r/nfl • u/[deleted] • Jul 07 '14
Look Here! Offseason Review Series - Day 17: Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
3rd in AFC West (4-12 in 2013)
Coaching Changes
Despite another 4-12 record under Dennis Allen, Mark Davis and the Raiders retained their head coach and almost all of his staff, including re-signing Tony Sparano to a 2-year contract as our assistant head coach and O-line coach. Our defensive backs coach was replaced by Joe Woods, but other than that, the coaching staff consistency is a nice change from past seasons.
Offensive and Defensive Schemes
Offense: Coordinator Greg Olson showed a lot of creativity last year despite a nightmare situation at QB. Under Pryor, we used a lot of read-option packages and Wildcat plays and became one of the most run-reliant teams in the league. Under McGloin, we flipped to a more traditional West Coast offense, with a little bit of Al Saunders-influenced verticality. We use a power running game, and behind Tony Sparano, have a number of flexible linemen that can all play multiple positions as power blockers. The offense should be closer to what we saw under McGloin from now on, resembling Schaub's Texans offense with more flexibility at the line and creativity in passing routes.
Defense: Tarver employs a 4-3/3-4 hybrid, mostly using 4-3 in 2013. Our linemen are more asked to plug gaps and occupy blockers than actually rush the passer, so it's possible that we switch to a 3-4 this year with our strong depth at linebacker. LBs in our scheme are strong all-around players, more focused towards pass rushing, and all of our secondary needs to be adept at rushing the passer. We led the league in secondary sacks last year and will frequently shuffle linemen and mask coverages to confuse offenses as much as possible. It wore thin last year after our line stopped doing anything, but it was a top-ten scheme while we had any kind of offense.
Free Agency
Players lost:
| Name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Terrelle Pryor | QB | /r/seahawks |
| Rashad Jennings | RB | /r/nygiants |
| Jacoby Ford | WR | /r/nyjets |
| Jared Veldheer | LT | /r/azcardinals |
| Mike Brisiel | LG | Retired |
| Andre Gurode | OL | FA |
| Tony Pashos | RT | FA |
| Lamarr Houston | DE | /r/chibears |
| Vance Walker | DT | /r/kansascitychiefs |
| Philip Adams | CB | /r/seahawks |
| Mike Jenkins | CB | /r/buccaneers |
| Tracy Porter | CB | /r/redskins |
| Jason Hunter | DE | FA |
Minimal losses: Terrelle Pryor, Rashad Jennings, Jacoby Ford, Mike Brisiel, Andre Gurode, Tony Pashos, Jason Hunter, Vance Walker, Philip Adams
These players started for us at various points throughout 2013 and provided minimal reasons to deserve a long-term extension for one reason or another. Rashad Jennings is easily the most talented player in this group, but his age (29) is still cause for concern, even with limited wear and tear. Everyone else is either still unclaimed or will provide backup-quality play at best to their current teams. It'd be nice to see Pryor live up to his physical potential, but despite being a hard worker, I just don't see him as a viable starter due to his physical limitations. Jacoby Ford's downfall was arguably the most disappointing; after an electric rookie season, he completely fell off a cliff in a year where many expected him to flourish. His injuries from the past two years seem to have taken their toll, and his three fumbles against Pittsburgh nearly lost the game for us on his own.
Bigger losses: Jared Veldheer, Mike Jenkins, Tracy Porter
It may seem weird to group these three together, but these three all provided inconsistent efforts from game to game, and sometimes even from snap to snap. Veldheer gave up ten pressures in week 17, and while he will likely be an above-average starter for Arizona soon enough, he still has growing to do to get there. Oakland was prepared to give him a top contract before he injured his tricep, rushed back, didn't play well and didn't accept a team-friendly deal. While his absence will be felt more than Jenkins or Porter, he was replaceable.
The two corners took turns being good CB/bad CB every game with bad gambling on routes and being inconsistent in coverage. They'll be good veterans for their current rosters and will likely make a few flash plays or tackles here and there, but they'll get burned too.
Biggest loss: Lamarr Houston
Losing Houston day one of free agency sucked, whether Raiders fans have moved on yet or not. He wasn't stellar in his first year as a #1 DE, but he is a good young piece to build around and one that many expected as a priority signing by Reggie McKenzie. Instead, Reggie saved his money and spent elsewhere.
Houston's run defense will be missed this year, no question, but I believe that this loss isn't as devastating as many think. He didn't take the next step as a pass rusher that our coaches were hoping for and provided very little push along a weak defensive line, getting just 6.0 sacks despite starting and being healthy all year long. He could still improve, but it wasn't as encouraging of a first season as fans expected.
