State of our team

[Rolni]

I would like to reflect on our team after every quarter, so we could track how we progress.

We are 1-3 after the first quarter of the 2018 season, obviously not the record we would envisioned when Chucky got the HC gig, but this is the reality now.

 

Coaching:

On the offensive side we seem to have a solid scheme with pretty good potential. We had our moments in every game and could move on the every team, even on the strong Ds. On the other hand it is pretty obvious that the chemistry and the collective knowledge of the offense is still pretty low. Gruden's playbook is reportedly pretty complex and deep, so it could be normal, but this is hard to accept for the fans, we want great plays and result instantly...that's the nature of the Beast...

As we talked about it in other topics our offense is strong in the statistical department in most categories, but the team needs to start putting together solid full games and winning attitude. Hopefully the Browns game was somewhat of a turning point for Carr&Co.

On the defensive side we seems to have a competent DC after all these years. PG has to scheme pretty well, since the defense has big holes, but he showed some great periods, quarters, halves so far. They just need to play solid for a hole game, hopefully as the rookies come along further we get better as a unit.

Bisaccia is the only coach I would say disappoint so far, but even his biggest knock is the P play, which issue is more of a scouting thing to me then a coaching thing.

 

Offensive positions:

QB:

The most important position obviously and we all thought we have our franchise QB after the 2016 season...well so far this season is a roller coaster for Carr as much as for us. He looked really bad for some streches and the old question came up again after a few years: Do we have a franchise QB?
I think by the end of this year we will be able to tell whether Carr is the answer in Gruden's system or not. I sure hope that he is that, cause it would make our rebuild a lot easier. If Carr can't get back to top QB level with Gruden I would never get over the Mack trade.

Carr obviously had great drives, periods under Gruden, he seems to be pretty sharp overall and against the Browns he seemed to be pretty confident in the pocket and against pressure which is his biggest issue/questionmark IMO. Hopefully be the end of Q2 he can erase these bad INT's once he and the WR's see the same and he gets comfortable and confident in this system.

To me the QB spot is still a questionmark, but this past game made me feel a lot better about Carr.

 

RB:

Marshawn Lynch is still money! He is still BeastMode and this team needs his presence, his style...he made them believe against the Browns IMO. On the wrong side of the 30, he is currently #4 in rushing and doing it with swag!

Doug Martin is just another guy IMO. He had some nice runs, but overall he is a non factor. I would like to see D.Washington in his place and maybe even Warren if we can allow to use one of the return IR "card" on him. 

Richard looks like a real weapon as the pass cathing RB in this scheme, he is dangerous!

 

FB:

Keith Smith cost us one game already with that drop and I'm not really impressed with his blocking or running neither. I don't know enough about ST to really get his improtance there, but so far he seems to be a step back from Olawale to me.

 

WR:

Amari Cooper is still an enigma, we should see by the end of this season whether Gruden and Edgar can get consistency out of him. It would be sweet to see him being a constant weapon for Derek.

Jordy Nelson is a pretty reliable target so far and I think he could maintain this level for the season or even for another one. He is not winning with speed obviously, but he still got enough to get open. He feels the zones really well and also seems to still have the nose for the endzone.

Martavius Bryant has so much potential, but has so many questionmarks...hopefully he can play the hole season and develope some chemistry with Carr in the deep game. Then hopefully can continue his carrier here without league disciplines.

Seth Roberts is the same guy as before...can make some good cathes here and there but he is a constant drop threat...

 

TE:

Jared Cook is a matchup nightmare and a dope weapon. He leads all TE's in yards after Q1.

Lee Smith is still a good blocker and showed some solid hands against the Browns.

Derek Carrier is pretty quiet so far.

 

OT:

Kolton Miller looks promising so far and this is a pretty nice surprise so far for me. He corrected his technique a big way, while still have some work to do and played solid against some really talented EDGE rushers lately. He needs to get stronger, but so far he looks good.

Donald Penn is struggling big time on the right side and he got hurt against the Browns. The upside at RT is Brandon Parker, who looked alright in his place, while Clemmings looked awfull when he needed to step in. Hopefully Parker can take over during the season and soldify the RT position after all these years. 

It would be almost unbelievable to find our bookend OT's in the same somewhat weak draft class, but we might just did that...I don't want to jinx it tho...

 

OG:

Kelechi Osemele and Gabe Jackson still looks good on paper and the commentators still talks about them in a high manner, but I don't really like what I see so far. They are far from dominant, while both of them have TOP money in his contract. It will be interesting whether they can improve as the season goes on or not. If not we might wanna start searching for replacement in this upcoming (supposed to be strong OL) draft.

