Teams Las Vegas Raiders - The Black Hole

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Pryor is a wait-and-see certainly.
I'm very high on him, as are other raider fans, but many raider and non-raider fans are low on him too. That's the 'wait-and-see' really. no one knows yet till we see how he handles things in meaningful snaps on the field. same like everyone had a valid opinion about newton, and it could've gone either way, no way to tell until.
curry has issues, but it's a low risk high reward trade. that's the idea behind it, so much athleticism etc, coaches to see if they can get the technical skills and smarts out of him. from that draft, we now have in hindsight the #4th and #7th overall picks on the team (curry, dhb). this was clearly a davis transaction, as jackson said days ago, him and al had many plans before the deadline and for the season in player transactions planned out. davis was big on collecting former first rounders and seeing if his coaches can bring out the skills that other team's coaches couldn't. we've got a ton of former first rounders now on the roster. jarvis moss for instance is playing very well, wimbley is doing ok. groves not so much. etc.
 
ALAMEDA — A potential bonus of Terrelle Pryor’s five-game suspension to begin his NFL career, in which he could not practice with the team and could only have individual workouts?

Pryor said he was able to glean knowledge from Al Davis before the Raiders owner passed away last weekend.

“I talked to him a couple times a week,” Pryor told FM radio station 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. “Once a week at least.

“It was just talking to a legend like that, him just passing away … it sucked. I couldn’t believe it. I was in disbelief. I didn’t know the guy that long, but just from talking to him and how passionate he is it is amazing just talking to him on the phone.

“You just get a buzz and butterflies in your stomach because he just talks about winning. He’s so passionate about the game and so passionate about Oakland. It amazed me and my heart goes out to his family and he was a great guy.”

Pryor, a stereotypical height-weight-speed Davis draft pick, began practicing Wednesday. He also reportedly told The Fan he would not be a receiver in any packages but could potentially be the quarterback on a Wildcat play.
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Interesting article today comparing Mark and Al Davis.

Raiders Won't Be The Same

lol at the bold bit, only Al.

The Raiders are drastically and irreversibly changed.

For better or for worse? Nobody knows. But they won't be the same.

From the day Al Davis hit town, the Raiders have been separate from all other teams in the league, a rogue satellite orbiting the mother planet.

In the NFL, there are 31 teams that have roughly the same ideas on things such as drafting, scouting, style of play, and corporate team structure. Then there are the Raiders.

No other owner has ever hired as many unlikely head coaches as did Davis. Lane Kiffin? John Madden? Jon Gruden? Art Shell (the second time)? Crazy.

The Raiders' style worked great for decades, then it worked lousy for the past decade, now it's threatening to make a comeback, so maybe Al Davis had rediscovered his mojo.

Regardless, that incarnation of the Raiders is history. In its place will be a much more normal NFL organization.

It starts at the top. Al Davis' son Mark is now in charge.

It's unclear how much Mark will run the show. The future power structure of the team is a mystery, but then the past structure was murky, too. The Raiders like to keep their business secret-y. They make the CIA look like the town barber shop.

This much I can assure you of the new regime: Whatever role Mark Davis takes, he will not be a clone of Al Davis. Mark will not be the West Coast version of Hank Steinbrenner.

George Steinbrenner and Al Davis were born a year apart (Davis first) on the Fourth of July. Steinbrenner died 15 months ago, and his two sons, Hank and Hal, took over the Yankees, mostly Hank, who is about Mark Davis' age.

Hank is attempting to follow in his father's footsteps as a tyrant who rules by fear and bluster.

Al Davis had some hard edges, though he was never the public blowhard George was. Davis was more the quiet tough guy, presenting a ruthless front to the world. Like Steinbrenner, Al Davis bristled at incompetence and ignorance when he found it, and he found it a lot.

Davis prided himself on knowing more about football than any NFL owner, ever. Maybe more than all the other owners put together. He may have been right.

Mark Davis will be none of that.

Al, to the outside world, carried himself like an army general at war, imperious and aloof, occasionally deigning to banter with the public and media. Mark is as genial and approachable as a surfer dude.

Here's how different they are, father and son: Al once fired Mark.

