Bat on chaps

The thread limit was reached then ?

Just under three months to go until we start the season.

and 2 weeks till CFL starts

Greg Ellis is the latest old man to join the Raiders.

Still a half descent player though dont you think?

building quite a decent team the Riaders love the franchise and the draft it means that theres never a certain winner and you can go from bottom too top in 1 year and you cant have a chelsea a city or Madrid buying players on extreme amounts of money

The only player i'd have from the Raiders is Namdi Asomugha. The best CB in the game.

If they drafted well then they could make a come back in that division but Al Davies is clueless and picks soley based on who his the fastest player left!

still they will make a big improvment this year. You won t see celtic making a big improvment next year thats the only way american sports is better than english sports there isnt so much a wide gulf of talent in teams

IMO, the best players ATM in Oakland are:

Asomugha (CB)
Morrison (LB)
Miller (TE)
McFadden (RB)

Look for Johnnie Lee Higgins to show himself more this year as well, he's an extremely dangerous returner, imagine a Devin Hester who can actually play WR.


Rumours that New England are going to trade for Derrick Burgess as well, Imo we should take nothing lower than a 2nd round pick, or at least ask for a quality lineman or CB in return as well as picks.

Yes, and he's been overtaken by Higgins and a 7th round pick from last year called Chaz Schilens, arguably the worst starting player on Madden 09.

The two players that most impress me in Oakland are Miller and Asa. Miller is a top, top tight end who impresses me whenever I see him. Asa is class. Simple as that - the best at what he does. He shuts off one side of the field, the problem is, the other side is like an open plain on the Serengeti.

They have other good players too (as mentioned Morrison, D-Mac etc), but they don't help themselves in the draft. This years first pick signifies all of what is wrong with Al Davis' obsession with the 40 time. Speed over production. Even last year, when they picked up a talented guy like McFadden, they ignored issues in the trenches to go with glamour. They had a decent running game already, but went and got a RB anyway. The other thing is that I do not rate Russell. He's gash. Garcia was a shrewd pick up, but there's no way he'll beat Russell to the starting job. I would love Oakland to improve to make the AFC West stronger, but there are fundamental flaws throughout the franchise.

For some reason, I don't have the same bad feelings towards the Raiders as I do the other AFC West teams. I think it's sympathy over what the fans of a great franchise have had to put up with under Al - the man who once took them to greatness but now can't let go. KC will come good again, Denver probably will (after they see that McDaniels has set the franchise back 4 years or so), but in Oakland, it's totally dependant on when Mr Davis hangs up his proverbial gloves (likely to be when he dies).

Al Davis will NEVER die. He is immortal.

I think they have a shout at getting second in the division.

San Diego could win that division by playing Rivers with a blindfold on and tie LT's shoes together.

Oakland i think second in the division.

KC third. Cassell will be shown up for the poor player he is. Johnson will break down and other than that they have Dwayne Bowe who can be covered. Defensively they are crap, they are going to 3-4 but apart from the first pick they have no players for that scheme.

Denver. Simply terrible. Average QB. Marshall wants to be traded. Ridiculous trading policy. They got Alfonso Smith (CB) in round two for next years first which is likely top 5 pick. Defence has been poor for years in Denver and they have managed to completely destroy the offence. Moreno is the only highlight. Lucky to get to 5 wins.