Jon Feliciano came in for KO against the Browns and I didn't really see the difference during those few snaps...don't want to go too far with this, since the simple size was small, but at least we have a solid emergency option inside.

 

OC:

Rodney Hudson is an elite C. He might be the best Reggie McKenzie FA signing.

 

On offense it comes down to Carr obviously. We will need new blood for the skill positions soon especially if Coop can't put it together and our OG spot might also need help down the line. With that said if Carr is the real deal, we should be good for years to come.

 

Defensive positions:

DT:

I really like what I see from Mo Hurst so far. He seems to get going lately. Hopefully Hall will join him up front when his ankle is back to 100%.

The nice surprise is J.Hankins to me. He seems to get down the scheme, get his legs under him and starts to get effective. It will be interesting to see how much better can he get, whether Jelly can return this year?! If Hankins out plays him and doesn't have crazy numbers inside his head, he could eventually replace Jelly at NT for the long run too.

C.McDonald is also a solid veteran guy, who looks good as a rotational piece. Hopefully Vanderdoes can give him a run for his spot when he gets back.

 

DE:

Arden Key has potential obviously and he has shown improvement so far during the season. We need him to step forward in a big way, since Bruce is a disappointment so far.

It seems like Bruce lately was "made" by Mack's presence...he looks lost out there, he is a non factor...his sack against the Browns was a missed assignment form them, so he was a free runner at the QB...when there is a OT in front of him, he is pretty much done...

Frostee Rucker is a nice surprise as a base run stopper DE, he even showed some push. Nice stop gap.

On the other hand Tank Carradine is a dissapointment to me. I thought he will be a starter and be a force against the run at least.

Fadol Brown and Shilique Calhoun showed nothing so far to me...

 

LB:

This is the second weakest unit on our team IMO. Tahir Whitehead is a big disappointment to me so far. He seems to be totally lost against the pass from time to time and he doesn't have the speed to recover.

D.Johnson is a cover only LB for us and not a good one at then sadly. He seems to be too old/slow to have a real impact.

M.Lee showed some good plays, but also some bad ones too. He seems to be a solid 2 down LB, who does have serious limitations in coverage with his speed.

E.Lamur is just a solid back up, who happens to be a sterter for us.

N.Morrow is a mysterious no show so far to me, but I guess he doesn't really win the coaches during trainings.

 

CB:

Gareon Conley had his up and downs so far, but he has legit talent IMO. By the end of the season I think we will see who we got in him.

R.Melvin looks like a solid FA pick up so far, so does DRC. It will be interesting whether they move him DRC into the S rotation as well, after Worley is back or not.

L.Hall is our primary NCB, we will see whether that changes with Worley back or not.

D.Worley could be back in the upcoming weeks and he looked solid during pre season, so he could help our secondary.

N.Nelson might not see too many snaps with all the veterans in front of him, but hopefully he get some opportunity before the season is over.

 

S:

This is the weakest unit on our roster right now. Our starters are too slow, we don't have depth...

Marcus Gilchrist is too slow to be effective for us and the only thing we don't cry out loud about it is the fact that he looks fast next to Nelson...They have the experience, but hopefully Karl Joseph get some serious playing time when he is back healthy...

Erik Harris is a good ST guy, but so far seems like a back up S at max...

 

I really like what I see from Hurst and Hankins and there is potential in Hall and Key. We would still need a good EDGE guy in the next offseason even if Key turns in good by the seasons end. The LB unit needs a total reboot IMO after this year, so is the S unit. The CB position looks pretty solid so far, we will see how they play during the next few games...

 

ST positions:

P:

I actually trully can't remember when we had such a weak legged, bad punter. Obviously I was in a great situation with Lechler being the first guy here, since I follow the team and King being his substitution...Can't really see why we drafted J.Townsend at all, let alone in the 5th round...

 

K:

Now we have M.McCrane at K after another IR, so can't really say much about the position now. He won us the game, after 2 missed FG attempts (from the dirt)...we will see how he plays the rest of the way and whether E.Pineiro returns or not during the season...

 

LS: 

Trent Sieg replaced the injured DePaloa and so far he seems to be mistake free, which is the goal for a LS I guess.

 

Returner:

D.Harris is a solid returner, hopefully he can stay healthy, because we don't really have anybody behind him.

