T1B

1. Offensive Line
Had to be one of the worst performing offensive lines in league history last year.
Just fucking brutal.
Early reports are that Gallery is getting work at left ... guard.
So much for the automatic 10+ yr left tackle pro bowl career.
He's a bust ... so far .... no doubt, but if he can be 'salvaged' into just a GOOD left guard, I'm taking it.
Newbie C. Carlisle is getting work at RG.
Newbie J. Newberry is getting work at .... the bench, in favor of Jake I'm a Turnstyle Grove.
Hmmmmm ..... ok.
It's early.
No position on the field needs to improve itself more than the O-line.
If not, the offense falls flat again.
I like the coaching changes, the philosophy change, and the few new faces added.

Fingers crossed.


2. QB
Oakland has a dismal track record as far as 'grooming' QBs.
Snake Stabler is the one exception.
The Raiders have had three legitimately excellent QBs (Snake, Plunkett, and Gannon) in their history, and they all took a few years, at least, to become players.
I hope fans keep that in mind regarding J. Russell.
VERY few QBs come out of the gate and 'get it' at the NFL level.
Russell isn't yet in camp, from what I hear.
But it sounds like they have a deal in principle.
He'll be in soon, I'm sure.
Seems McCown has the inside track to start opening day.
I'm all for it.
Keep the pup on the sideline until the O-line settles in (hopefully), and Russell himself grows a few more pubes.
[Raydah James smiles]Clipboard's all yours, Andrew![/Raydah James Smiles]


3. Running Back
M. Bush is the future.
They'll work him in slowly, due to his leg injury.
Lots of POtential, and I luv me some smashmouth.
Jizz EVARYWHARE!!
D. Rhodes is an asshead who's in detention for the first 4 weeks.
L. Jordan is a slow and sullen dickbrained butterfinger who apparantly sees himself as Jim Brown reincarnated.
Yank your fucking head out, dude.
Justin Fargas??
He gives you what he has, but he's realistically a mediocre NFL talent.
Somebody needs to emerge here as the 'primary' ballcarrier, although this will no doubt be a runningback by committee effort this season.


4. Coaching
Since Kiffin was hired it's been REMARKABLY positive.
Everything has been positive, and he's done and said all the right things.
It's a hurricane of fresh air.
The off-season and draft kicked total ass .... I think.
All this means, of course, is that when opening day comes around we'll all see that he can't GAME COACH without crapping the bed.
Errrr ........ sorry.
Can't get last season out of my mind.
Kiffin's the MAN!!

GO Raiders!!!!





Your team's training camp issues of interest??

1. How drunk is the entire team on its own Kool-Aid?

It seems as if its not just Kitna and Furrey that think this team will make a giant turnaround, it's a pretty wide spread ailment among the rest of the team. Plus, they've even got some prominent members of the national media drinking the Kool-Aid by the gallon...SI's Peter King for example. It's good to be confident but this team has been all talk this offseason.

2. What is the effect of Redding's insane new contract on his play?

He's projected to start in the inside next to Shaun Rogers. When both guys are motivated, they have the potential to be one of the better interior linemen duos in the league. This could potentially be the Lions' strength on defense. Rogers is currently on the PUP list.

3. Who steps up with the departure of Dre Bly?

Third year player Stanley Wilson is expected to start opposite of Fernando Bryant at the corner spot formerly occupied by their #1 playermaker on defense for the past several years. This team was already weak in the secondary with Bly...could it get even worse?

4. Who is the starting running back?

Most believe Tatum Bell will be the man with the short term future of Kevin Jones very much in doubt. This team also added T.J. Duckett in the offseason to be the short yardage sledge-hammer/change-of-pace back. If Jones can get healthy, this team could have tremendous depth at running back.

5. How good can the passing attack be with the addition of Calvin Johnson?

Kitna threw for over 4,200 yards last season and both Roy Williams and Furrey caught more than 80 passes and went for over 1000 yards each. Johnson is arguably the most talented receiver to enter the league in years. The potential is there for this team be an exceptional offense but a lot rests on Kitna's ability to cut down on turnovers and for the remade offensive line to give Kitna time to throw the ball.

