Teams Las Vegas Raiders - The Black Hole

[manureid]

Not convinced by L. Murray.Would we look at Karlos Williams? Cleared waivers, suspended for 4 games, but that would be time to get him in shape. Can play.

 

[andana]

Should have drafted another RB instead of Cook

 

[exe ex machina]

I just feel like JDR/KNJ/RM have over-estimated Heeney's ability. Like they did Burris etc. We've had a revolving door at MLB. But this is the QB of the Defense. We've been basically fielding a series of hacks at MLB that a normal franchise wouldn't do at the QB position.

MLB was one of the most pressing needs heading into the off-season AND draft, and it wasn't addressed whatsoever. Putting too much faith in Heeney.

We need a bonafide franchise MLB. Perhaps we pick one up during cuts, or make a trade for one. But it doesn't seem like something RM has been willing to do thruout his tenure. Instead continuing to ride the season with some hack instead.

 

[manureid]

Yeh , MLB worries me a bit.

 

[exe ex machina]

Any of you see this video. Carr missed so many open receivers its crazy! Too quick to throw. We all know he loves throwing off his back foot or not stepping in. I think he's scared of contact.

 

[andana]

Darren Heitner , Forbes magazine

CONTRIBUTOR

I cover the intersection of sports and money.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own

The Raiders filed for “Las Vegas Raiders” protection in multiple distinct classes. They cover education and entertainment services, clothing, mobile applications, football helmets, trading cards, jewelry and play figures.

Timing of the filing of these trademark applications is important to note. Recently, U.S. Senator Harry Reid expressed his support for the creation of a Las Vegas domed stadium that would host the Raiders. The plan to create such a stadium is currently under review by the Southern SO +0.14% Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Autry is playing off his face.

 

[exe ex machina]

GG's predicted 53

QB-Carr, Cook
HB-Murray, Washington, Richard, Jones, Atkinson III
FB-Olawale, Reece** (not counting toward 53)
WR-Cooper, Crabtree, Holmes, Roberts, Holton, Brent
TE-Lee, Walford, Rivera
LT-Penn, McCants
LG-Osomele, Alexander
C-Hudson, Bell
RG-Jackson, Feliciano
RT-Howard, Watson

STs-Janikowski, King, Condo

DE-Mack, Autry, Cowser, Calhoun, Edwards** (not counting toward 53)
DT-Ward, Williams, Ellis, Latham
OLB-Irvin, Smith, Toomer, Ball
ILB-Heeney, James
CB-Amerson, Smith, Hayden, Carrie, Thorpe
SS-Joseph, McGill
FS-Nelson, Allen

 

[Chewy316]

My prediction:

QB: Carr, McGloin, Cook
RB: Murray, Washington, Richard, Jones
FB: Olawale (Reece to come on in week 4)
WR: Cooper, Crabtree, Roberts, Holmes, Holton (Brent to the practice squad provided he gets through waivers, same goes for Mickens)
TE: Walford, Smith, Rivera
LT: Penn, McCants
LG: Osemele, Feliciano
C: Hudson
RG: Jackson, Alexander
RT: Watson, Howard

5-Tech: Autry, McGee, Ward, Latham, Edwards
Nose: Williams, Ellis
OLB: Mack, Irvin, Cowser, Calhoun (Ball to IR)
ILB: Heeney, Smith, James, Toomer
CB: Amerson, Smith, Hayden, Carrie, Dexter McDonald
FS: Nelson, Allen, McGill
SS: Joseph, Trawick

K: Janikowski
P: King
LS: Condo

 

[exe ex machina]

 

[exe ex machina]

Analyzing the Raiders initial 53-man roster

Posted on September 3, 2016 by Jimmy Durkin

Fifth-round pick DeAndre Washington figures to be the Raiders’ backup running back. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

The Raiders trimmed their roster to 53 players on Sunday. Will they have the same 53 by the time they line up next Sunday against the New Orleans Saints? Probably not.