 

Right now I feel like ST is a weak link for us, but this is mostly on Townsend, we will see how much can the rokie progress in the upcoming weeks...

[SBXISBXVSBXVIII]

I'd read this if it wasn't so long. I'm sure it's full of good info though.

[RaidersAreOne]

16 minutes ago, SBXISBXVSBXVIII said:

I'd read this if it wasn't so long. I'm sure it's full of good info though.

Ya who comes to a football forum to read football anyways? 

[SBXISBXVSBXVIII]

1 minute ago, RaidersAreOne said:

Ya who comes to a football forum to read football anyways? 

A.D.D.

[big_palooka]

I had the team winning 6-7 games and at the quarter mark, I still feel good about that prediction.

The holes in the roster that were obvious going in are still obvious. RT, LB, S, Pass rush and  DEPTH. 

Easily a 3-1 team with Mack still on the team. But it's clearer every game why they wanted draft picks. The defense is completely void of talent. Some promise in Hurst, Key, Hall, Conley and Lee. Otherwise, trash.

The team looks well coached. Offense looks solid, but it goes as Carr goes. The interior Oline has been very underwhelming given what they are paid. Gabe Jackson has been very lackluster to start.

Nice seeing the draft class contribute early. Key, Hurst and Miller are all hitting their stride going into Q2 of the season.

[big_palooka]

Interesting hindsight discussion..... what if the Raiders had drafted James after trading down. Don't trade out of 41 and draft Landry. Their impact on defense vs. Kolton Miller on offense. 

[oakdb36]

1 minute ago, big_palooka said:

Interesting hindsight discussion..... what if the Raiders had drafted James after trading down. Don't trade out of 41 and draft Landry. Their impact on defense vs. Kolton Miller on offense. 

We have to protect our 25M player. Keeping Carr healthy has the biggest impact on this team. If we have James and Landry but we have to play our backup QB, we're not winning any games.

[big_palooka]

15 minutes ago, oakdb36 said:

We have to protect our 25M player. Keeping Carr healthy has the biggest impact on this team. If we have James and Landry but we have to play our backup QB, we're not winning any games.

Could Penn not played LT and drafted one later on? Just playing devils advocate. 

[RaidersAreOne]

1 hour ago, big_palooka said:

Interesting hindsight discussion..... what if the Raiders had drafted James after trading down. Don't trade out of 41 and draft Landry. Their impact on defense vs. Kolton Miller on offense. 

We got legit first round talent in rounds 3 and 5. I don't think that would have been the case on the offensive line in rounds 3 and 5.

[Humble_Beast]

1 hour ago, big_palooka said:

Interesting hindsight discussion..... what if the Raiders had drafted James after trading down. Don't trade out of 41 and draft Landry. Their impact on defense vs. Kolton Miller on offense. 

I like James and Landry but we probably skip on Key in that case. Plus Penn body breaking down again, and we can't afford to get Carr killed or we are the worst team in football. 

[Humble_Beast]

Great breakdown Op.. I agree with it for the most part.... Martin and DJ jags at this point... I also think we could draft two interior lineman next year in the mid rounds to push Gabe Jackson. Could save 18M cutting Gabe Jackson and Bruce Irvin, which could happen if they keep underperforming.... be nice to see something from Tank, Fadol, and Morrow. Ready to bench Lamur and start using Morrow speed out there. M Lee has looked good to me, minus a couple plays a lack of pass rush made him cover his man for too long. biggest weakness Safeties, Linebackers, Edge Rushing,...  Penn could easily get shut down, playing like the worst Tackle in the league

[oakdb36]

1 hour ago, big_palooka said:

Could Penn not played LT and drafted one later on? Just playing devils advocate. 

Penn was coming off a serious injury and he had to be replaced soon anyway. I'm sure they could have drafted one later but they liked Miller.

[SBXISBXVSBXVIII]

3 hours ago, oakdb36 said:

Penn was coming off a serious injury and he had to be replaced soon anyway. I'm sure they could have drafted one later but they liked Miller.

They liked McGlinchey more. They settled on Miller after the Niners took McGlinchey one pick before the Raiders would have. I wanted McGlinchey, but am happy with Miller so far.

[Totty]

1 hour ago, SBXISBXVSBXVIII said:

They liked McGlinchey more. They settled on Miller after the Niners took McGlinchey one pick before the Raiders would have. I wanted McGlinchey, but am happy with Miller so far.

Is McGlinchey doing better than Kolton? 

[SBXISBXVSBXVIII]

Don’t know. Haven’t followed him because he’s not a Raider.