This was back when Mark was a teenager (he's about 55 now) working as a ballboy for the Raiders. He said or did something that ticked off his dad, and Al fired him on the spot.

That didn't last, of course. I've known Mark more than 30 years, and he's always been around the Raiders, though not in any apparent official capacity. He makes all the road trips. He and his dad always flew separately, so that in the event of a crash one Davis would be left to run the show.

When the Raiders were based in Los Angeles, Mark and Al lived down the hall from one another in a high-rise condo building in Marina del Rey.

Outwardly, Mark and his father were quite different. Mark, at least in my casual dealings with him, has no anger or edge. He is unfailingly affable and upbeat. No matter what I would write about the Raiders or their owner, no matter how angry Al Davis would be, Mark never registered the slightest peeve.

Once, just after Al told me he wished he could kick my patootie (not his word), I ran into Mark. I thought it might be awkward, but he waved it off, indicating that wasn't his concern.

If Mark's duties include hiring and firing of coaches, his coach-hiring/firing press conferences will ever approach the fiery theater of Al's unforgettable performances.

Mark will be involved in running the team, but if he had an ambition to be a Hank Steinbrenner type he would have showed that inclination decades ago.

The likely scenario is that Mark Davis, in concert with Amy Trask, will hire one or two football people. My guess is they'll hire one, a general manager (although the Raiders don't like to give titles).

Coach Hue Jackson probably would like to expand his role to include general-managing, but Al Davis believed in limiting the powers of his head coach, and possibly left instructions not to give any coach the powers of a GM.

Mark Davis will probably be one of those non-meddling type owners who delegates well.

The Raiders might return to greatness. But they'll never be the same.
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Sorry, and another excellent one. This one has choked me up all over again.

The Likes of Which Will Never Be Seen Again

Years ago Al Davis phoned a former Raiders player and coach to float an idea.

The man's wife answered the phone and said her husband was out. She could tell Davis was on high rev and asked what he was calling about.

Davis told her he had a plan. He wanted to create a Raiders cemetery, where all the old teammates and coaches could eventually be buried together.

"That's an interesting idea," the wife said, "but what about the wives?"

There was a pause.

"That's a problem," Davis said and hung up.

To Davis, the Raiders were never a team. They were a family and a brotherhood and a universe unto themselves. The Raiders were a specially chosen group, an elite force that would triumph over lesser forces, even if there were setbacks, even if those setbacks lasted for a decade.

If you were a true Raider, Davis' loyalty was absolute. Howie Long told me he phoned Davis many years ago in a panic. Long's grandmother, who raised him, was diagnosed with cancer. Long was trying to get her into a hospital in Boston renowned for its cancer treatment.

"I told him I was desperate," Long said. "It was impossible to get her in. There were no openings. I told Al I had offered to make a large donation to the hospital, but they still said there was no way she could get in.

"Al said he'd get back to me. Twenty minutes later he called back and said, 'Take your grandmother to the hospital. They'll be expecting her.' "

Davis believed he was smarter and wiser than other NFL owners, and in some ways he was. To me, his greatest achievement was hiring Art Shell in 1990 as coach. The league had not had a black head coach since 1925.

That color barrier was de facto segregation, backed by a clubbish, old-boy hiring system that made it nearly impossible for blacks to become coordinators, let alone head coaches. Not only were blacks not getting hired as head coaches, there were no blacks even in the picture.

Davis considered Shell a capable football man and leader, so this was no charity case. But I am absolutely convinced that Davis hired Shell because Davis was appalled and offended by the color barrier. He knew if he didn't hire a black coach, nobody would. The league owes Davis big-time for erasing that embarrassment.

"Misunderstood" is a cliche, but in some ways Davis was.

People point to Irwindale as an example of Davis' devious and ruthless nature. When the Raiders were based in Los Angeles, the tiny city of Irwindale, east of L.A., wanted to work with Davis to build a stadium inside a massive, abandoned gravel pit.

Irwindale, a tiny area torn up by gravel quarrying, looks like the surface of the moon, but it's awash with money, tax revenues from a giant brewery. The city agreed to give the Raiders $10 million to develop the stadium plan. The agreement called for the Raiders to keep the money if the deal fell through.

