Las Vegas Raiders Thread

Of all the things I expected us to make headlines for this offseason Antonio Browns helmet is the last thing I expected to see.

No way the nfl backs down.

Itssoeasy wrote: »

... but the guy seems a complete head melt.

yep agreed

With the third pre-season game being played tonight, Gruden and Co are looking at intense rivalries in a number of positions as players compete for a place in the final 53 man roster.

Unfortunately, its not a level playing field as several players look set to make the final roster without featuring in the pre-season games so far (being unlikely to feature tonight either) and despite a strong challenge for their position from other players.

So here's a look at some of the position battles

FB - Keith Smith faces a strong challenge from undrafted rookie Alec Ingold, for while Smith has been recovering from a knee injury, Ingold has impressed both as a blocker and pass receiver, while during his college days he proved very capable as a goal line short yardage runner. I'd go with Ingold, as I don't see him clearing waivers and making it to the practice squad, and Smith hasn't been that impressive, but Smith seems to be a Gruden favourite, so who knows ?

HB - First round Josh Jacobs and third down back Jalen Richard seem to be locks, which leaves Washington and Martin possibly competing for one spot. Washington has more upside, but Martin did a good job last year and could get Grudens' vote. If they opt to carry 4 running backs, then both could make it.

TE - Waller is the starter and draftee Moreau seems to be favoured to claim a spot too, which leaves Paul Butler, Luke Wilson and Derek Carrier competing for 1 or at most 2 spots. Wilson has most NFL experience and that may be decisive.

WR - Antonio Brown and Tyrell Williams are certs to make the roster, I think rookie Hunter Renfro is also a cert and could start as their slot receiver(even though Gruden likes to move his receivers around). After that it depends on how many receivers they decide to carry, Ryan Grant should get in too and if they decide to keep a specialist kick/punt returner then Dwayne Harris could fill that role. I'm assuming they may carry 6 receivers so that leaves JJ Nelson, Keelan Doss, Marcus Ateman, Rico Gafford, Keon Hatcher and De'Mornay Pierson El competing for 1 spot. I think its between Nelson and Doss, with the 2 final pre-season games possibly providing the tiebreaker.

OL - Miller, Hudson, Jackson and Trent Brown are certs to make the 53. Incognito is suspended for the first 2 games and so doesn't count towards the final roster, while Jackson injured his MCL and may end up on injured reserve. Sharpe, Parker, Devey, Kirkland, Hunt, Cooper and Good are all vying for the other spots with nobody ruled out or ruled in at this stage. I wouldn't like to have to pick, but god help Carr if Brandon Parker sees prolonged game time.

DT - It seems as though Hankins and Hurst are certs for the 53, Justin Ellis looked that way too, but the situation has got more competitive, with PJ Hall, Ethan Westbrooks, Gabe Wright, Eddie Vanderdoes and rookie Anthony Rush all in the mix. It all depends on how many DTs they decide to keep, but I think Vanderdoes could be gone along with Gabe Wright, while they could try to stash Rush on the practice squad if he clears waivers. I think that leaves Hall, Westbrooks and Ellis competing for just 2 spots. I'd go with Hall and Westbrooks, as Hall is only going into his second year after injuries slowed him last year and so deserves another chance, while Westbrooks offers experience and more pass rush ability.

DB - Conley, Worley, Joyner(who is listed as slot corner/safety) and rookie Treyvon Mullen look to be locks, leaving Nick Nelson, Isaiah Johnson, Nevin Lawson and rookie Keasean Nixon as likely contenders for the remaining spots. Johnson is currently out through concussion and Lawson will miss the first four games through suspension, so Nick Nelson can secure his spot with a strong showing tonight and next week, though Nixon will press him and may end up on the practice squad.

The roster looks pretty set at QB, DE, LB, Safety and at the other special team positions

Well looks like AB will be suspended by the Raiders after his reaction to getting fined. T.O and Randy Moss combined aren’t as big a diva as that lad.

I think the right call was made to release Antonio Brown - it was really the only option after all that went down last week. I just don’t know what end he has in mind with all this crap. I am sure someone will pick him up as he has loads of talent and someone will be desperate enough to ignore the issues but it will be hard to see him finding a long term home now. Onwards and upwards

I agree, I don't think he ever had any intention of playing for the Raiders either. The conspiracy theorists will have a field day with the idea that Antonio always wanted to play for the Patriots, but he knew that the Steelers would never trade him to New England, so he heads off to Oakland, pushes and prods them until they finally had to react and then he asks to be released, after which, within hours, he's a Patriot.

