Teams Las Vegas Raiders - The Black Hole

Remove this Banner Ad

Log in to remove this ad.

Raiders uniform numbers for minicamp
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Friday, May 16th, 2014 at 11:07 am in Oakland Raiders.

Raiders uniform numbers for today’s first day of the rookie minicamp:

2 Noel Grigsby, WR, San Jose State
4 Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State
6 Daniel Zychlinkski, P, Stanford
15 D.J. Coles, WR, Virginia Tech
16 Jared Green, WR, Southern
19 Mike Davis, WR, Texas
34 George Atkinson III, RB, Notre Dame
38 D.J. Carrie, CB, Ohio
39 Keith McGill, CB, Utah
40 Karl Williams, FB, Utah
41 Jonathan Dowling, S, Western Kentucky
44 Carlos Fields, LB, Winston-Salem State
52 Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo
65 Dan Kisler, T, Montana
66 Gabe Jackson, G, Mississippi State
68 Erle Ladson, T, Delaware
75 Shelby Harris, DE, Illinois State
78 Justin Ellis, DT, Louisiana Tech
82 Jake Murphy, TE, Utah
83 Scott Simomson, TE, Assumption
85 Seth Roberts, WR, West Alabama
87 Brian Leonhardt, TE, Bemidji State
 
Raiders QB Carr relieved to be on the field
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Friday, May 16th, 2014 at 7:06 pm in Oakland Raiders.

Filed for print . . .
Derek Carr strode confidently to the line to take his first snap from center as a quarterback for the Raiders . . . and fumbled it.

“Any time a play doesn’t work I’m not happy,’’ Carr said after the Raiders had completed the first of five practice sessions over three days for their draft class, undrafted free agents and a handful of players invited on a tryout basis.


Carr, who seldom took a snap from under center in his last two years at Fresno State, had two more issues with exchanges before the day was done. He wore the No.4 of his idol, Brett Favre, but wasn’t taking the chances of a gun-slinger, throwing mostly short, accurate passes while learning a new offense.

“There were no nerves, man, Carr said. “When it comes to football, it’s fun. I was excited to finally get out and play football instead of getting in your underwear and running a 40 (yard dash).’’

A sizeable contingent of the media was from the Fresno area, where Carr’s selection by the Raiders in the second round at No. 36 is the biggest thing going. Many of the questions posed to coach Dennis Allen had to do with Carr’s spot in the pecking order and whether he could challenge Matt Schaub as the starter.

Allen made it clear Schaub was acquired to start, but at the same time wasn’t placing any limitations on Carr or what he could achieve as a rookie.

“We’re going to let him go out and compete and see how things work out,’’ Allen said. “You can’t have enough good quarterbacks in this league. You never know when injuries are going to occur, and you’ve got to be prepared for that.’’

– Running back George Atkinson III put on the uniform of the team he had worshipped his entire life without his father looking over his shoulder. Former Raider safety and team broadcaster George Atkinson stayed away by design.

“He told me yesterday, `I’m not going to come out. I know you’re expecting me to come but this is your moment and you need to be a man about it as an individual and I’m not going to be here to pressure you,’’ Atkinson III said.“He’ll have a chance to come out and see me.’’

– Linebacker Khalil Mack took most of his defensive snaps on the right side but was also moved around to other spots as well, much as Allen promised on draft day.

– Defensive end Shelby Harris, who missed last season after being dismissed from the team at Illinois State, showed a good burst to the outside but one play misjudged an angle allowing Carr to sprint past him on the outside.

– Third-round draft pick Kevin McGill nearly had an interception of Carr but couldn’t hold it. The deflection then went to safety Jonathan Dowling, a third-round pick. Dowling also dropped the ball.

– There were a handful of undrafted free agents who were invited for tryouts, with the Raiders declining to confirm their names or positions.

One of them was Boise State quarterback Joe Southwick, the former San Ramon Valley High star, who got reps with Carr.

– Free agent defensive tackle Antonio Smith, who incurred an injury while weight-lifting on May 9 and had surgery on a body part that was not disclosed, will miss some of the offseason but Allen said he hopes to get him on the field during OTAs or the mandatory minicamp.
 
GeeCats07 said:
Already have a 52 Morrison jersey. Maybe I can just melt off the name and put on a new one :p
Click to expand...

I was about to purchase a #12 Jacoby Ford jersey.

Dodged a bullet there.

Lucky McFadden signed a new deal otherwise I'd be stuffed.
 
GeeCats07 said:
Morrison, Burgess, McFadden and Hayden all say hi. To be fair, Hayden is still there and we haven't seen much of him. But the others.... :(
Click to expand...

I was always a fan of Burgess.

We have has that many players through the roster, it's tough to pick one that will be there next year. Haha.
 
TennisPlayerAndy said:
I was always a fan of Burgess.

We have has that many players through the roster, it's tough to pick one that will be there next year. Haha.
Click to expand...

Exactly! With a new GM who loves torching the roster every two years and carries no scholarship players, and a new owner who is likely growing impatient he might hire a new GM and HC soon.