It fell through, thanks to Davis' political enemies. He kept the money, as per the agreement. I believe Davis truly wanted to build that stadium, and I don't believe that the Irwindale people felt Davis ripped them off.

Davis was a great battler. It was him against the world, always, and his entire organization reflects that feeling. He battled everyone, on every level - politicians, league presidents, other team owners, players he suspected of not being Raider enough, and for sure, the media.

A couple of years ago, Davis disliked a column I wrote about him. It was a sympathetic column - the lion in winter, trying to carry on in the face of changing times and his own health problems.

A week later I ran into Davis in the Raiders' nearly empty locker room after a game. He was in his walker. He cursed at me at some length, loudly, and closed his comments with, "If I was 15 years younger, I'd kick your f-in' ass."

I will miss that Al Davis passion.

Someone on TV described Davis as "the last of a dying breed." That is incorrect. Al Davis was a one-man breed, the first and the last.
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This article is about SI not giving enough attention to Al Davis' passing, but in it is something that Michael Irvin talked about the other day on NFLN. How Davis used to constantly harass Jerry Jones to start Irvin, and always keep poking fun at Irvin in later years that he helped make his career and to come play for him.

http://www.mercurynews.com/raiders/ci_19100112?source=rss

Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner who knew Davis for 22 years, wrote a personal essay on his friend and recalled how Davis would call at any time of day or night. In one of his favorite conversations, Davis took Jones' team to task for letting a young receiver named Michael Irvin languish on the bench.

Jones writes that Davis called to say, "Jerry you've got to start him and let him play. He's the one guy you've got right now who knows where the end zone is. I don't think you want to go down the road without him."

Irvin went on to be a Hall of Famer.
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Interesting to look back on our recent drafts.
24/30 players still on team, most starting or rotate thru.
Al left us with a very talented young team with good potential.
* = not on team
# = IR

Raiders Draft History
2011

2. Stefen Wisniewski, C, Penn State
3a. DeMarcus Van Dyke, CB, Miami
3b. Joseph Barksdale, T, LSU
4a. Chimdi Chekwa, CB, Ohio State
4b. Taiwan Jones, RB, Eastern Washington
5. Denarius Moore, WR, Tennessee
6. Richard Gordon, TE Miami
7. David Ausberry, WR, USC
Supp: Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State

2010

1. Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama
2. Lamarr Houston, DT, Texas
3. Jared Veldheer, T, Hillsdale
4a. Bruce Campbell, T, Maryland
4b. Jacoby Ford, WR, Clemson
5. Walter McFadden, CB, Auburn *
6. Travis Goethel, LB, Arizona State #
7a. Jeremy Ware, CB, Michigan State *
7b. Stevie Brown, S, Michigan *

2009

1. Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland
2. Mike Mitchell, S, Ohio University
3. Matt Shaughnessy, DE Wisconsin
4a. Louis Murphy, WR, Florida
4b. Slade Norris, LB, Oregon State *
6a. Stryker Sulak, DE, Missouri *
6b. Brandon Myers, TE, Iowa

2008

1. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
4a. Tyvon Branch, DB, Connecticut
4b. Arman Shields, WR, Richmond *
6. Trevor Scott, DE, Buffalo
7. Chaz Schilens, WR, San Diego State
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Raiders Begin League-Wide Search For GM

The Oakland Raiders have inquired with several NFL front-office executives, including Baltimore Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta, about their general manager position, league sources said Thursday.

The Raiders, who are reworking their front office after the death of longtime owner Al Davis, are contacting candidates to oversee their front office. Coach Hue Jackson and his staff now hold considerable personnel power and also could under a new arrangement.

DeCosta, a 40-year-old who long has been considered one of the elite young personnel men in the league, is on Oakland's target list, and he worked with Jackson in Baltimore. However, DeCosta has turned down several opportunities in the past and is considered the Ravens' GM-in-waiting for whenever Ozzie Newsome retires.

It's highly unlikely that DeCosta will leave Baltimore, given his deep roots in the organization and what it might take to tempt him to depart.
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Terrelle Pryor's first interview with media...

Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor talked to the local media for the first time since coming off his five-game suspension and joining his team at practice

Here’s a transcription:

Q: Your thoughts on joining team?

Pryor: It’s all a new process for me, really. Trying to get used to the speed and stuff like that and the plays called and just getting used to being with my teammates again.

Q: Feel good to be on the field again, though?

Pryor: Yeah, without a doubt, I get to do the thing that I love and go out there with my teammates and contribute and practice and help as much as I can. And however I can get involved, I’m back at it from that standpoint. I enjoy that kind of thing and I enjoy playing the game that I love so getting back out there is a big blessing.

Q: What did you get accomplished in your five weeks off?

Pryor: Coach wanted me to do the drops the way he wanted, so I got that done. I was training by myself; I had a personal quarterback trainer for five weeks. And I really wanted to get the verbiage down a little more and I’m getting a lot better at it. Pretty much, that’s it, and getting the plays, obviously, just keep studying the plays. So I was getting the plays down and also doing footwork and mechanics-stuff as well. Doing the verbiage and calling the plays out, that was quite different too.

Q: Is it easier for you knowing that Hue Jackson has said you’re a quarterback and not have to worry about any other positions?

Pryor: I mean, I knew what I was going to be. I mean, that’s for people that go around, I guess, thinking that they know what they’re talking about. But it is what it is. I knew what i was going to be. I’m just trying to get it down so if something were to happen, I could help my team continue on the path they’re at.

Q: Jason Campbell said you’re quiet but you speak out at meetings and asked you if you were the new QB consultant. How comfortable are you in speaking out and being part of the team?

Pryor: I’m comfortable. Guys are pretty welcoming here. We have a lot of fun here. As you see, I know you guys are always in the locker room hearing guys always joking and stuff like that, and I’m a very friendly guy so I can get involved with my teammates and have them like me because that’s just the way I am and, I don’t know, I just like to fit in as well as I can and they made it pretty easy for me so, to answer your question, when I’m in there with Jason and Kyle (Boller) and Coach (Al) Saunders, I’m pretty comfortable because I feel like I know what I’m talking about. If I wasn’t very comfortable in talking about what I thought, or knew, I wouldn’t say it. But I feel like I’m confident and comfortable with it to feel like I can just spit it out and say what I feel. And they respect me for that.

Q: What did your conversations with Al Davis these past five weeks mean to you as you were waiting to get back on the field?

Pryor: He pretty much, just with how passionate he was about the game, he just kept on telling me, Just win. And then the last time I talked to him, maybe like two weeks ago, maybe a little longer, maybe two-and-a-half weeks ago, he just said, ‘Wait your turn.’ And he said, ‘Just win, baby.’ He said that quite a few times. So just from talking to him, I just got how passionate and it just re-emphasizes just how passionate he is about football. How passionate you need to be to be successful. I feel like I learned that and I picked that up from him.

Q: You go up to his office, or he call you when you spoke?

Pryor: He would always call me on the phone. I actually never met him in person.

Q: He give you quarterback tips, what you should work on?

Pryor: Nah, pretty much every time I talked to him he told me, ‘Be patient, be patient’ and that he believed in me, obviously I’m here, and also just be passionate about the sport and he just kept on saying, ‘Win.’ He was telling the tricks that you get to win — working hard and things like that and just being a part of the team and he was just pretty much breaking things down to how to win. His phrase, he said that quite a few times, every time I’d get on the phone with him. So that was good to hear. It was cool just to have a guy like that that’s a player’s person like that, an owner like that. It just amazed me.
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Some stats...

Pro FootBall Focus Stats

After a monster game against the Texans, Oakland now have our top 2 graded DTs after 5 weeks in Seymour and Kelly

Groves has allowed 17-24 for 187 3 TDs

Aaron Curry’s pass D: QBs 8-8 on passes his way in ‘11; 62-76 for 613 yards and 6 TDs for his career

Raiders tied for 3rd in league with 28 offensive plays of at least 20 yards; #Browns last with only 8

Raiders safeties much better in coverage: passer rating vs. S dropped from 112.7 last year to 63.4 so far in ‘11

Stanford Routt has allowed 14-32 115 2 TD 1 INT for season

Vs Texans: DVD allowed 1 comp in 5 att for 17 yds in 1st start last week

Chris Johnson: 14-18 177

Chekwa 9-14 126; Porter 7-12 99; Branch 7-18 95; McClain 21-32 231

Nnamdi; his passer rating against is 92.6, up from 60.8 last year

numbers according to STATS: QB rating vs Routt 49.7; Chekwa 117; Johnson 126.2; Branch 70.4 down from 127.4 in ;10
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Shefter reporting that Madden/Wolf/Herock recommending Reggie McKenzie for Raiders GM.


