowl appearance, this has been another position whose shoes have been too big to fill.
Denarius Moore, now in his 3rd year, has shown flashes of his rookie year (unlike his drop-filled sophomore slump last year). He has breakaway speed but needs to learn how to break away from defensive backs on a more consistent basis. He is the Raiders leading receiver with 4 TDs and 16 yards per catch average.
 |
| Denarius Moore has emerged as the #1 receiver. (Kyle Terada/US Presswire) |
Rod Streater, the 2nd year diamond in the rough, has been the Raiders most consistent receiver. In a season and a half, Streater has over 1000 yards and 4 touchdowns in just 67 receptions (14.9 average). He catches just about anything you throw at him and has size and speed to compliment.
Jacoby Ford gets on the field more as a special teams player and even then, it isn’t so special.
Brice Butler, the Raiders 7th round draft pick out of San Diego State showed great promise during the preseason but has struggled since then. One great catch is overshadowed by more wide-open drops.
Juron Criner, last year’s training camp phenom, finally got on the field last game and made his presence known with many of Pryor’s passes sent his way, but consistency is not what he is known for…yet.
Andre Holmes, straight off a 4-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs, has yet to make the field, now due to a hamstring issue. Time will tell what Holmes has to offer the team.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Now, introducing your starting offensive line for the 2013 Oakland Raiders:
At left tackle Jared Veldheer, left guard Khalif Barnes, center Stefen Wisniewski, right guard Mike Brisel and right tackle Menelik Watson.
Well, we can only dream about what the starting line was supposed to look like. But with an injury in training camp to Veldheer, Barnes was moved to left tackle where he hasn’t played since 2006 as a member of the Jacksonville Jags. A few games in, Wiz got hurt and back-up center Andre Gurode took over just to get injured himself, so over to center moved Brisel. Down goes Lucas Nix, who started at left guard in place of the misplaced Barnes, and off of the free agent pile the Raiders snagged Tony Pashos and Matt McCants. The O line from the beginning is a shell of what we have hoped for and was even worse in the second half of the KC game in week 6. As goes the line, the QB and RB play goes as well. Even with a mobile QB in Pryor, without a solid line, he is running for his life instead of running for a first down.
 |
| By halftime against KC, each lineman was in a different position from the one he started at in the preseason. (Peter Aiken/Getty Images) |
OFFENSIVE OVERVIEW
The offense has played well enough to earn better than the 3-5 record the Raiders hold at the halfway point. Once the line gets together, there is no limit for the potential they will have in scoring from all aspects of the field in both running and passing game. The receivers are finally starting to settle down and catch the ball, Pryor is beginning to understand his progressions better and the running game can stand on its own as long as the play calling isn’t always “get the ball and run straight into the backs of your own linemen.” Some more creativity with screens, swing passes and pitches to the running backs will open up more lanes for the offense to run through, especially those who need space to operate in.
DEFENSE
DEFENSIVE LINE
 |
| Lamaar Houston (exposay.com) |
Vance Walker has been a great
addition to the Raider D line. Just in his 5th season, Vance has 2
sacks already and has been crucial in clogging up the middle for opposing
running backs.
Pat Simms, an offseason
acquisition from the Bengals, is a true nose tackle playing defensive tackle in
a 4-3. Simms alternates with Stacy McGee the Raiders 6th round pick
from Oklahoma. The switching of the guards gives a breather to Simms while
giving needed playing time for the rookie. Both have been solid.
Rounding out the D line is Jason
Hunter. This 7 year veteran has played with Green Bay, Detroit and also played
under Coach Dennis Allen in Denver. Allen knows what he can bring as a veteran
and a leader of the D line. His numbers are on par with his season averages and
he is another bright spot for the D line.
LINEBACKERS
Gone are the days of #55 roaming
the middle of the Raiders defense, often out of place and missing tackles. Nick
Roach, the understudy of Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs in Chicago, has his
sights on becoming the starting middle linebacker for the Raiders for years to
come. So far, he has earned that spot.
At the strong side, Sio Moore,
the Raiders 3rd round pick from this year’s draft out of
Connecticut, has shown he belongs in the starting lineup. An instant crowd
favorite, he prowls the defense and the Black Hole looking for his prey.
 |
| Sio Moore has found a home in Oakland (AP) |
On the other side, the Wile-E
Veteran Kevin Burnett shows life at every play. Together this band of 3 along
with Kevin’s brother Kaelin and Kaluka Maiava seem to be more in place to make
a play than out.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
 |
| Woodson is Back in Black (and Silver) (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) |
The safety play for the most part
has been good with Usama Young and Brandan Ross rounding out both safety
positions. But the return of Charles Woodson has been the brightest spot.