But let’s go through the positional groups and look at who is sticking around for now. Players are listed not necessarily in the official depth chart order, but by how I’d order them.

QUARTERBACKS
Derek Carr, Matt McGloin, Connor Cook

The Raiders kept three quarterbacks and that’s always been the plan. Yes, Oakland has cut a fourth-round pick quarterback before, but Cook has shown gradual improvement and they weren’t cutting a guy they traded up to grab. The hope is he can eventually be Carr’s backup.

RUNNING BACKS
Latavius Murray, DeAndre Washington, Jalen Richard, Jamize Olawale, Taiwan Jones

Jones has been the listed No. 2 running back and don’t expect that to change as long as he’s on the roster despite him having just two preseason carries. He’s basically only a special teams player. Washington will back up and may return some. Richard could get some packages as well as return. Olawale is the fullback.

WIDE RECEIVERS
Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Seth Roberts, Andre Holmes, Johnny Holton

Holton sticks around as the No. 5 receiver and is a speed burner who can also help on special teams as a gunner and returner. Holmes is another good special teams player and can create size mismatches, so that’s helps his role as the No. 4.

TIGHT ENDS
Clive Walford, Lee Smith, Mychal Rivera

Unlike the Raiders depth chart, I’m going to list Walford first. He’s the top receiving threat. Smith is the blocker. The Raiders reportedly were shopping Rivera as trade bait again but nothing materialized … at least yet.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Donald Penn, Kelechi Osemele, Rodney Hudson, Gabe Jackson, Menelik Watson, Austin Howard, Jon Feliciano, Matt McCants, Vadal Alexander.

That’s the starting line from left to right. The Raiders don’t think the Watson injury is serious, with Jack Del Rio called it a rolled ankle. He’s the swing tackle if he’s healthy. Feliciano swings at the interior three positions and McCants backs up Howard and Alexander backs up Feliciano except for at center.

DEFENSIVE LINE
Khalil Mack, Dan Williams, Justin Ellis, Jihad Ward, Denico Autry, Darius Latham, Stacy McGee, Mario Edwards Jr.

Expect a heavy rotation among this group. It remains to be seen if Ellis and Williams will both start, but Ward should and Autry should play a big role until Edwards returns. Latham looks like a nice rotational addition.

LINEBACKERS
Bruce Irvin, Malcolm Smith, Ben Heeney, Cory James, Shilique Calhoun, Daren Bates

There were a couple surprises with James Cowser being waived injured, meaning he’d had to go on IR and miss the entire season if he clears waivers. James will have a chance to get some snaps and Calhoun will come in to rush the passer a little. Bates is a special teams ace and unlikely to see the field on defense.

CORNERBACKS
Sean Smith, David Amerson, DJ Hayden, TJ Carrie, Dexter McDonald, Antonio Hamilton

Smith and Amerson form a real good starting duo. Hayden gets the first crack to be the slot corner. Carrie’s versatile. McDonald, a 2015 seventh-round pick, has potential. Hamilton was a surprise and isn’t a lock to stick around.

SAFETIES
Reggie Nelson, Karl Joseph, Nate Allen, Keith McGill, Brynden Trawick

The Raiders showed a single safety package a lot in their third preseason game, but Nelson and Joseph should be out there together most of the time. Allen’s a veteran backup. McGill has made his shift from corner to safety. Trawick’s a special teams guy … and a good one.

SPECIALISTS
K Sebastian Janikowski, P Marquette King, LS Jon Condo

Self-explanatory. Janikowski is still kicking and King looks like a guy who could make a Pro Bowl at some point.

 

[andana]

Hope our players have stopped reading all those good reviews & are ready to play good football. Donkeys today showed that anyone can win.

 

[Chewy316]

Hope our players have stopped reading all those good reviews & are ready to play good football. Donkeys today showed that anyone can win.

You think Siemian is not going to be found out once there's film on him? Lynch will be starting at the bye, and he's so far from being ready. Their D won't get away with the helmet to helmet hits all year either.
They'll win games from their D, but they're not going to be the force they were last year.

