Official Cut ✂️ Thread

[Humble_Beast]

Leavitt and Nick Usher are the only guys who seem to be a waste on the Raiders 80. 
 

Usher - a 215 DE is a joke. Idk why we are wasting our time. 

Leavitt- seems like a XFL talent at best. 

[agarcia34]

Usher will be used as a LB

[jimkelly02]

I know I’m overreacting but this is crazy.... we lost 2 defensive starters today and already were very poor with depth.

My expectations for the team took a massive dive today.  Typical Raiders.... as soon as we get hope it crumbles.  I get it’s just Hall and Lee, nothing special by any means.  Probably weren’t going be around next year even.  
 

But we can’t seriously go into the season with the front 7 we have now.  We need to add 4 Quality contributors front-7 players to be a playoff contender and imo.  We can’t seriously go into the season with:

DE: Ferrell, Key

DT: M.Collins, Hurst

NT: Hankins, (Ross/?)

DE: Crosby, Nassib

9th DLmen: Vickers/Panasuik/?

 

WLB: Littleton, Muse

MLB: Kwiatkoski, (Eligwe/Phillips/?)

SAM: Morrow, (Wilber/White/?)

 

We definitely need a DT, DE/DT, SAM, MLB to even have a decent front 7.

 

I highly doubt Mayock goes out and signs 4/15ths (over 25%) of the front 7.  Unless Clowney is taking under 10M a year from us and we sign Snacks Harrison/Marcel Dareus/Dion Jordan (and in that case play Clowney at DT a good amount) and Alec Ogletree + Will Compton/Mark Barron.... we’re in for a disappointing season.

[jimkelly02]

29 minutes ago, Humble_Beast said:

Leavitt and Nick Usher are the only guys who seem to be a waste on the Raiders 80. 
 

Usher - a 215 DE is a joke. Idk why we are wasting our time. 

Leavitt- seems like a XFL talent at best. 

I have a theory that Leavitt is “bro’s” with Deuce and that’s why he made the team last year.  The guys not a good STer and as a Safety is honestly a liability in Preseason Games in the 4th Quarter versus 3rd stringer.

Nick Usher is 6’3 and was 235 in the CFL.... not that he isn’t a waste as a roster spot.  I mean I didn’t weigh the guy myself but he was listed at 235 at UTEP back in ‘16 and as 235 for his CFL page last year.  Hey maybe Usher is the SAM version of Waller for us this year.  We thought enough of him to give him a $25k signing bonus smh.  Ugh we’re in serious trouble.

[Humble_Beast]

5 minutes ago, jimkelly02 said:

I have a theory that Leavitt is “bro’s” with Deuce and that’s why he made the team last year.  The guys not a good STer and as a Safety is honestly a liability in Preseason Games in the 4th Quarter versus 3rd stringer.

Nick Usher is 6’3 and was 235 in the CFL.... not that he isn’t a waste as a roster spot.  I mean I didn’t weigh the guy myself but he was listed at 235 at UTEP back in ‘16 and as 235 for his CFL page last year.  Hey maybe Usher is the SAM version of Waller for us this year.  We thought enough of him to give him a $25k signing bonus smh.  Ugh we’re in serious trouble.

Lol at that Deuce comment. Raiders.com has Usher listed as a DE and 215. Maybe a typo?? Your guy Nick Bowers survived the first round of cuts 😂  
 

Bare Minimum our DT and LB unit need stop gap vets as depth after cutting ties with Lee/Hall. Or else we are going have having to count on guys like Justin Phillips/ J White after an injury. Daniel Ross might be okay but he’s a journeyman and no competition. All the competition is on the offensive side of the ball. 
 

ideally we bring back a DE like Dion Jordan or a solid 9th rotation DLineman. Also could use a real completion to our safety unit. We actually are 2 deep at S spot but I wouldn’t imagine we would have another guy who can actually challenge.  All this being said, prior to any injuries. 

[jimkelly02]

1 hour ago, Turnobili said:

Littleton and Kwiatkowski were already going to dominate snaps in nickel, which is the main personnel group. The question now is who else plays in base packages. Muse and Morrow are both small. Morrow has a good athletic profile but it rarely actually showed in-game. He was never very good in coverage despite hypothetically having the traits to be just that. Muse has better cover instincts, and the coverage asked of linebackers is much less daunting that that asked of safeties, so I think he should hold up there. My issue is that Littleton is already a smaller guy who doesnt do a great job of taking on blocks in the run game, and neither to Morrow/Muse

all spot on.....
 

... and Yes Littleton and Kwiatkoski will dominate the snaps..... but if either gets hurt and misses half a game, full game,,,, even several games then what?   Man oh man this is going to get bad fast when inevitably one of them gets dinged up.  And let’s not forget, Kwiatkoski isn’t a proven starter.  Sure he played very well last year but that same preseason he legitimately was almost cut.  I doubt the guy straight busts but what if he struggles?