Reggie McKenzie is an American football executive and former player. He is Director – Football Operations for the Green Bay Packers, and has worked for the Packers since 1994.[1]

His Super Bowl ring was stolen on May 3, 2009.[2]

His twin brother Raleigh McKenzie also played in the National Football League. Both he and Raleigh are members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

As administrator:
1994- Green Bay Packers

As player:
1985-1988 Los Angeles Raiders
1992 San Francisco 49ers
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Pryor is too raw to start. He only just got activated tonight. Has only 10% of playbook down, still working on mechanics, his drop, needs to work a ton of reps too to get chemistry with receivers. I'd love to see him start eventually and be the franchise QB, and for us not to acquire Palmer, say, because then we wouldn't see Pryor for 3 years. Which might be a good thing for Pryor, but im impatient. Anyway, the Raiders need a proven vet to start, we're 4-2 and have a genuine shot at playoffs. If we start Boller, let alone Pryor, right now, we'll struggle.


--

Okay here's some out there speculation...

Someone on ibabuzz last night posted that Cutler could be traded to Oakland. Reasoning, that he's well-versed in Martz' Air Coryell system, and so would be able to come right in and start in Al Saunders' Air Coryell system.

Today, on Twitter, Chinedum Ndukwe, former safety of the Bengals, 26 yo, 6'2" and 224 lbs, says he just signed with the Raiders. This hasn't been confirmed on the Raiders.com site.

There'd be no reason for the Raiders to sign a safety when we already have Huff, Branch, Mitchell, Boyd, Giordano, and all are healthy and playing well.

So, if I’m going to speculate on this…

Maybe it is true the Raiders are going to trade with the Bears for Cutler. Bears are in need of a safety, maybe Branch gets traded + say Bush + say a future draft pick, for Cutler. Hence, bringing in Ndukwe? How’s that for a wild baseless speculation? Any takers?

Or actually, it could be Mike Mitchell not Branch to Bears, seeing as Bears apparently wanted to drafted Mitchell but the Raiders beat them to it.
Bears also in need of a WR, maybe Murphy is packaged as well?
If not Bears, then Bengals for Palmer.

Hmmmm.

Here's something else to add...

The guy who posted the rumor said the trade would involve multiple teams.

So how about this on top of the above...

Murphy to Broncos to play with Tebow, who played together at the Gators, and Orton back to Bears. in amongst whatever else gets traded (bush/mitchell/etc)
 
yeah, let's say these teams are even talking, it can so easily fall apart. It happens so easily on Dynasty lol, so you can see how easy too in NFL. Tho McNabb is a west coast pupil and his talent in decline, maybe he'd be the 'best' bet. Very cheap, wouldn't cost much, wouldn't have to lose Mitchell, Bush, Murphy etc. We just need a proven vet.
 
Haha, yeh, getting a trade through dynasty can be a nightmare, so would be much harder to push a real life convoluted trade through like that. Cutler, with our running game and a pretty solid O-Line (protection wise) would be a great get. Would hate to lose Bush/Murphy/Mitchell, but the upside of Cutler might be worth a look. Would mean the end of Campbell though, so cannot see anything other than a vet coming in.
 
Campbell's contract is up this year. If he really is out for the year, they'll IR him I guess, and we wouldn't re-sign him if we got Cutler/Palmer, or say Boller/Pryor ended up playing great. However, if we didnt get Cutler/Palmer, then we'd re-sign Campbell next year, probably 2-3 year contract and wait to see if Pryor genuinely overtakes Campbell at some point.
 

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Teams Las Vegas Raiders - The Black Hole

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