Houston Texans

1. Wide Receiver #2

Andre Johnson caught over a hundred balls last year not because of David Carr's poise and accuracy, but because Eric Moulds took a lot of attention away from Johnson. The Texans released Moulds during the offseason and signed Andre Davis, drafted Jacoby Jones out of Lane University (what school?), signed Bethel Johnson to push Jerome Mathis to get his ass in shape, and just signed Keenan McCardell the opening day of camp. NONE of these guys equate to the talent that Moulds brought to the second receiver position. Unless Matt Schaub is that much better than David Carr and can overcome the Texans not having a true #2 receiver, then I can't see Andre Johnson duplicating the All-Pro season he turned in a year ago. One of those guys NEEDS to step up and grab the role of Andre's decoy.

2. Offensive Line

They signed Jordan Black to help E. Salaam solidify that always shaky left-tackle position. Eric Winston has a year under his belt and Mike Flannigan is a solid veteran center who needs to do just that....anchor that line into a good cohesive unit that can stay on the same page with their new quarterback and running back. The line was about 50% to blame for David Carr's misfortunes last year, so they really need to reduce that number in half this year with everyone coming back.

3. Secondary

The Strong Safety position is by far the most underrated position in he NFL and usually the best contending teams in the NFL have a damn good strong safety. The Texans have a shell of a strong safety in Glen Earl. Earl is a big hitter just like Lynch, Palumalu, Harrions, etc., but he cannot cover worth a shit. CC Brown is a strong safety playing the free safety position. He is also a big hitter who cannot cover well which places heavy emphasis on both our corners. Faggins and Robinson are the guys at the corners, but Jason Simmons and Jamar Fletcher offer very little depth for the secondary.

4. Defensive Line

The issue here is the dollards invested on that front 4. Travis Johnson (1st round pick 2005 has been a bust thus far), Anthony Weaver, Mario Williams, and Amobi Okoye all have 1st and 2nd teir contracts. With a front four making all of that money, they better produce. The secondary was a lot to blame for the Texans defensive woes last year, but the d-line did not pressure the Quarterback enough which allowed opposing QBs to have enough time to throw to receivers when making their second and third moves. The D-Line must perform at a high level for the money they are being paid.

5. Wild Card - Matt Schaub

All the early signs show that the Texans finally have a LEADER at the QB position in Matt Schaub. He is the first to get to the facilities and the last to leave by watching all the film he can so he can fast track his way into knowing Kubiak's offense front and back. I think Schaub is going to be really good for this team and will perform at an exceptional level.

Rump', if you go back in time 7 or 8 years, the NFL was hell-bent on placing it's expansion team in L.A.
Now L.A. dropped the ball, to be sure, but Bob McNair was absolutely freaking GENIUS in pulling all the right strings to land the team.
He was so good that he basically forced to league to give him the team, against their wishes.
Against all odds, he prevailed.
When I watched that I really believed that this guy was going to be a GREAT NFL owner.

Fast forward to the present, and his franchise has been a pitiful disappointment.
Houston has excellent football fans, and I know they have been disgusted by what's gone down.
Of course they were expected to struggle for the first couple of years.
That was a given.
But they're going on yr 6 now, and 'progress' has come at a snail's pace .... if that.
The O-line, a team's foundation, has never amounted to jack shit.
D. Carr failed.
C. Casserly was a total buffoon.
MANY personel decisions have been head-scratchers .... and on and on ......

I was gone for all of Kubiak's first season, but my question is, what is the mood of the fans regarding the Kubiak regime?
Do they realistically feel like he's gonna get the job done?

What is YOUR mood?

I didn't realize I broke the rules...had a 5th item in there. Honestly, I can come up with at least a dozen issues with the Leos.

poptart wrote:I was gone for all of Kubiak's first season, but my question is, what is the mood of the fans regarding the Kubiak regime?
Do they realistically feel like he's gonna get the job done?

Its kind of 50/50 at this point. The Texans beating the Colts for the first time in franchise history towards the end of a bad season last year gave Kubiak some breathing room, but not for long. If they go 7-9 this year and 8-8 next year, then he might not be around in '09 to see if they can get their first winning season in franchise history. Kubiak, not Smith, has pulled most of the strings the last two years and brought in HIS players, so its all on him if this team can't get over the hump. Obviously last year's first round pick in Williams was Casserly and Kubiak making a terrible decision on paper. The critics won round one of that pick considering Bush and Young turned in better rookie seasons than Super Mario. But this is a 15 round prize fight between those 3 players and this is far from over as to the outcome of Casserly and Kubiak's decision to draft Williams over the "sure things" in VY and Reggie.

