If the Broncos are my ‘boring’ team within this division, the Raiders are my ‘exciting, can’t wait to see them’ type of team in 2008.
Jamarcus Russell looks to take the reigns of this team and will lead an offense that includes rookie sensation RB Darren McFadden (in my opinion, the best athlete in the 2008 NFL draft pool) and free agent WR signee Javon Walker (assuming he’s conscious by the season opener).
Keep in mind, the Raiders are not, have not and never will be my favorite team, but this is a team I am looking forward to seeing this year assuming the NFL allows them to be viewed on television after posting only 19 victories in the past 5 years. Russell is unproven at quarterback, but I don’t believe we got a true impression of how good he is based on a few minutes of play late last season. Justin Fargas remains on the roster at RB and having a tandem of Fargas and McFadden in the backfield along with a decent receiving corps led by Walker could be just what the doctor ordered to infuse significant point production into this offense.
The Al Davis-owned franchise already had a decent defense last season which helped them stay close in a lot of games they had no business being in a year ago. Add to that unit S Gibril Wilson, a free agent pick-up (NYG), and the defense looks again like it could once again be a strongsuit of this team.
The only major losses from the offensive side of the ball are back-up QB Josh McKown (went to Miami), last year’s starter Daunte Culpepper (unsigned free agent -and I might mention, he’s bowty bowty) and disgruntled WR Jerry Porter (Jax). If the youthful offense steps up, this could be an upstart, dangerous team in the AFC. I’m not predicting Super Bowl or anything here, but these 2008 Raiders could shock a few teams out there.
Looking at the 2008 schedule, fans will get a quick realization of how good the Raiders are as they’ll play the entire division by the end of September (as well as a road game at Buffalo in warm weather). Oakland also gets the NFC South as its non-conference divisional opponents. That alone will be a boost as Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina and Atlanta usually all hover in between 6-10 and 10-6 (on a good year), so beating 3 out of 4 of these teams would not be a stretch.
Overall, Oakland doesn’t have an extremely tough schedule (it does play New England at home late in the season though). The Raiders even are fortunate enough to have Miami on their schedule. If a few breaks come their way, I could see this team finishing 9-7. That said, this is a young team and we’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out. Turns out that was a lot of hype for a team I’m picking to finish 7-9. However, just pray your team doesn’t play the Raiders in ‘09. They could be a major force to be reckoned with.
July 16, 2008 at 11:13 am |
Nice, Your last quote about being a force in 09 very accurate…..