 

[exe ex machina]

Has anyone considered the possibility of Dennis Allen's D pitching a shut-out on his former team, and the ultimate F-U to Reggie McKenzie? Has anyone imagined the rhetoric post-game on Raiders blogs and in the media, should that happen?

Carr 178 yards 0 TDs 2 INTs
Cooper 3 dropped passes
Murray 48 yards rushing, Washington 15
Walford 1 rec 7 yards, Rivera 5 for 50
Janikowski 1 shanked FG, one blocked FG

Saints 400 offensive yards
Brees 4 TDs
Ingram 178 yards rushing, 2 TDs

Final Score: NO 45 OAK 0

How likely is this scenario?


"It's not the end of the world, it's only game 1, it's a long season, we have to get back together and work this thing out, we WILL be better." -- usual post-game press conference from Raiders HC.

How likely is this rhetoric?


I'm just REMINDING everyone that it's all hype and BS until we DO IT. Prove it.
Just don't let your imaginations go crazy thinking 50 pts, Carr 400 yards and 5 TDs, Saints getting blown out 35-10, etc.
Consider the possibility we'll still have a tough game, likely a close game, even if we win or lose, and that we can still lose this game in typical heart-breaking fashion, like a Carr pick-six when driving for the win, etc.

Just dont lose your minds yet with hype. Be more circumspect and just hope we have a very good showing at the very least. Given how AWFUL our opening season games have been for the last umpteen years. And we are traveling in this one too, against a potent offense. Our D hasn't been disciplined in pre-season either.

 

[manureid]

I will take a FG in the last second to win 9-7 at this stage.

 

[andana]

Or a missed FG so we win.

Some young players did well today. Good game.

 

[manureid]

Or a missed FG so we win.

Some young players did well today. Good game.

Losing to a 61 yard FG would have been awesome

 

[andana]

We trumped them. 61 yards? not going to happen

 

[manureid]

We trumped them. 61 yards? not going to happen

He made the distance though... did not miss by a lot.

Still, a win is a win. Brees picked us apart, but he is elite.

 

[andana]

Brees picked us apart, but he is elite.

He can't fly like Carr can tho. Would have made GGs day if Carr got injured doing that & Cook came in.

 

[manureid]

He can't fly like Carr can tho. Would have made GGs day if Carr got injured doing that & Cook came in.

Would have also lost us the game.... so lucky he didnt.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Cooper is going to go biiiiig this year.

 

[exe ex machina]

Falcons
@ Titans
@ Ravens

Not a bad run. Julio will be a handful, otherwise possible to be 4-0.

Key imo is locking Musgrave up and letting Carr call plays...or, just tell Carr to be angry and desperate. When he plays with more abandon like he did in the 4th Qtr, we finally see that ceiling in him. When they bottle him up and play conservative in the 1st Half, is why we don't jump out to good leads in most games.

 

[Chewy316]

Falcons
@ Titans
@ Ravens

Not a bad run. Julio will be a handful, otherwise possible to be 4-0.

Key imo is locking Musgrave up and letting Carr call plays...or, just tell Carr to be angry and desperate. When he plays with more abandon like he did in the 4th Qtr, we finally see that ceiling in him. When they bottle him up and play conservative in the 1st Half, is why we don't jump out to good leads in most games.

The key is actually going to be seeing tangible improvement on D. We scored 35 points yesterday with zero turnovers and people are still angry saying the play calling is the problem.

It's as simple as this: to expect an offense to dominate for 4 quarters of a game just doesn't happen regularly in the NFL. You're going to see 3 and outs, a few "what the?" plays every game no matter what team you watch.

My one criticism from yesterday on offense was not throwing to the end zone on the first drive. We just got a turnover in the red zone, and needed to capitalise early. Otherwise, I thought Musgrave called a great game.

 

[andana]

Watched a lot of games this week. I think we can beat all of them by one point. Some really dumb penalties by a lot of players. If we can avoid that we will be winning.