2007 Player Preview/My Projected Starters

**** The money men

*** Solid player possibly with a upside

** Solid but could go either way

* He sucks or too many ? marks

OFFENSE

WR-** Jerry Porter--Good on third down, Rice and Brown taught him well but Porter can drop the easy pass at times and vanishes one game and then has a killer game the next week.  Too inconsistent at times.   Moreover, lets not forgot that he didn't play much last season

LT-** Barry Sims--The former Utah Tackle is a good team player and played at guard last year.  He returns to left tackle and since he hasn't played in this position for a while,  it will be a challenge for him to return to his former form. 

LG-** Cooper Carlisle--Former Denver Bronco comes over to Oakland to help solidify a line that gave up 72 sacks last year.  Started all 16 games last year for Denver and has experience in the new blocking scheme that Kiffin wants to install.

C-** Jake Grove--Did ok in his second full year at center but not as dominate as a high draft pick should be at this point.

RG-* Paul McQuistan--May switch with Gallery and play right tackle.  Struggled at times last season playing in 15 games and starting 6.  He remains yet another question mark on a offensive line that gave up 72 sacks in 2006.

RT-*** Robert Gallery--On his way to being one of the best at his position in the NFL.  Can be beaten at times.  Needs to play better and he may switch to right guard.  This would make McQuistan the right tackle.

TE-*** Zack Miller--The best receiving and blocking tight end combination in the 2007 Draft.  He should be able to bring this ability to the next level.  If successful he will solidify a position that has been filled by journeymen during the past ten years.

WR-** Ronald Curry--Came back last year to lead the team with 62 receptions.  However has had injury problems throughout his career.  He must remain healthy for the Raiders offense to become successful.

QB-***Josh McCown--A quarterback with allot of intangibles that make him a poor-mans Rich Gannon.  He even wears Gannon's old jersey number.

FB-**** Justin Griffith--With experience in a similar offense and with so many injuries and poor play by his fellow offensive teammates I rank Justin as the best player on offense for Oakland.  A great blocker, good hands and can take a short yardage run and make a first down. 

HB-*** LaMont Jordan--Has 1,479 yards rushing for Oakland in 23 career games.  Most of those yards came against non-AFC West opponents which emphasizes the fact that Jordan, like his fellow Raiders are 0-12 in divisional games from 2005-2006.  Seems to try to make too much of something rather than plow into the hole that is available.

Offensive Overall-->2.45 out of 5 stars, last years overall rating was 2.54 out of 5 stars.

DEFENSE

LDE- * Kevin Huntley--Came on late last year and showed flashes of a good outside rush.  Too little is known of him to give him anything else but 1 star.

DT- ***Terdell Sands--Signed a 17 million dollar contract this past winter, was the Raiders best run-stopper last year

DT- ****Warren Sapp--Last year I said "Doesn't have the intimidation factor anymore".  That may have been true but his 10 sacks last year show that he still has a lot to give to the Raiders.  Has become one of the teams verbal leaders but in a positive way.

RDE- ****Derrick Burgess--The two-time Pro Bowler for Oakland has proven a lot of people wrong who said that he wouldn't be anything more than a role player for the Raiders.  Has established himself as the MVP of the defense and more importantly one of the leaders of the team.

SAM- ***Thomas Howard--Last year I said "Good at USC as a safety, can he make the conversion.  Good speed and range."  I was correct about everything except the conversation issue.  His 110 total tackles including 88 solo proved all naysayers wrong.  Great job Thomas!!

MIKE-***Kirk Morrison--Despite 128 total tackles and starting all 32 games in his career I cannot give him four stars yet.  He is darn close though!!  An unheralded player out of San Diego State, Morrison was pressed into immediate action as a rookie for a team weak at linebacker. He quickly made it into a strength, recording 91 tackles in his first season. Last year, he followed that performance up with 101 tackles, a sack, two interceptions, a fumble forced and a defensive touchdown on a fumble recovery. There's no reason not to expect even more in 2007.

WILL-**Sam Williams--Surprisingly, Mr. Williams finally stayed healthy and justified the Raiders reasons for keeping him on the roster for four injury plagued seasons.  Played really hard and had a key fumble return for a touchdown versus Cleveland.  

CB- **** Nnamdi Asomugha--Didn't have an interception in his first full year of starting in 2005 but last year he had eight interceptions and should have earned a Pro Bowl birth if his exploits would have received better advertisement from the press. It's hard to ignore eight interceptions, but Pro Bowl voters did just that last year in not awarding Asomugha a trip to Hawaii. The young athlete has gotten better every season since he entered the league in 2003, and among many scouts and coaches he's now regarded as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL.

CB-*** Fabian Washington--If he continues to improve he will be in the Pro Bowl.  He and Asomugha should establish themselves as the best cornerback duo in the league if their 2006 progress continues.

SS-*** Michael Huff--I said last year "If he lives up to his jersey number he'll be fine."  Michael didn't do that bad last season, his rookie year wasn't great but he wasn't a bust either.  He will continue to improve despite having zero interceptions his rookie year.

FS-*** Stuart Schweigert--In his second year as a starter, gave cause for optimism as both playmaker and leader.  Reminds me of Vann McElroy.

Defense Overall-->3 out of five stars, last years ratings was 2.63 out of five stars

Special Teams

PK S. Janikowski *** Had a very rough year last year.  Some of this was due to the poor Raiders offense.  Has made just 62% of his kicks from 40 yards and beyond.

 P Shane Lechler **** The next Ray Guy, the best  punter in Pro Football.  Besides Burgess he is the  only Pro Bowler for the Raiders since 2002

Special Teams overall-->3.5 stars out of five, last year was 3 stars out of five