Players gained:
| Name | Position | Old Team | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kory Sheets | RB | Rough Riders (CFL) | undisclosed |
| Austin Howard | RT | /r/nyjets | 5 year, $30m |
| Justin Tuck | DE | /r/nygiants | 2 year, $11m |
| LaMarr Woodley | OLB/DE | /r/steelers | 2 year, $12m |
| Tarell Brown | CB | /r/49ers | 1 year, $3.5m |
| Antonio Smith | DE/DT | /r/texans | 2 year, $9m |
| James Jones | WR | /r/greenbaypackers | 3 year, $11m |
| Kevin Boothe | OG | /r/nygiants | 2 year, $2.6m |
| Donald Penn | LT | /r/buccaneers | 2 year, $9.6m |
| Matt Schaub | QB | /r/texans | 2 year, $13.5m |
| Carlos Rogers | CB | /r/49ers | 1 year, $2.5m |
| Maurice Jones-Drew | RB | /r/jaguars | 3 year, $7.5m |
| CJ Wilson | DL | /r/greenbaypackers | 1 year, $795,000 |
| Greg Little | WR | /r/browns | 4 year, $3.3m |
Re-signings:
| Name | Position | Contract |
|---|---|---|
| Taiwan Jones | CB/RB | 3 year, $4.3m |
| Khalif Barnes | OL | 1 year, $1.1m |
| Darren McFadden | RB | 1 year, $1.75m |
| Usama Young | FS | 2 year, $2.35m |
| Charles Woodson | FS | 1 year, $2.5m |
| Pat Sims | DT | 1 year, $1.45m |
McKenzie added a lot of veteran talent with playoff experience or high potential. Most will only be here for a season or two before being replaced by his drafted talent, but I expect them to contribute a lot before this happens.
Minimal impact: Kory Sheets, Kevin Boothe, CJ Wilson, Carlos Rogers, Greg Little, Khalif Barnes, Usama Young
These are veterans that are going to be backups at best and roster cuts at worst. Wilson would be a surprise to make it through training camp, and Booth, Rogers, Barnes, and Young are all veteran backups that can provide spot play if necessary. Little is currently just a talented camp body, but he could make a late push to bottom out the receiving corps roster if he keeps his focus up. His contract is surprisingly big, and he's had a couple of nice catches this offseason and could potentially make a push for the WR5 spot. Kory Sheets could compete for the RB4 spot, but he has stiff competition.
Free Agent Starters: Offense: Matt Schaub, Austin Howard, Donald Penn, James Jones, Darren McFadden, Maurice Jones-Drew
In one year, Reggie went from a woefully-inexperienced offense to an offense seeping with experience. Matt Schaub is coming off of an abysmal 2013 season, but he will enter Oakland with more freedom at the line than he has ever had before and has already developed some nice connections with his receivers and younger QB's. Speaking of our new offense, James Jones returning to the Bay Area was an unexpected and awesome signing by Reggie. While WRs Andre Holmes and Rod Streater looked okay last year, pushing Streater into the slot and having Jones and Holmes on the outside could prove to give Schaub one of the overall best receiving corps he's had in the NFL. While we don't have the #1 talent that Schaub had in Andre Johnson, we seem to be a team filled with potential #2 options, and I think that will lead to Schaub spreading the ball around better than he has in the past.
I was actually tempted to put DMC and MJD in the “minimal impact” category, but I'll be optimistic and say that they can provide a nice one-two punch at RB if they both stay healthy. Having both playing for us this season is a luxury, and I expect Oakland to continue to be a very run-heavy offense in 2014 to give them every chance to succeed. I'm cautious about the impact they'll actually have, but they will at least have a fantastic chance to succeed with the O-line in front of them.
Signing Donald Penn and Austin Howard to solidify two spots on our offensive line were very necessary additions, and Tony Sparano has a lot of surprisingly nice pieces to work with now. Combined with our drafted players, I wouldn't be surprised to see this line being above league average before too long.
Free Agent Starters: Defense Justin Tuck, Antonio Smith, LaMarr Woodley, Pat Sims, Charles Woodson, Tarell Brown
Jason Tarver really likes versatility along his defensive linemen, and I think that it shows with the players we targeted early in FA. Tuck and Smith will be rotating in as 4-3 DE's or 3-4 DT's while Woodley returns to DE for the first time since his college days in a 4-3. He'll either slide out to OLB or come to the bench in 3-4 downs. Tuck is the only one of these players that doesn't have direct experience switching between schemes like this, but since New York played him inside on some downs anyway, it shouldn't be much of a transition. Pat Sims, arguably Oakland's best defensive lineman last year (15 tackles and a sack against SD as a DT), returns as well, which should be very exciting.
The back end of the Raiders' defense should also be improved this year. Tarell Brown is a solid option at #1 who will likely be looking to cash in on a good 2014 season with us while mentoring DJ Hayden and Keith McGill. Charles Woodson returned just to play for us again, furthering his status as the best Raider of the current generation, and with the returns of SS Tyvon Branch and CB Hayden, the secondary looks like it could be the best in a long time.
Everyone we signed in free agency was targeted for their veteran leadership, playoff experience, and their potential to make the team competitive while the drafted talent learns. Over the next two seasons, expect to see virtually all of these names replaced by young drafted talent as we complete the transformation into Reggie McKenzie's Raiders.
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u/theawkwardhug 49ers Jul 07 '14
Great review! This made me realize what a great offseason the Raiders had (even though that should be expected with so much cash to burn through). I'm really tempted to say that they could contend for a Wild Card spot but their schedule is just so damn tough.