AFC Wild Western Roundup – Part III
by Brandon Chester
Part I on the Denver Broncos can be found here and
Part II on the San Diego Chargers can be found here.
Oakland RRRRRAAAAIDDDDDEEERRRS (I couldn’t help it) RECAP:
Losses: S Charles Woodson, T/G J’Marcus Webb, C Tony Bergstrom, ILB Curtis Lofton, DE Justin Tuck,
Additions: CB Sean Smith, T/G Kelechi Osemele, OLB/DE Bruce Irvin, OLB Aldon Smith, S Reggie Nelson.
The Oakland Raiders are coming off of one of the most optimistic off seasons as the players they’ve lost (outside of Tuck and Woodson), weren’t generally significant contributors and the players they’ve signed will be. People love to refer to Oakland as a “paper tiger” which is completely accurate. A team on paper that looks good doesn’t exactly guarantee a successful season. Just asked Reid who spent big money in the offseason in Philly to assemble what Vince Young called “The Dream Team” which didn’t pan out as planned (side note: the year was 2011 when Vince Young opened his mouth to coin a team name for them and they ended up 8-8… but what’s a bit funny here is that when Evan Mathis left the Eagles a year ago, he was the very last member of the so-so-called Dream Team squad compiled by Andy Reid… and what may be even funnier is that Reid appeared to want nothing to do with him last summer after his release).
Last year Khalil Mack broke out as one of the best pass rushers in the league. He was the only player to ever be voted to the pro bowl from two positions. This is largely because Jack Del Rio runs a hybrid defense that asks his players to sometimes line up as a DE or 3-4 OLB. It only gets better since they added Seattle’s ole pal Bruce Irvin who will compliment Mack as he was largely know as a one man wrecking crew for the Raiders.
They’ve also added troubled OLB Aldon Smith to provide the team with quality depth when he returns from his suspension which will be later in the 2016 season. Aldon Smith has seen his fair share of success as a OLB but has constantly been in trouble and is looking to get his career back on track in Oakland (that thought alone is comical because the Raiders aren’t exactly know for their good deeds off the field).
LT J’Marcus Webb was the only offensive lineman that’s started the majority of 2015 for the Raiders that ended with a negative grade but he’s in Seattle now. Their offensive line is definitely one of the best in the NFL. Donald Penn is a veteran LT who is playing great for his age and has recently agreed to an extension so he should finish his career in Oakland. Kelechi Osemele is a versatile swing guard who started LT for the Baltimore Ravens in 2015. He’ll be asked to fill in at LG. Center Rodney Hudson, as we all know, is a former Chiefs player who excels as one of the best pass blocking centers in the NFL. Gabe Jackson is off to a promising start to his career and he’s penciled in at RG with Menelik Watson being the only weak link starting at right tackle.
RB Latavuis Murray is coming off of his first pro bowl season and WR Amari Cooper has proven he can be a capable playmaker for quarterback Derek Carr for years to come. Oakland also made sure to bring back Michael Crabtree after he signed a one year deal in 2015 and preformed great as a compliment to Cooper. In fact, many will say that Crabtree was better than Cooper last year.
The biggest improvement has to be their additions to the secondary. CB Sean Smith is a great corner and is capable of doing great things as we as fans have seen this first hand. CB David Amerson emerged in 2015 and earned a 4 year extension so that Smith and Amerson can be Oakland’s pair of corners for the next four years. KU’s MLB Ben Heeney had a decent rookie season in 2015 and looks to build on top of that. It’ll be interesting to see how it’ll all works out because this far I’ve heard nothing but complaints on how the offense isn’t starting off as expected in the two first preseason games.
Draft Recap: S Karl Joseph…. it hurts seeing the Raiders draft him in the first round as much as it hurt to see Denver land OL McGovern. Karl Joseph, in my opinion, will be a great safety. He’s like dynamite in his small packaged frame and self admittedly he was my favorite player coming out of the draft in 2016. Second round Jihad Ward (3/4 of the AFC west teams used their second round pick on defensive lineman). Third round Shilique Calhoun, fourth round QB Connor Cook, fifth round RB DeAndre Washington, sixth round LB Cory James, and seventh round G Vandall Alexander.
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Editor’s Notes:
Surprise Player LB Neiron Ball: One player fans outside of Oakland may not know a lot about but who will surprise is LB Neiron Ball. Ball was a fifth rounder in 2015, out of Florida and goes 6-foot-3 inches, 235 lbs.. Ball is making a push to be a starter with an impact this season… however, his knee injuries go back a few years now and he had micro-fracture surgery in November of 2014. In 2015 he reinjured his knee and went on the IR for the remainder of the season. Ball relied a lot on fellow linebacker Ben Heeney to give him moral support. Heeney would text back and forth with him throughout the offseason and during his rehab process and now Ball is being expected to do great things for the Raiders.
Growing up in Jackson, Georgia, Neiron and his older brother Neland played football for a coach named Mike Parris who said this of his prodigy,
“He and his older brother Neland helped turn the Jackson High Red Devils into a small-school powerhouse. Neland is three years older and earned a scholarship to Georgia, where a serious knee injury and other ailments derailed his career. Then Neiron came along and continued the family tradition, starring at receiver, linebacker, defensive end, and anywhere else head coach Mike Parris decided to play him. There was one game Parris recalls that Neiron must have had 12 or 13 sacks. I’ve never seen a kid just take over a football game like he did,’ said Parris, in his 17th year at Jackson and former Steelers receiver Hines Ward’s high school coach. ‘They couldn’t block him. It was just amazing.‘”
This coming season, apparently no one expects more out of Neiron Ball than Ball himself,
“I want to go out there and show them – show everybody – what I got. You can expect a lot from me; whatever position the coaches want to put me in, I’m here to play for them. It’s whatever the team needs, that’s what I’m going to do.”
-Laddie Morse
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So what do you think Chiefs fans? Who poses the biggest threat to Kansas City’s run to obtain their first AFC West championship since 2010?