Rhodes hits the road: I was as surprised as anyone that Jordan wasn't the first one out. He may be next though. Still haven't tested Michael Bush yet... Praise and criticism from Sapp: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>“After three games last season, LaMont Jordan led the NFL in rushing,” Sapp said. “But LaMont is like the worst offseason running back I’ve ever been around; he was out of shape and couldn’t keep it going. Then, remember late in the season, Justin Fargas was slashing and cutting and gaining all those yards? (McFadden) is the same guy, but he’s faster. I promise you, this guy will hit those holes and take it to the house, and then our offensive line will slash people up.” As for Oakland’s leaky defense, Sapp reasoned that Al Davis has put together “a team with 3-4 personnel, but they’re running a 4-3 system.” More Sapp: “There is nothing wrong with Lane Kiffin’s offensive system,” Sapp insisted. “There is nothing wrong with Lane Kiffin as a head coach, and now he has another stud who can help him succeed. I guess Al’s going for his last hurrah.”</div>
Sapp's line about the defensive front 7 is pretty funny. I'm not sure the Raiders have the linebackers you need for a 3-4.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Apr 29 2008, 12:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Sapp's line about the defensive front 7 is pretty funny. I'm not sure the Raiders have the linebackers you need for a 3-4.</div> What is most puzzling to me is what Kiffin said about Dorsey with respect to where he would fit in on defense. I reversed the chronological order of when the quotes were reported just to see if I could read between the lines at all... <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>As for Oakland’s leaky defense, Sapp reasoned that Al Davis has put together “a team with 3-4 personnel, but they’re running a 4-3 system.”</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Q: Tough to pass on Dorsey? Kiffin: It wasn't only because the position. As you look at Glenn, he's going to be a great three-technique in this league. To take a guy fourth overall and put him at nose with Tommy Kelly already there at three-technique just doesn't make very much sense to do. To pay a guy what you're going to pay a guy in the fourth slot and move him to nose, which isn't even his natural position, it's just too hard of a switch to do. Glenn's a great player. I actually was hoping he wasn't going right after us so we've got to play him twice a year. I was hoping he'd go somewhere else. It just didn't make sense.</div> What do you guys take from all this? Are we going 3-4 this season?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (huevonkiller @ Apr 29 2008, 12:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Lamont is a disaster, and Rhodes was overpaid even at an average of 3.75 mil per year.</div> He re-structured his deal down to 1.5 mil for this coming season a few months ago. Then we cut him. Hes a nice player to have at 1.5 mil, he did well toward the end of the season and hes a nice well rounded, experienced RB. We just have too much young talent there though. Interesting comments about LaMont from Sapp though. I've always hated LaMont because hes so godamn slow getting from where the ball is handed off to him to the line of scrimmage. He never gave himself a chance because by the time he got to the LOS the defense had converged there. He also seemed to get soft shortly after his first half season or so with us and stopped trying to run over guys. Also, Sapp makes a good point about McFadden fitting into the run blocking scheme. Looking at McFadden on youtube, he seems like a natural fit for run blocking technique; get the ball, make a cut, and shoot the gap. Hes not great at making guys miss in the open field but hes got such great speed and he'll stiff arm or lower the shoulder most of the time. As for going to the 3-4, I think we're missing some major pieces right now so at least 1 more year of 4-3. Plus Rob Ryan isn't going to change. In a 3-4 you'd have Thomas Howard and Sam Williams as either OLB. Kirk Morrison would be a ILB and I guess Robert Thomas is the only other option we'd have there? I'd put Warren/Sands at NT with Kelly as one of the DEs. Would Burgess be a DE or a OLB? Maybe you move Sam Williams to ILB and Burgess to the other OLB. Not sure where Kalimba Edwards and Jay Richardson would fit in. IMO this defense is clearly built toward a 4-3, though we have some pieces that would look good in a 3-4.