That being said, I think McNair has done a GREAT job of opening his checkbook and allowing things to develop so a TRUE evaluation could be made of his team, players, and coaches every year. He could have easily stepped in and gone Dubya errrr Jerry Jones and vetoed the GM's decision last year by drafting VY for the sake of selling tickets and making a TON of money in the short term, but he allowed Kubiak to convince him otherwise and stay out of the analysis process. Sometimes, I wish McNair would step in and take a more active role in the football personell decision making process, but that is not who he is and I am ok with him being that way.

What is YOUR mood?

I feel good about all of the offseason moves, except I think we gave away too much to get Schaub. I think we could have talked them down to a 2nd and a 3rd rounder and no swap of first picks instead of giving up two 2nd rounders and swapping this year's pick. I also thought the Texans should have shopped Carr more aggressively and maybe squeezed out a 4th or 5th rounder for him from a team who was looking for him. Not getting anything for him kind of made the Schaub deal a little more outrageous; however, I like the boldness of it all. The Texans obviously needed a change and getting a guy like Schaub with his upside is great.

I think I am the only guy who thinks Ahman Green has a lot more left in the tank and a lot to offer to the offensive scheme of the Texans. Green is in the best shape of his career coming into the offseason and I expect the Texans to improve in all aspects of the offense with his presence. Remember, Ahman Green is an excellent receiver out of the backfield which is an added element to the offense considering they did not have that option all of last season.


Okay, sorry....enough of the analaysis. My mood of the Texans is positive. I like the acquisitions of Scaub, Green, Black, and Zgonina. I am also REALLY excited about Okoye. I think he is going to make that defensive line one of the best in the league with him and Williams playing off of each other for the nest 5 or 6 seasons.

I believe Kubiak will get this team above .500 next year and I do see an 8-8 season this year. Its not much to celebrate about, but after the '05 and '06 season, I'll take it.

What about you, tart? I know you feel good, but what do you really think the Raiders can do over the next 5 years? Russell has all the talent in the world, but you know as well as I do that the coveted first pick of a draft that involves drafting a QB is such a crap shoot. It seems today you are either going to get Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf. Not too many in betweens as of late with QB's going in the top 5 of a draft. I thought what the Texans did with Carr was suicide by throwing him out there behind a makeshift o-line for the first couple of years. I really do think those first 2 years got to David eventhough they had a 7-9 season in his third year, but 2 of those wins came when Tony Banks was at the helm. That brings me to the point of rushing Russell out there too early. That Oakland o-line is as bad as an expansion team in its first couple of years and Tim Couch and David Carr suffered for their fast track to the starting position. I think it would be in the Raiders best interest to let Russell just sit with a headset and a clipboard on the sidelines for the first couple of seasons and let McCown and Walter pick themselves up time and time again until that offensive line gets better. That way, JeMarcus will learn the system like Rivers did in San Diego and he will be groomed into the position.

What are your thoughts?

I agree.

The Nation is hungry to see JaMarcus on the field, of course, but the way to view his career is with a wide lense.
The longer he absorbs from the sideline the better the chances that he'll turn into an excellent QB 2 or 3 yrs from now.

The Raiders might be real good a couple/few yrs from now.
The defense is already good, and they're young.

I can't predict anything down the road, but I like what's happening right now.

I also agree about D. Carr.
The Texans fugged up by letting him get banged around week after week.
Maybe the change of scenery will do him good and he'll make good for himself.
He's a nice kid, a tough kid, so I wish him well.

RumpleForeskin wrote: That Oakland o-line is as bad as an expansion team in its first couple of years...

I have to disagree.

The shitty play of the o-line last year resulted from a combination of subpar and/or young talent, a piss-poor playbook and horrible technique.

For the upcoming season, I think the Raiders did a good job of acquiring some decent o-line talent thru free agency and the draft. They added a few TE's that can actually block. More importantly, the addition of zone blocking guru Tom Cable as O-Line Coach is a huge upgrade.

Even without those upgrades, I think they would be better anyway by modernizing the offensive playbook.

Having a real fullback, J. Griffith, is also a step in the right direction.

About what you posted, Sfaf, let's just say I'm cautiously ?optomistic? about the O-line.

