Raiders Watch

I haven't done any football posts since the Super Bowl, though I have been intending to do a Raiders rundown since they parted ways with coach Norv Turner. Turner's brief, lamentable tenure in Oakland demonstrated -- inadvertently, of course -- many leadership principles that, as always, I believe translate to other fields of discipline. But mainly Turner just headed an inept regime that failed to turn the team back toward its winning ways at the turn of this benighted millennium.

Now, like most Raider fans, I'm a huge fan of Art Shell. I think he's a great choice for the team, and I love the fact that he keeps stressing the concept that's been sorely missing from the team since Gruden left -- accountability. The undisciplined, free-wheeling ways of the old Raiders were endearing back in the '70s, when there were only a few consistently competitive markets to begin with. Nowadays, not so much. Teams are obviously much closer together in terms of competitiveness; there are fewer blowouts, and the games are frequently won in the fourth quarter.

Plus the penalties Oakland has been accruing are just inescapably stupid penalties. False starts on the o-line, receivers flinching, defensive linemen jumping, late hits (look, I don't want to see anyone get hurt, but if you're going to eat 15 yards on a late hit, you might as well make it count, and take the guy out for at least a series). And delay of game -- in thirty years of obsessive football viewing, I don't think I've ever seen an 11-year veteran QB rack up as many delay penalties as Kerry Collins did last year. There's a huge fuckin' play clock in each end zone, Chief. Use it.

So Shell is almost guaranteed to see improvements just by demanding accountability and execution from his players. Turner was notoriously acquiescent to "Al's boys" -- players favored by owner/Robert Evans clone Al Davis, even to the point of allowing Davis to make last-minute lineup changes. And while Shell famously regards Davis as a father figure, he will also get much more leeway from Davis, because the respect is actually mutual here.

The only thing that sticks in my craw about all this is that they could have gotten Shell the day after they canned Turner. Instead, they waited for weeks, letting many other qualified candidates sign on with other teams, because they wanted a shot at Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt. When Whisenhunt finally showed up at the Raiders' Alameda facility after winning the Super Bowl, virtually no one thought the deal would go through -- Davis is famously cheap with his coaches, and a Super Bowl-winning OC's bottom figure was bound to be beyond Davis' budget. (Also, dickheads like Redskins' owner Dan Snyder are driving up coaches salaries with their free-spending ways. Most teams cannot afford to throw $3 mil at an OC, as Snyder did for former Chiefs' OC Al Saunders, who interviewed with Oakland before going to Washington.)

So it did seem that Shell was an afterthought, a choice made because all the good ones had been taken in the meantime. But Shell really is a good one, a Hall of Fame lineman who will once and for all address the talent-coordination problems on the Raiders' OL. Scoot doorstop Barry Sims in to LG, move Robert Gallery (who will be the Raiders' lineman of the future if they work with him a little) to his natural position at left tackle (also Shell's position), and leave Chad Slaughter in at right tackle. In the final game last year against the Giants, the 6'8" 340-lb. Slaughter mauled sack monster Michael Strahan. Offensive lines are funny organisms; they tend to require at least a couple of seasons to get a hang for each others' habits and timing in blocking schemes. What this line needs more than ever is stability, and instead of stopgap measures like using Sims at LT until he's no longer useful (like last season), it makes more sense to look to the future and set up the line you truly want. They'll take their lumps at first, but they'll be stronger for it in the long run. This line was never going to be much good as is.

Free agent malcontent CB Charles Woodson has been very quiet this offseason. Rather than match his $12 mil(!) franchise player tag this year, they wisely decided to let him test the free agent market. So far, no serious takers, though both Tampa Bay and Kansas City are showing interest. The problem here is not so much with Woodson's attitude (though he is immensely overpaid at this point, to the detriment of the team), but with factors beyond his control. The five-yard "chuck" rule seriously impacted shutdown corners like Woodson, and his chronic injuries have simply not allowed him to adjust his technique accordingly. He's still an excellent tackler and cover man, and it would be in everyone's interest if he were converted to strong safety. It would revitalize and prolong his productivity, much as it did for another Woodson, future Hall-of-Famer Rod. Whether or not it will happen, with Oakland or elsewhere, remains to be seen.

Finally, the upcoming draft. Supposedly Davis has a serious hard-on for Vince Young, who is indeed a tremendous raw talent, but has a lot of potential downside. Forget the reports of a startlingly low Wonderlic -- Dan Marino supposedly didn't do too well on that either, and he turned out okay. Young's personal history mirrors a great many of those who flamed out in the NFL -- prodigious physical talent paired with few grounding influences in personal life, combined with a shitload of money. Not always a recipe for success, especially once they're bumped up a level in notoriety. (That may not be as much of an issue for Young, since he did play football in Texas, where it is religion and cultural touchstone combined.) Still, it's something to watch out for, any time you put tens of millions of dollars on an unknown quantity. See Leaf, Ryan.

Perhaps the signing of free-agent QB Aaron Brooks will tamp down the imminent need for a project like Young, in which case there are plenty of holes to fill. Right guard, interior DL, outside linebacker, either safety spot -- all areas that need serious upgrades and additions, and perhaps that #7 pick could be dealt down so as to solve some of those problems.