Well, I'm now on a mission to dechiper Kiffin's cryptic response. Was it really cryptic though? It just doesn't make any sense to me. "we don't want to draft dorsey because he would not make a good nose tackle, and Kelly will be playing a 3 technique?" Then he kind of repeated the "nose" comment so I don't think he misspoke. I also don't believe we would switch this offseason to 3-4, but why did he say "nose" twice? I know he wasn't talking about the thing on his face that has two holes in it where boogers come from. I think both Fargas and Jordan need to make people miss. They often don't and thats probably why they end every season injured. Jordan has more milage than any of the running backs. At least Dominic Rhodes was a decent kickoff returner. We did pick up a RB in the draft too. I think Jordan is still on his way out the door by this summer. He doesn't fit. With Carr and Rhodes gone, should be an interesting competition for the two return game positions.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>“If they drafted Darren McFadden I was like, ‘Listen, I’ll restructure but it’s got to be to where if y’all draft him I can leave, you know. Y’all let me go.’ That’s kind of how it went,” Rhodes said in an interview on Sirius Satellite Radio Tuesday. “They kept their word and they let me get a chance to go somewhere else and get my opportunity. I know they like Mike Bush. They just re-signed Justin [Fargas] and I didn’t want to have to deal with what I dealt with last year because I know I can play and I know somebody can use someone like me.” Host Pat Kirwan asked Rhodes if he regretted the decision to come to Oakland as a a free agent. “The year out in Oakland was a tough one for me, man, especially coming from the Colts which is a great organization. They put together their team in a way with not a bunch of guys that are supposed to be like Hollywood types,” Rhodes said. “They go and get guys like myself who they know can play football and they put them on the field and they win with them, you know? “Out in Oakland it was tough, man. I got put into a bad situation. The first thing was my fault by getting the four-game suspension but then when I got back, they knew that I was going to have that four-game suspension, and when I got back they kind of held it against me, didn’t give me my shot to get on the field and do the things that they said they were going to do.” “That right there kind of let me know what was going on and then I don’t see the reason why the Raiders needed to draft a running back, you know what I’m saying? We had like a stable full of running backs that are capable, that ran for a hundred yards, every one of them and we went and drafted a guy that - he’s a great runner, don’t get me wrong - but I don’t understand the logic behind it.” Rhodes’ complaints about playing time carry some merit, but the thing that hurt his chances the worst was when Fargas exploded for 179 yards against Miami the week before he became eligible. If McFadden is as good as the Raiders think he is, they simply couldn’t pass on him. Rhodes is an above average back, but not a home run threat. Once Jordan was injured in the same Miami game where Fargas won the job, Rhodes probably should have been the second runner and given more of a workload. Jordan seemed clearly uninterested once Fargas took over and Rhodes talked from the heart and played from the heart. He got a chance in the final two games of the season to put two good games on film, and the Raiders did the right thing in keeping their word and letting him go once they drafted McFadden. Rhodes sounded interested in returning to the Colts.</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Rhodes’ complaints about playing time carry some merit, but the thing that hurt his chances the worst was when Fargas exploded for 179 yards against Miami the week before he became eligible.</div> In the piece, Rhodes was complaining of "Hollywood" types on the team. You know, just because Justin Fargas' father is a Hollywood actor, should we just assume that's how he got his job? Absolutely not. To do so would be just making excuses. Fargas actually plays his position *well*. Fargas also had tenure on the team, whereas Rhodes joins the team on a one year deal, gets suspended for the first 4 games, and then expects us to just hand everything over to him? Who the hell does this guy think he is? He knew coming into the team that we already had a full stable of backs, yet he came anyway.
I understand why hes mad but you're totally right RotR, he did it to himself. With the 4 game suspension he allowed for other guys to step in and prove that they can play. Not to mention I'm sure the coaching staff wasn't eager to throw him in after he hasn't seen game action in 4 weeks. He probably expected something else but he screwed himself by getting that suspension.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"I didn't foresee that happening," running back Justin Fargas said. "Dominic is a good player and a good locker-room guy (who) brings everybody else up. Those are the kind of guys you want to have around, so when they let him go, it was a little bit of a shock, a little bit of a disappointment to me." Briefly: Fargas was honored at the Ed Block Courage Award banquet Monday in Oakland. The award goes to NFL players who overcome adversity.</div> Dominic had that built into his deal. ‘Listen, I’ll restructure but it’s got to be to where if y’all draft him(D-MAC) I can leave, you know. Y’all let me go.’ So it's no wonder he left before Lamont. Still, look for Lamont to be gone after June 1st (less of a cap hit). Michael Bush...I really want to see what he's got. He's completely healed by now. Did anyone follow Louisville football a couple years ago? (think Bobby Petrino's last year). What's this Michael Bush guy all about? (his great junior season) <div><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QhEFxYxTXrk&"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QhEFxYxTXrk&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /></embed></object></div>
Michael Bush was a great player for the Cards. When the 2006 season started, he and Brohm were both Heismann candidates, then Bush got hurt in the first game. He's a pretty complete back. Good hands. It's always hard to know if a RB can make the transition to the pros, but Michael Bush deserves a shot. I hope the Raiders will give him one.
