Oh please. This just sounds like typical lip service to the old school. Sure Al is a huge part of the reason the NFL is king, but he should know more than anyone that there comes a time when a player has to retire, and so there also comes a time when an old crazy man has to bring in some new blood and stop trying to control every aspect of his franchise. Sure, for all intents and purposes... the team is his and it reflects his rebel image, he picked up when it was nothing and turned the Raiders into one of the most consistent winners, but none of that matters now because since their Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay they have been atrocious. They have been so bad they've been an even bigger joke than the Lions, a team that went winless in 2008. The 2006 Raiders team scored 12 touchdowns all year. Their offensive coordinator had been out of the NFL since 1991. That team would have lost to the 2008 Lions by at least 6 points. Allowing Jon Gruden to leave for Tampa Bay was the beginning of the end for Al. He has brought in coaches with no experience, or had to settle for less prominent coaches because of his reputation for being too "hands-on", he has signed Free Agents to terrible contracts, like a $70 million dollar deal for DeAngelo Hall which lasted 8 games. Why would you put a press coverage, finesse CB in a bump and run system? Oh thats right "We play Bump and Run" because Willie Brown invented and perfected Bump and Run back in the early 70s, and Lester Hayes / Mike Haynes were the most dominant CB duo ever in the early 80s. But now Al refuses to let the defense morph into a new system, he holds firm in his belief that CBs should be allowed to play man on man coverage for the majority of the game, even though offensive scheming and formations have evolved exponentially in the NFL over the past 30 years, not to mention the constant tweaking of the rules to favor offenses to promote higher scoring. Javon Walker, who was never the same after a few promising years... was so surprised the Raiders paid him big money, he actually tried to give it back and retire. He had 15 career receptions as a Raider. Al's most glaring weakness of course is his obsession with speed. Bo Jackson changed the game yes, but he also was insanely, freakishly powerful as well. Al Davis has kept many players on his roster over the years just because they had world class speed, even if some of them could barely catch a football. These players would jokingly be referred to as being on the "Al Davis scholarship". So this idea of speed still resonates deeply with in the old fart's mind and his tired mantra of "speed kills". Darren McFadden hasn't panned out because he's got speed but no ability to shed tackles. Darrius Heyward-Bey was a terrible reach, even if the kid ends up improving immensely he'll be a marginal player at best. Then there is that guy who was taken first overall after that disaster of a 2006 season. The payoff for that horrendous year, the savior of the franchise... Jamarcus Russell. Well it seems your own coach, Lane Kiffin didn't even want the guy. You could have drafted Calvin Johnson or Adrian Peterson, but instead you take Jamarcus Russell, who had one good game against a crap Notre Dame Defense and he the ball comes out of his arm like a slingshot or a grenade launcher. Again overlooking major flaws in Russell's character (anyone who has heard the guy interviewed can tell he doesn't have the intelligence or the commanding personality it takes to play QB in the NFL). So you take him #1 overall, he holds out and misses training camp, finally you play him and what do you know? He's a complete and utter failure. This was the guy that was supposed to turn everything around and all he could do was open another bag of Ruffles. Al has failed the Raiders organization and the fans by continuing to create unnecessary drama between the team and the press, by taking more time to settle scores with frivolous lawsuits than caring about the future of the team, he continues to do a great disservice to everyone who is a fan of the team by finally acknowledging that the game has passed him by and he needs to hire an experienced GM to run things and then he can sit in the press box looking like the Great-Grandfather of the Prince of Darkness. You wanna "Just win, Baby", then step down Mr. Davis, step the **** down.
Probably a bit of a stretch, in my opinion. "Living" is such a strong word, I mean, look at that picture; you could sell me on undead, or walking corpse, but living?
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to moestavern19 again. True Raider fan. Respect.
Moe of course you are right about all of this but it looks from recent drafts and dealings (McClain, Henderson) that someone is suddenly giving him good advice or he is finally listening. We are on the way back and I know you are a true fan from years on this board. Have faith even under grandpa Al we are going to improve. And one thing I never figured out as far a Javon Walker, wasnt at some point last year he begging to play and Cable wouldnt get him in? Do you know what happend? I know previously he was injured/mugged whatever but we were terrible at the WR position and it seemed like some veteran leadership might have helped a little. I thought he was healthy there for a while.
