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Third Down & Three Historical Quandries



A Historical Preface on Raider Rosters, 1963- 1995:

When Al Davis became Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders in 1963, the hallmark of this historically wining team has been strong rosters. You can sum up the Oakland Raiders rosters from 1963 to 1995 as teams which, for the most part, had very few, if any, weak links among their starting line ups going into their season openers. Since teams are built in the off-season, this is when the roster is built or retooled. In all of professional sports, very few owners have gone to the effort that Al Davis has, even in recent years, to build the teams he has built or have spent personal fortunes in the process for these high priced athletes.

Come opening day from 1963 to 1995, the Raider’s assembled starting rosters that were dominant and without a weak link, on paper, and it worked out more often that not. It was all good until unfortunately, the teams of the 1990’s were marked with some very real bad luck. Many of these rosters were plagued with injuries as Lady Luck struck down very good teams that started well but did not have many people to finish out the season. The point here, though, is that optimism always sprung eternal in the Raider Nation, because the one thing you could count on was a roster that was competitive in every position, and good players is what it takes to win a championship. In fact, after receiving one of his his three Lombardi Trophies from the late Commissioner Pete Rozelle, when asked by Bryant Gumbel the secret to his success, Al Davis replied with his perhaps most famous answer ever: First you assemble the best coaches, then the best players and "Tell them to just win, baby." Assemble players Al Davis has, did and does.

Even though many of the choices in athletes have not worked out since the Raiders return to Oakland in 1995, the Raider tradition of addressing every position with transactions to build a team has continued in every position with the exception of one position. This exception has been and continues to be at Strong Side Linebacker. Every year since 1995 this has been the most neglected position on the Raiders’ roster and, as a result, the Oakland Raiders have not been a very good team versus the run in this time period. Consider the fact that in this time period we have only had one above-average Strong Side Linebacker, namely Bill Romanowski. Romanowski has been the only player in this position who has come near the 100-tackle total mark in this most important position at stopping the run.

Quandary #1:

This failure to address the position of Strong Side Linebacker has been a Raider quandary since the team’s return to Oakland, with a collection of names I would not even care to boor you with, and has not been in keeping with its tradition. The Raiders’ rosters of 2000 and 2001 had a very average player in this position: Elijah Alexander. And, yes, his very average play did cost the team. It was not until Bill Romanowski was added to replace Alexander that the Raiders were able to hit the next level and win a championship. Since the departure of Romanowski’s brief tenure in 2002, we have not had someone even equal to Alexander’s average ability, and it has cost us big as we have become one of the worst teams versus the run in the time period of 2003 to the present.

And as of right now we still have no one in this position considering:

1) We have an untested Ricky Brown, who has been moved to middle linebacker. (I predict we will have to move him back from the middle to SAM without quality and depth at this position.)

2) The oft injured injury-prone Sam Williams.

3) Jon Alston, who has a manufactured build of up to the 230-lb. range, is untested through an entire NFL season as a starter with a career total of all of thirty-four tackles.

4) A collection of rookies and undrafted free agents, who will be lucky to make the roster on special teams.

It’s obvious, isn’t it, that this is not enough, nor will it be to stop L.T. from running wild for yet another three-hundred-yard-four-touchdown game against us again, two times a year. If the Raiders ever hope to stop the run this year, the position of Strong Side Linebacker must be addressed, which it has not yet been. This will become very obvious by the preseason if we do not make some late moves here. The Raiders must also find a way to get production out of the under-performing and seemingly not very motivated Defensive Tackles. The void left by Gibril Wilson at the position of Strong Safety, which looks suspect as a result of the untested and now injury-prone current group, all but guarentees this defense will struggle versus the run spefically, but also in general.

Quandary #2:

Since their return in 1995, the Raiders have struggled to get production out of their Safeties and, to the Raiders’ credit, it has been for no lack of trying. Big-name free agents and high picks have gone to the Free and Strong Safety positions, but have not worked out very well. This year’s group looks suspect once again, but I, too, am hoping for the best. As a realist, it looks like the learning curve of this young position group will be painful, in addition to the hope running out on the prospect of Michael Huff being worth his draft status, or maybe even making the roster at all. I must add, though, that there was one year when we had this position right and that was in 2002 when we brought in arguably the best overall safety ever, Rod Woodson, who was paired with Anthony Dorsett. Dorsett had a good year under Woodson’s supervision, and this is what we keep looking for, but it has escaped us. Again, not for lack of effort.

Quandary #3:

Since 1995, we have needed a pair of Defensive Tackles who care about their job and not just a large pay check, who will make us forget about the duo of John Parella and Sam Adams, again referring to the 2002 AFC Champions. Our current tackles are not the first group of head cases we have had at Defensive Tackle. Warren Sapp has said of this current group, in substance, they just do not give a damn. Sapp said he tried to give them some of his hall-of-fame wisdom, but they were too hard-headed and careless to care. It reminds me of the late Darrell Russell, who, in his rookie year of 1997, was told to check the rah rah stuff at the door, that ‘this is a business’ the vets around him said. The Raiders have had some very good Defensive Tackles on their roster in this time period, very good, but did not get the production out of these positions that on paper indicated should be there. (May Tommy Kelly and especially Terdell Sands walk the plank if they don't produce this year.) Their comments about not caring about our history in the past make it very challenging to care about them in the present. Once again this position group not producing as it should has not been for any lack of effort or transactions on the part of the Oakland Raiders organization. (If we put even a fraction of the effort to acquire some Strong Side Linebackers that we have at Defensive Tackle, we would be a much better team versus the run though.)

Once again, the keys to the season this year are in these positions in general: Defensive Tackle, Strong Side Linebacker and both the Free and Strong Safety positions. These are my three quandries, and it has been that every year with the exception of 2002, when it all finally came together, it has been some combination of these positions as a repetitive reoccurring theme is my point.

As to the offense, I predict it will show promise this coming season, but we will struggle in these positions mentioned as has been the case since 1995. (With the exception of the of excellence in the years 2000 through 2002 that we saw.) We are hoping to see that kind of achievement again and performance we saw in those years. It all starts with the roster and it appears this roster is one, more likely two years away, from fielding a good solid defense. I hope I am wrong, it just has not happend yet, but I hope to be wrong for certain and more sooner than later.

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