RumpleForeskin wrote:Houston Texans

1. Wide Receiver #2

Andre Johnson caught over a hundred balls last year not because of David Carr's poise and accuracy, but because Eric Moulds took a lot of attention away from Johnson. The Texans released Moulds during the offseason and signed Andre Davis, drafted Jacoby Jones out of Lane University (what school?), signed Bethel Johnson to push Jerome Mathis to get his ass in shape, and just signed Keenan McCardell the opening day of camp. NONE of these guys equate to the talent that Moulds brought to the second receiver position. Unless Matt Schaub is that much better than David Carr and can overcome the Texans not having a true #2 receiver, then I can't see Andre Johnson duplicating the All-Pro season he turned in a year ago. One of those guys NEEDS to step up and grab the role of Andre's decoy.

:sigh: You think you might want to actually mix in to your assessment who the Texans' actually have at #2 going into the season? It just might make your comments have even more luster. Some of the guys you mentioned have actually been heard of. But Kevin Walter?

And our safeties flat out suck. Mindboggling that it wasn't addressed. Especially C.C.

Tart, it's wait and see on Kubiak. Dude seems to be getting a pass for right now. The way everyone is looking at it is we were 6-10 last year and improved over the off-season. May translate, may not.

As to Vince Young, he was never on the radar to begin with so all the t'sips screaming around town amounts to a bag of wind. Passing up Bush may be another matter altogether. But V.Y. will never be more than a pimple on Steve McNair's ass. I'm more than willing to let the Mario thing play out. Especially since I've no choice.

Rumple wrote:Houston Texans

1. Wide Receiver #2

Andre Johnson caught over a hundred balls last year not because of David Carr's poise and accuracy, but because Eric Moulds took a lot of attention away from Johnson. The Texans released Moulds during the offseason and signed Andre Davis, drafted Jacoby Jones out of Lane University (what school?), signed Bethel Johnson to push Jerome Mathis to get his ass in shape, and just signed Keenan McCardell the opening day of camp. NONE of these guys equate to the talent that Moulds brought to the second receiver position. Unless Matt Schaub is that much better than David Carr and can overcome the Texans not having a true #2 receiver, then I can't see Andre Johnson duplicating the All-Pro season he turned in a year ago. One of those guys NEEDS to step up and grab the role of Andre's decoy.

Bethel Johnson???? I laughed!! HARD!!!!

Dude is dumb as a stump. He can run fast, but don't expect him to learn the playbook or know where to be and when to be there. He is just too stupid.....

rozy wrote::sigh: You think you might want to actually mix in to your assessment who the Texans' actually have at #2 going into the season? It just might make your comments have even more luster. Some of the guys you mentioned have actually been heard of. But Kevin Walter?

Walter will lose the job to one of these guys and continue to split time with other WRs at the #3 spot. Dude is big and has some speed, but he cannot get open in Kubiak's system.

poptart wrote:1. Offensive Line

2. QB

3. Running Back

4. Coaching

Offensive Line: Gave up no sacks v. Arizona. I like.

QB: Russell is not yet signed. Hmmmmm ..... It still looks up for grabs. I'm betting McCown starts the opener.

Running Back: Adimchinobe Echemandu has been a surprise so far. Seems to do well in the zone block system.

Coaching: So far so good.



Rack the impending return to greatness.

poptart wrote:Rack the impending return to greatness....in 2019.

FTFY

poptart wrote:

poptart wrote:1. Offensive Line

2. QB

3. Running Back

4. Coaching

Offensive Line: Gave up no sacks v. Arizona. I like.

QB: Russell is not yet signed. Hmmmmm ..... It still looks up for grabs. I'm betting McCown starts the opener.

Running Back: Adimchinobe Echemandu has been a surprise so far. Seems to do well in the zone block system.

Coaching: So far so good.



Rack the impending return to greatness.

Eche a sketch was ripping shit up all over the place............B.J. Ward obliterating Cardinal receiver Troy Bienemann on a high pass didnt suck much either.


The only player that looked like he didnt belong was Cornell Green. Fuck that false starting tard who was got abused by Berry a few times with one of them resulting in a hit on McCown. Weak.


Other than that, I agree with you wholeheartedly Pops.

RevLimiter wrote:in 2019.

That'll be around year 26 of your dumbfuck GM's 5 year "championsip" rebuild plan.

Raydah James wrote:

RevLimiter wrote:in 2019.

That'll be around year 26 of your dumbfuck GM's 5 year "championsip" rebuild plan.

I'm hoping he'll be DEAD by then, James....the same can't be said for Alcula. That dude's gonna outlive EVERYBODY.