 

And yes Morrow struggles in coverage and is notorious for falling for play action fakes.... combine that with the fact he’s under 6’0.5” 218-225 ..... that’s who we want at SAM setting the edge.... covering TEs often.... cuz if he’s at SAM he’s gonna have to cover TEs a lot.  
 

I really hope Mayock has a master plan that’s taking effect without us knowing. If we don’t add at least a Quality DT and SAM then the addition of Littleton and Kwiatkoski will be for nothing.  Your only as good as your weakest link..... teams will Game plan and exploit our weaknesses left and right.

[jimkelly02]

1 hour ago, MrOaktown_56 said:

I think Muse will come in and outplay Lee honestly. He has rare linear speed for a LB and can definitely become bigger/stronger while still keeping some explosiveness.

I’ll be honest I am absolutely high on Muse playing a ton of snaps let alone starting this year.  We do this every year: convince ourselves a player will step up and play to an irrationally high level.  Muse was notorious for picking the wrong hole and not setting the edge properly when they used his as a combo LB/S.... it’ll only intensify in the NFL his rookie year.  Muse should be a coverage, situational LB only his rookie year.... expecting him to outplay Lee, who was a decent LB... no star but he was unspectacular yet not a liability.... is simply overly optimistic, if not crazy.  
 

I don’t mean that in a mean way.  Im not trying to say your nuts or stupid.... nothing like that.  I just think it’s be Nuts to bank on Muse playing a lot of snaps at a high level this year.  I get it your trying to be upbeat and not a complaining psycho, like myself, and that’s good.... but on the same token “come on..... no one wanted Muse to start yesterday.... cuz it wasn’t a good option.... and still isn’t”

[Humble_Beast]

8 minutes ago, jimkelly02 said:

I’ll be honest I am absolutely high on Muse playing a ton of snaps let alone starting this year.  We do this every year: convince ourselves a player will step up and play to an irrationally high level.  Muse was notorious for picking the wrong hole and not setting the edge properly when they used his as a combo LB/S.... it’ll only intensify in the NFL his rookie year.  Muse should be a coverage, situational LB only his rookie year.... expecting him to outplay Lee, who was a decent LB... no star but he was unspectacular yet not a liability.... is simply overly optimistic, if not crazy.  
 

I don’t mean that in a mean way.  Im not trying to say your nuts or stupid.... nothing like that.  I just think it’s be Nuts to bank on Muse playing a lot of snaps at a high level this year.  I get it your trying to be upbeat and not a complaining psycho, like myself, and that’s good.... but on the same token “come on..... no one wanted Muse to start yesterday.... cuz it wasn’t a good option.... and still isn’t”

Muse going be thrown against the wolves 🐺 due to the state of the LB unit. Sink for swim kid. For a project with no NFL seasoning prior to week 1. 

[drfrey13]

Somebody better tell Muse we are going to need that 55 back.

[MrOaktown_56]

52 minutes ago, jimkelly02 said:

I’ll be honest I am absolutely high on Muse playing a ton of snaps let alone starting this year.  We do this every year: convince ourselves a player will step up and play to an irrationally high level.  Muse was notorious for picking the wrong hole and not setting the edge properly when they used his as a combo LB/S.... it’ll only intensify in the NFL his rookie year.  Muse should be a coverage, situational LB only his rookie year.... expecting him to outplay Lee, who was a decent LB... no star but he was unspectacular yet not a liability.... is simply overly optimistic, if not crazy.  
 

I don’t mean that in a mean way.  Im not trying to say your nuts or stupid.... nothing like that.  I just think it’s be Nuts to bank on Muse playing a lot of snaps at a high level this year.  I get it your trying to be upbeat and not a complaining psycho, like myself, and that’s good.... but on the same token “come on..... no one wanted Muse to start yesterday.... cuz it wasn’t a good option.... and still isn’t”

Definitely am not banking on Muse to play at a high level. And I also don't think that he is "better" per se than Lee right now. But Littleton and Kwit will take 80-90% of all LB snaps period so I have no problem going the "speed" route with Muse, who will not really be relied on as an every down player anyways. I think Morrow is okay enough to be a decent 3rd LB, if not more than that.

Also we didn't see Lee on the field a whole lot over the past few seasons due to injuries. 

If we see muse at LB, it'll hopefully be WLB where he can use that speed to chase. Not at SLB where he'll be charged with important run fits and really taking on blockers.

