FanHouse NFL Season Preview: Oakland Raiders - Well, They've Got Darren McFadden

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins

Quarterback: Daunte Culpepper. Josh McCown. Andrew Walter. Aaron Brooks. Kerry Collins. Marques Tuiasosopo. Rick Mirer. Tee Martin. Rob Johnson. What do these guys all have in common? They've all lined up at quarterback and thrown passes for the Oakland Raiders since the start of the 2004 season. Such a list is probably what prompted the Raiders to use the No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 draft on quarterback Jamarcus Russell. After a four-year revolving door of horrifying and nauseating quarterback play (seriously... Rick Mirer?), the Raiders are in desperate need of some stability at the position, and they're hoping the talented Russell is the guy to bring it. He struggled in his brief action in '07, but that's to be expected of a rookie playing for a not-so-good team. Unfortunately, it should be more of the same in 2008. Russell could be very good in time, but it's probably not going to happen this year. Heat Index: 5



Running Back: The bright spot of the offense, and it's probably not even close. Justin Fargas is coming off a strong 2007 season where he rushed for over 1,000 yards, and No. 4 overall pick Darren McFadden should offer excitement and hope that better days might soon be ahead. Oakland is going to need these guys to run until the wheels fall off, and McFadden turning into Adrian Peterson V. 2.0 would certainly help the cause, though it's going to be tough for him to make such a splash running behind a questionable line, and facing what will likely be eight-man fronts every week. Heat Index: 7

Wide Receiver: Now that Drew Carter is out for the year, the Raiders head into the season with only three receivers on the roster to have caught a pass in a real NFL game: Javon Walker, Ronald Curry and Johnnie Lee Higgins... and Higgins has only caught six. Normally, when a player like Carter goes down for the year after having caught only 31 passes the previous year, it might draw an "aw shucks, that's a shame," type of reaction from the team... but in Oakland, I can picture this touching off panic in the front office simply because they are paper thin at the position. They could always sign a Joe Horn who is desperate for a team, but we would advise against such a move, opting instead to go with the young guys. It might be painful in the short-term, but could prove beneficial in the long run. One of two thing happens: (1) Somebody develops into a long-term solution at the position or (2) you find out for certain all of these guys are terrible, and can address the position in the off-season with a real long-term answer, as opposed to a 35-year old, one-year stop gap that won't make a difference in the standings anyway. Heat Index: 4

Offensive Line: After the Raiders' third preseason game, Head Coach Lane Kiffin wasn't thrilled with the play of his offensive line, saying, "It kind of reminded me of who we are." 2004 first-round pick Robert Gallery is on his, I think, third different position along the line, and starting left tackle Kwame Harris was a washout across the bay in San Francisco. With a second-year quarterback that's going to experience his share of growing pains, along with a rookie running back and an inexperienced group of receivers, a bad offensive line is the last thing you want. Heat Index: 4

Defensive Line: The Raiders were miserable against the run last year, giving up nearly five yards per carry (worst in the NFL). They re-signed defensive tackle Tommy Kelley to a gigantic contract and took a flier on former first-round pick William Joseph, who missed all of the 2007 season. Derrick Burgess has been a quality pass-rusher since putting on the silver-and-black three years ago, but has seen his sack totals drop the previous two years, from 16 in '05, to 11 in '06, to 8 in '07. Kalimba Edwards was brought in from Detroit, presumably to help Burgess in getting some pressure on opposing signal callers. Heat Index: 5

Linebackers: Strong group with some impressive young talent, led by Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard. Morrison has registered at least 115 tackles in each of his three seasons, while he and Howard teamed up to intercept 10 passes and defend 21 in '07. No linebacker intercepted more passes than Howard (6), while only Keith Bulluck registered more than Morrison (4). Brought in former safety Adam Archuletta for a tryout at linebacker, much to the chagrin of Matt Snyder. Heat Index: 7

Secondary: The Raiders have invested a ton in their secondary over the years with mixed results. Going back to the 2002 draft, the Raiders have used six day one picks (rounds one through three) on defensive backs, and this off-season sent a second-round pick to Atlanta for Deangelo Hall. Not a big fan of Hall. He gets hyped up a lot as a "shutdown corner" but my lasting image of Hall will always be that game during the 2006 season where Hines Ward outran him in a straight sprint to the end zone, while Ward was wearing one shoe. Spent much of training camp arguing with the Raiders on whether or not his hand was broken. Nnamdi Asomugha is still the best corner on the team. Heat Index: 6

Special Teams: The Raiders used their 2000 first-round pick on kicker Sebastian Janikowski (we're all still laughing about that) and he's never been anything more than a mediocre kicker. His accuracy in the field goal game is roughly 76% for his career, and barely 70% over the previous three years. The Raiders had the second-best NET punting average in the NFL last year. Heat Index: 5

Coaching: I suppose at this point I should say something about the coaching staff, but I'm not exactly sure who the coach is. Don't get me wrong, I know in theory it's Lane Kiffin. He's listed in the media guide as Head Coach. He gets to stand on the sidelines and wear the officially licensed NFL merchandise. He's the one that stands in front of the press after each game and answers questions about why the team lost. He gets to wear that nifty headset. But is this really his team? It sure doesn't seem that way. On Sunday he talked about how he had "no idea" who was on the teams radar to replace Drew Carter, and he's openly criticized the ridiculously overpaid free agent receiver Javon Walker for not earning his contract after just three preseason games. It just seems like there's a major rift between him and Al Davis. It's certainly possible this is Lane Kiffin's team, and he's the guy making the calls, but I'm not buying it. I'd say it's more likely that Al Davis is calling all the shots, while Kiffin is nothing more a figurehead that stands on the sidelines listening to a never-ending loop of John Facenda reading the words, "The Autumn Wind Is A Raider... The Autumn Wind Is A Raider.." in the headset. All while he contemplates how he can pull a George Costanza and get himself fired and land a job that will actually let him, you know, coach. Maybe I'm just crazy. Or overly cynical. Heat Index: 3

Intangibles: The Raiders went to the Super Bowl in 2002 and haven't won more than five games in a season since. On the plus side, outside of San Diego the AFC West isn't exactly a powerhouse division now that the Chiefs are down and Denver is coming off a 7-9 season. Heat Index: 5

Total Heat Index: 51 It's a mixed bag in Oakland. There's hope for the future on offense with Russell and McFadden, and there's a lot of talent on defense with the linebackers and secondary. The coaching situation is cloudy at best, while the organization as a whole seems as dysfunctional as ever. There will be a lot bumps and bruises, with some flashes of brilliance and perhaps, if everything breaks absolutely perfect... seven wins on the season.