I thought Pryor might be that career star. And if I was thinking Houston or Veldheer jersey, Reggie kiboshed that.

Maybe this group of draftees there might be one to emerge. I have a feeling about DJ Coles.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Playing time: Raiders offense had precious little continuity

January 30, 2014, 2:45 pm

raiders-offensive-line_0.jpg

The Raiders had injuries aplenty along the offensive line, which forced the team to start eight different combinations in 16 games.

The Raiders starting defense played far too much last season. The offense had the opposite problem.

Whether it was injury or ineffectiveness, the Raiders offense couldn’t establish continuity of any kind at virtually any position. That’s evident in the Raiders’ playing time breakdown, as reported from NFLPA documents. Areas of traditionally high snap counts had splits far too great among far too many to keep things going strong.

According to NFL statistics, the Raiders used 456 unique lineups on offense. Also, the Raiders only played 1.9-percent of their snaps with the most common lineup on the field. Both of those stats marked NFL highs for offensive units.

No position was immune, but a lack of continuity dramatically impacted two position groups.

In a perfect world, quarterbacks and offensive linemen play nearly all of a regular season. That means a team is healthy and effective at those key spots. That didn’t happen because the Matt Flynn experiment failed and Terrelle Pryor couldn’t lock down his starting job.

The Raiders had injuries aplenty along the offensive line, which forced the team to start eight different combinations in 16 games. Only tackle/guard Khalif Barnes played each game this season.

The Raiders had to platoon at the skill spots without healthy or consistent all-around production at receiver, tight end and running back. Receiver Rod Streater and fullback Marcel Reece were the most consistent long-term producers, and tailback Rashad Jennings proved strong when injuries to Darren McFadden gave him an opportunity to play.

Here’s a complete breakdown of the offense’s playing time:

Offense play time

(1,036 snaps)

1,034 (99.81%) – LT/LG Khalif Barnes
904 (87.26%) – C Stefen Wisniewski
871 (84.07%) – RG Mike Brisiel
748 (72.2%) – WR Rod Streater
713 (68.82%) – RT Tony Pashos
642 (61.97%) – LG Lucas Nix
592 (57.14%) – TE Mychal Rivera
590 (56.95%) – WR Denarius Moore
588 (56.76%) – QB Terrelle Pryor
548 (52.9%) – RB Rashad Jennings
538 (51.93%) – TE Jeron Mastrud
505 (48.75%) – FB Marcel Reece
380 (36.58%) – WR Andre Holmes
378 (36.49%) – QB Matt McGloin
336 (32.43%) – RB Darren McFadden
323 (31.18%) – LT Jared Veldheer
278 (26.83%) – WR Jacoby Ford
275 (26.54%) – G/C Andre Gurode
256 (24.71%) – T Matt McCants
210 (20.27%) – WR Brice Butler
182 (17.57%) – FB Jamize Olawale
173 (16.7%) – OT Menelik Watson
95 (9.17%) – G Lamar Mady
75 (7.24%) – TE Nick Kasa
70 (6.75%) – QB Matt Flynn
63 (6.08%) – WR Juron Criner
12 (1.16%) – RB Taiwan Jones, RB Jeremy Stewart
4 (0.39%) – OL Jack Cornell
 
Carr could leapfrog Schaub


raiders.jpg


With all the focus on the question of whether the teams that took quarterbacks in round one truly will keep the rookies as backups come Week One, the one guy most presume won’t be playing to start the season could be starting, sooner rather than later.

As Albert Breer of NFL Media recently explained in a video notebook for NFL Network, Raiders starter Matt Schaub could be supplanted in Oakland.

“There is now an internal belief he’ll be pushed by rookie Derek Carr, who has displayed the talent and intelligence early on to shed his red shirt and play right away,” Breer said.

While it wouldn’t be a shock in light of the fact that Schaub isn’t very, you know, good, a decision to bench Schaub after giving him $8 million fully guaranteed coming a year after giving Matt Flynn $6.5 million fully guaranteed before benching and cutting him won’t do much to help G.M. Reggie McKenzie remain employed.

Then again, the best way to keep the boss happy could be to play the rookie. On the first day of the 2014 draft, we heard owner Mark Davis wanted to take Carr with the fifth pick in round one.

Carr would likely have to perform very well — or Schaub would have to perform very poorly — to result in the rookie getting the nod as of Week One. But if/when (when) Schaub plays like he did last year in Houston and if/when (when) the Raiders stumble out of the gates amid a crippling schedule, it could be time for the Raiders to see whether Derek Carr will play better than his brother, whom Schaub supplanted seven years ago in Houston.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

FrontnCentrePod
MVP Watch in the Playoffs 🏆
Replies
0
Views
323
FrontnCentrePod
FrontnCentrePod
manureid
Fantasy The Terrible Fantasy Manager / Bad Beats Thread
3 4 5 6 7
Replies
174
Views
5K
Constantgin
Constantgin
The Cardtrader
Aussie Punters a hit in the Canadian Football League global draft
Replies
0
Views
437
The Cardtrader
The Cardtrader

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top