[jimkelly02]

1 hour ago, Humble_Beast said:

Lol at that Deuce comment. Raiders.com has Usher listed as a DE and 215. Maybe a typo?? Your guy Nick Bowers survived the first round of cuts 😂  
 

Bare Minimum our DT and LB unit need stop gap vets as depth after cutting ties with Lee/Hall. Or else we are going have having to count on guys like Justin Phillips/ J White after an injury. Daniel Ross might be okay but he’s a journeyman and no competition. All the competition is on the offensive side of the ball. 
 

ideally we bring back a DE like Dion Jordan or a solid 9th rotation DLineman. Also could use a real completion to our safety unit. We actually are 2 deep at S spot but I wouldn’t imagine we would have another guy who can actually challenge.  All this being said, prior to any injuries. 

About Usher:  I don’t think it’s a typo, because Raiders.com lists him at 216.... which is identical to an outdated CFL profile of him.  Had it been 215 I’d say they prolly just typo’d the 3 to a 1 in 235/215.  I’m guessing the intern who runs the site just did a quick goggle search and came across 216 from the old CFL site and didn’t look further.... since he was a pretty irrelevant CFL signing amongst a bunch of simultaneous “future contract” signings.

 

Why didn’t we just PUP Lee?  Is he so hurt he can’t play this year or will be out so long we HAVE to move on?  I mean releasing him is the last thing we need right now.

 

Ross is a scrub.... let’s not kid ourselves.  And he’s far from “Mr. Reliable”..... last year he was Driving around town smoking weed driving with a gun.... blaring music so loud he got a cops attention and got pulled over.  And that’s just one of many classy acts the man’s had over the last few  years.  He’s just as likely to get suspended as he is to make the team... even right now.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2861788-tmz-releases-video-of-cowboys-daniel-ross-arrest-on-drug-gun-charges

Please don’t even remind me of the names of the guys competing to make the team and play major snaps.  Theyre all PS players at best.... I wouldn’t want to call any of them onto the 55-man active roster from the PS let alone be all we got going into the start of TC.

 

I’d love to have us resign Dion Jordan! I’ve been his biggest supporter.  At this point we almost HAVE to sign him AND another top available FA DT.

[Darbsk]

9 hours ago, jimkelly02 said:

 

But we can’t seriously go into the season with the front 7 we have now.  We need to add 4 Quality contributors front-7 players to be a playoff contender and imo.  We can’t seriously go into the season with:

DE: Ferrell, Key

DT: M.Collins, Hurst

NT: Hankins, (Ross/?)

DE: Crosby, Nassib

9th DLmen: Vickers/Panasuik/?

 

WLB: Littleton, Muse

MLB: Kwiatkoski, (Eligwe/Phillips/?)

SAM: Morrow, (Wilber/White/?)

 

We definitely need a DT, DE/DT, SAM, MLB to even have a decent front 7.

Totally agree! Is it too obvious that we should sign Jordan, Compton and one if the DTs like Jernigan, Dareus. Heck, I'd sign Stacy McGee who would be an upgrade over the depth guys we currently have listed. Maybe Brandon Marshall has had time to recover and is fit........ 

You're absolutely right to be concerned about depth, imagine if Littleton and Crosby get injured or Hankins has Covid all of a sudden we're the weakest D in the league with barely practice squad players actually starting in key positions 😬

 

[Rolni]

Try to light the mood up a bit here guys

I really like the Collins-Hurst-Hankins trio at DT. I think they will rotate and eat up almost all of the snaps inside. Nassib and Ferrell might also see some action there.

I also really like the Ferrell-Crosby-Nassib trio at DE, obviously with the expected jump from Ferrell, but we must expect that from the 1\4. Key can also be a solid rotational help.

I see that the LB depth is an issue at first look, but don't forget we will play 4-2-5 most of the time. That is our base rather then the 4-3.

Our DB depth looks really solid on paper, so overall I don't share your big depth concerns!

I hope I'm right here

[Darbsk]

I guess we are a little pessimistic! If we can stay healthy we should be ok if not good but if we do have a couple key injuries hopefully one of our 20 guards can play LB or DT 😁😁

 

[Humble_Beast]

5 hours ago, Rolni said:

Try to light the mood up a bit here guys

I really like the Collins-Hurst-Hankins trio at DT. I think they will rotate and eat up almost all of the snaps inside. Nassib and Ferrell might also see some action there.

I also really like the Ferrell-Crosby-Nassib trio at DE, obviously with the expected jump from Ferrell, but we must expect that from the 1\4. Key can also be a solid rotational help.

I see that the LB depth is an issue at first look, but don't forget we will play 4-2-5 most of the time. That is our base rather then the 4-3.

Our DB depth looks really solid on paper, so overall I don't share your big depth concerns!

I hope I'm right here

It does suck we wasted on 2nd on Hall but I don’t think it’s the end of the world trading him off. I thought hall was our 4th best DT, should find a NT for depth on the year.