Walker never really recovered physically from his ACL tear, and then he signs his huge contract with the Raiders only to end up beaten up and mugged in Las Vegas, couple that with his psychological damage from being there when Darrent Williams was murdered, the guy was just never the same, I think Cable had him as 5th on the depth chart last season when he was fully healthy, behind a couple of rookies. He obviously didn't have anything left to show. But you are right, most experts agree that the Raiders had a decent if not solid draft. McClain and Lamarr Houston should be instant contributors on the defense, coupled with John Henderson and Richard Seymour on the Defensive Line, and Kamerion Wimbley playing OLB, the run defense might actually improve and not be among the worst in the league for once. They have certainly bulked up. I personally love Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard as they are good guys, but both of them are much more suited as pass-coverage specialists, Wimbley, McClain and Trevor Scott is a much more menacing backing corps, but they need to learn to play as a unit, Howard should still see a lot of playing time on passing downs as he is one of the best pass coverage LBs in the league (one of the few LBs who runs a sub 4.4 40, hmm wonder how he ended up a Raider). I'm still not completely sold on Cable, but it appears like bringing in Hue Jackson (Former QB Coach at Baltimore) to run the offense certainly is going to take some pressure off of Cable and give him a true OC again so he can focus more on game-planning. Early OTA reports mean little if nothing, but Raiders beat writer was so shocked to see the Raiders passing game actually move the ball down the field against the defense with Jason Campbell, that it made news. Heyward-Bey even caught a few balls, who knows maybe he'll be decent after all. But that is how bad the passing game has been the last few seasons, last season the 49ers and the Raiders scrimmaged together and the 49er Defense came off the field laughing at how awful the Raiders' offense was. Campbell is miles better than JaWalrus, but I still have him pegged as an average NFL QB. He isn't going to throw 25 TDs. He tries to avoid the costly mistakes, but his arm is not as legit as you'd like. Still... He's an improvement, and the price certainly was right. The running game isn't going to change much, the offensive line is still average at best, the Wide Receivers we have don't really inspire any comparisons to the 91 Redskins. So signs point to an improvement this year. But I've been hearing that for a while, and I remain skeptical. I'll have a better feel for how they're going to perform after they finish TC.
Can't you let the man have his cookie for once? We see enough Raider bashing around here and on ESPN, etc. It was actually nice, and uncommon, to see someone actually take up for Davis for once. Sure everything you said is true, and we're all very aware of his f**k-uppery since 2002, but none of it makes anything stated in the article any less true or important. Dude has earned his right to be a delusional, senile, power hungry old coot. Props to big Al. The NFL will probably be worse off after he goes.
Quick question for the Raider fans since I don't ever really see them play. Is McFadden a bust or does he actually have to potential to be a quality starting rb this upcoming season?
**** no. This is exactly the reason why Al gets too much of a pass from most Raider fans because of things brought up in this article. The bottom line is he has run the team into the ground over the past few years, almost every 1st round pick he has taken has been a complete failure, his free agent signings were laughably bad, and he's continued to slowly sell off parts of his stake in the team to drive up more revenue. I didn't dispute anything in the article or take away anything from Al's legacy... and maybe more people should be aware that Al Davis used to be a dominant force that always put out a consistent winner. Sure, he should get some respect from these young fans who don't understand how he built the AFL into a strong enough league to compete with the NFL. But after the past 7 seasons of complete failure, he needs to step down. Bottom Line. You can still sit in the press box and cheer on the team, but you don't need to be running **** into the ground. For a team to go from the Super Bowl to the worst record in the NFL over the past 7 years is a travesty. He needs to hire a GM, I'm not asking him to sell the team, just loosen the death grip old man, bring in somebody competent... you know like when you had Bruce Allen in charge of personnel and you hired Jon Gruden and signed a journeyman QB named Rich Gannon, that wasn't that long ago and the results were pretty good. McFadden is a hard guy to figure out. His problem is he's a bit too tall and he doesn't have the elusiveness of a Chris Johnson or the power of an Adrian Peterson. Despite his tremendous speed, he can't shake tackles. He's been banged up every year at least partially, and even when healthy he's only really had 1 game where he did anything special, and that was against a piss-poor Kansas City Defense. I'm beginning to think McFadden might actually be better suited to play slot receiver ala Eric Metcalf back in the 90s. At this point I think Michael Bush is a much better runner, because he has the ability to move the pile and use his combination of power and speed to pick up yards. McFadden will be in a Reggie Bush type role, where his speed will cause a lot of mismatches when he splits out wide, and he'll still run the Wildcat on occasion, but I think this year if he stays healthy he could have a chance to finally show he's an elite player. Jason Campbell can at least complete a few passes and not look like the fat, r****ded love child of Akili Smith and Ryan Leaf in the pocket, so if teams have to respect the passing game, it could make life easier on Run DMC. If you're looking at the Raiders for fantasy purposes, I'd look at Michael Bush and Zach Miller, thats about it.
Thanks for explaining that. i was wondering why he was never used. I read somewhere where he was asking to play but couldnt get on the field. This would explain why. I never knew he was 5th on the depth chart. Must have been totally shot. I liked the draft because for once we didnt draft the fastest guy in the first round we waited till later (Jacoby Ford) and we got the "untapped potential" pick in Bruce Campbell later as well. It just looks like someone has Al's ear and he is actually listening for once since Gruden left. Im not sold on Cable totally either I just think there is something to be said for some consistency in the staff. The constant HC changes were killing me. At least give the guy a fair chance with some guys who can actually play. By contrast, not keeping JaBustus was a blessing. He had no desire or work ethic to lead a team Im glad he is gone. What did bug me was how they treated Rich Gannon after he volunteered to help Russell. I was really surprised they didnt accep his offer. Maybe Rich could have motivated him maybe not but to not try was wrong. I couldnt agree more on Campbell. The guy wont light the scorebaord up but he should be a good improvement and allow for at least a few more wins. We lost at least 2 winnable games last year because of craptacular QB play.
Ugh. Don't get me started on how the team treats former players who have tried to reach out. Tim Brown and Rich Gannon have both offered to help and got nothing but the cold shoulder because they weren't giving Al Davis glowing endorsements and spinning everything through silver colored glasses. That is how Al runs things, you don't play the good little puppet, you ain't getting anywhere near the organization.