Although he plays a different position then the shutdown corner the Raiders
drafted him to be in 1998, his leadership, run-stopping ability and ball
hawking qualities keep him as the quarterback of the defense. Tyvon Branch, the
only other returning starter from from last year who was injured during the
second game of the season, is on track to return for the Turkey Day Bowl
against the Cowboys, if all goes well. Although the other safeties have played
decent, Tyvon brings another level of nasty that Raider defensive backs are
known for.
DEFENSIVE OVERVIEW
The Raider defense, ranked 28th
last year and allowing 27.7 points per game, has moved up to 19th
this year at 24.9 but remains at 18th for yards per game with 354.5 last
year and 357.2 this year. Although the yardage is almost identical the past 2
years, they have lowered the points per game by a field goal. Of the 2
statistics, the points can be misleading as the Raiders opposing offenses have
enjoyed a short field due to turnovers. Overall, the defense, with 10 new
starters and 1 sole remaining starter moving from left end to right end, has played
well enough to keep them in all the games except the Denver game and the all-around
failure against the Eagles. Additionally, the Raider defense already has 23
sacks in 8 games while only managing 25 in all of 2012.
SPECIAL TEAMS AND COACHING
SPECIAL TEAMS
Why do they call them “special teams” when most of the time, the Raiders have nothing special to talk about in this category?
The kick return teams have been dismal to say the least. Coach Allen has tried multiple players at the punt and kickoff returner position with no one coming forward to take the reins. During punt returns Jacoby Ford is always out of position when “attempting” to field the ball and then either fumbles, fair catches inside the 10 yard line or lets the ball drop at the 20 only to watch it roll to the 2 and be downed by the other team. Bottom Line: Jacoby has speed but not the skills to make the initial catch. Taiwan Jones, who is one of the NFLs best gunners on punts and kickoffs, has speed but not the right decision making when running back kickoffs. Dare I say that the last time we had a legitimate punt and kick off returner was Desmond Howard? I dare!
Mr. Automatic from 50 yards and under is not the label I would give Sebastian Janikowski for this year. Call it the holder, call it missing Shane Lechler, call it getting older…Seabass just needs to get back to doing what he does best. Even his kickoffs, which are seldom returned due to being kicked out of the end zone, are occasionally seen bouncing up the field instead of in flight. I do not want to give up on him, I just want him go back to being Mr. Automatic.
 |
| Laces Out! (goldengatesports.com) |
Marquette King, who is attempting to replace all-pro punter Shane Lechler, has done an admirable job. It is difficult in any sport and any position to replace a true legend. Everyone expects you to be just like the other guy and with no drop-off. Although he is no Shane, I applaud what he has done this year, especially the tackle he made on DeSean Jackson last game. Now back to practicing holding the ball for field goals…
 |
| Jacoby has struggled this season. (Image of Sport) |
SPECIAL TEAMS OVERVIEW
Marquette, keep doing what you are doing… Seabass, kick it like you know you can and Coach Allen, find someone, ANYONE, who can make the right decision when fielding punts and kickoffs and run FORWARD.
COACHES
Coach Allen inherited a team of misfits 2 years ago with a salary cap well over the limits and only a few players making most of the money on the team. After purging the excessive money players and guys who didn’t want to be there, Coach Allen and Reggie got together to “start” the rebuild process. In a WIN NOW league, it is a difficult task especially when they are calling for your head after every rough game. Starting this year, you can see the plan starting to unfold with the veteran players leading on both sides of the ball coupled with guys who want to play. Next year, the Raiders will be under the salary cap by millions and the positive aspects of the Oakland Raider team and coaches will lure the high profile team players over to the dark side.
 |
| Allen has shown patience, but still pushes his team to improve each day (raiders.com) |
The realistic idea of this year, although the coach and GM will tell you playoffs, is to show you are going in the right direction and establish some team chemistry while putting up a positive record. By bringing in Coach Greg Olson to lead the offense, the team has shown promises at times with the banged up O line and lack of a true running game. Coach Jason Tarver is building a smart and hard hitting defense which has shown major improvements over last year less 2 games. Special Teams coach Bobby April has tightened up this area of the team considering he doesn’t really have a true punt or kick returner in his stable. Lastly, what Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Line coach Tony Sparano has done should be commended. It is difficult enough to get players to play well, but it is another to have that same line change not only weekly but in certain instances within each game. The coaches are coaching and the players are playing yet it will take some time before we will see the benefits of their harvest. Lastly, the team only has 40 penalties in 8 games which is about 10 less of where they were last year. Having been the most penalized team in the NFL for years running, this is a stat that only good coaching can alleviate.
 |
| Reggie has a plan. (csnbayarea.com) |
love 2 see c dub back baby!!
ReplyDelete