Some of the anti-Raider bias among some pundits was really shown up by this. I saw one TV pundit who(after the announcement that Brown had been cut, but before he signed with New England) criticised the Raiders, saying that they should have known what Brown was like, given how desperate the Steelers were to offload him and that this is what happens when you sign other peoples' problems. Yet the decision of the Patriots to sign the same player(after further issues), seems to have been given the universal thumbs up.

Williams now goes into the season as the Raiders No 1 receiver, but the real beneficiary could be TE Darren Waller, whose targets will jump massively and who could turn into a real star(and a really useful fantasy signing). What are the odds now that the Raiders use one of their first round picks new year on a wide receiver ?

Agreed it must be very disruptive on the squad to see this going on - lot of rookies in the 53 as well so makes it doubly hard on the veterans to hold it all together.

Keelan Doss is back from Jacksonville practice squad to add another body at WR - hope he gets some real game time after all the positive vibes from hard knocks.

Well that was a very satisfying win! The O-Line was in good shape last night and the Defense seemed hungry for it. I'm not expecting anything from next week but just to see us play well was gratifying!!

The offensive line played really well and given that it featured backups at both guard positions, it bodes well for the season with pro-bowl guards Gabe Jackson and Richie Incognito still to return. They won't face many better pass rush pairings than Miller and Chubb. Glad to see that Waller and Williams had good games too.

The rookies were making plays all over the place, on both sides of the ball and will surely get even better as the season progresses and they gain experience. I hope Conleys' injury isn't too serious or Mullen will be heavily tested by the Chiefs next week.

My only quibble about the game, is the tendency of Grudens' teams to take their foot off the gas when they get a lead. They had a good lead at the half and then got tentative, which allowed Denver to creep back into the game. They need to be more aggressive when leading, you don't see the top teams backing off when they get on top. The defence has far more young players than the offence, so if the offence gets cautious and has more 3 and outs, it puts the defence in a spot.

To have a chance next week they can't be scared to take chances against the Chiefs and with Jacobs playing so well, play action passes could reap rewards

eire4 wrote: »

Well I still say that the overall team is better then last season and I stand by that but this weekend clearly showed the improvement is only of small margins and with a really tough schedule another heavy losing season looms large now. The improvements have come with a solid draft and the significant lowering of the age of the team so some hope for the future yes but not much immediate hope for this season. Easily likely to be another 4-12 effort and maybe even worse. Another season now spent focused on how high a top 5 draft pick the Raiders will get rather then trying to actually be competitive never mind even challenge.

Yes I do believe the defense is better than last year - at least they are getting pressure on the QB (vs the broncos and for 3 quarters vs the chiefs). its a little early to tell with the offense - Jacobs is an improvement for sure but the o-line and WRs need time to gel and injuries definitely had a impact last weekend as williams was not 100% with his hip.

What will be interesting to see is if we go for a QB early in the draft next year - still not sold that Gruden thinks Carr will be the franchise QB going forward.

Good to win one on the road - even if it was to a team with some key injuries. Burfict was always good for an ejection this season - I hope he learns from that but probably not.

Crosby looks a really good find this year - made some key plays including the forced fumble when the colts looked dangerous.

When Carr went down I had visions of the home game against the colts when he broke his leg. Very glad to see him get up and play on. Hopefully we can protect him against Mack next week.

And now Burfict is gone for the season. Great.

I can't defend him as this is his 4th or 5th suspension at this point - even with the season ban I expect next year he will end up in the same spot after another helmet to helmet hit. The only way he stops is when he retires.

Very enjoyable result last night. The media were all ready to talk about how Mack dominated the Raiders and it didnt happen!! Lots of room to improve but the great thing about last night was watching how fired up the players were. And whilst we are nowhere near challenging for playoffs, its nice to see us go to 3-2 into the bye week, especially with all the controversies that have surrounded us.

eire4 wrote: »

I have said a few times already that it is clear the team has improved quite a bit from last season. Probably not enough to challenge for a play off spot but clear improvement nonetheless and considering the Raiders have Chicago's first round draft pick for next season the win helped in that regard a little bit as well.

yep defence is much improved - starting to generate some pass rush and we are much harder to run on this year so far.

That bye week was very good to us. we get Gabe Jackson back and the Chiefs and Chargers both lose. There's part of me cant wait for the next match and there's part of me that is dreading it. Will Rodgers carve us up or will Jones go off on one? Will our Offense continue to score?

eire4 wrote: »

Given the Packers played Monday so have a day less to rest and prepare that helps. But to my mind all that it will do is make the game more competitive. But still cannot see anything other then a Packers win next weekend.

And so it proved Eire4!