Tackle

[NIPS]

Asomugha is good as gone and Offenisive tackle at some point?

Offensive tackle likely to be added at some point

The Sports Xchange

April 14, 2011 Jerry McD

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/r...akland_Raiders

Notes, Quotes • Offensive tackle likely to be added at some point • Strategy And Personnel

Jah Reid

The Raiders may have finally secured their left tackle of the future with 2010 third-round draft pick Jared Veldheer, but the position is still one of concern and discovering another young player to play bookend on the right side would be a good idea for a team that has struggled at the position for years.

Veldheer, in fact, is the only name carved in stone as the Raiders await a collective bargaining agreement.

Langston Walker, who returned to the franchise in 2009, was not under contract as the season ended and it's not known if the Raiders want him back as their 2011 starter although he finished the 2010 season as the incumbent.

Khalif Barnes spent two years with the Raiders after signing as a free agent, but was utilized primarily as an extra tight end in blocking formations (he even caught a touchdown pass on a goal-line play) and may not want to return if not given a chance to start.

Toward the end of the 2010 season, Mario Henderson, who failed to seize the left tackle spot and was eventually beaten out by Veldheer, was getting work on the right side.

Henderson, however, is also scheduled for some type of free agency, pending a CBA, and had an offseason issue after being arrested for carrying an unregistered handgun in Tallahassee, Fla.

Journeyman Daniel Loper signed a contract to remain but is expected to compete at the left guard spot that will be vacated by Robert Gallery, who has announced his intention to move on.

Bruce Campbell, a college tackle and fourth-round draft pick in 2010, spent the entire season working at right guard although he never got into a regular-season game.

Raiders owner Al Davis made it clear he expects Campbell to challenge for a starting position this year, although he didn't say at what spot.

There is some mystery to the position this year since coach Tom Cable, who essentially ran the position even after being elevated from line coach to head coach, was replaced by Hue Jackson and is now a line coach in Seattle.

The new line coach is Bob Wylie, assisted by Steve Wisniewski, and the Raiders have kept their intentions guarded as to whether there will be any position changes. The philosophical switch from a zone blocking team to more power and gap blocking will continue, as per Jackson's wishes.

--Production from the tight end has been the most consistent part of the Raiders' offense over the past four years, but circumstances and depth make the position perilously thin and in need of attention in the 2011 draft.

Overshadowed by the selection of colossal bust JaMarcus Russell with the first overall pick of the 2007 draft was the second-round pick of Zach Miller out of Arizona State at No. 38.

Miller wasn't exactly the prototype Raiders pick in that his speed is adequate but not great and he didn't have a background in other sports. Miller has ended up being the Raiders' most reliable receiver, leading the club each season in receptions and making the Pro Bowl for the first time in 2010.

Miller has had 44, 56, 55 and 60 catches for 226 receptions and 12 touchdowns in 62 games -- a steady presence in the NFL's most inconsistent passing game. He has given the franchise it's most steady presence at the position since Todd Christensen.

Now comes to the bad news -- Miller is essentially all the Raiders have at the position and depending on how collective bargaining negotiations work out, could end up an unrestricted free agent.

If four-year veterans are given restricted free agency, the Raiders are covered in that they gave Miller a first- and third-round tender that would tie him to the club since no team would part with that to sign him and even if they did, the Raiders would have the option to match any contract.

Miller, the Raiders' player rep, said talks had been underway about a multi-year contract and he fully expects them to continue after a CBA is reached. If Miller were to be an unrestricted free agent, it could put him on the open market, but given owner Al Davis' track record of paying top dollar to players he wants to keep, he likely isn't going anywhere if that is what the team has in mind.

Even if Miller stays, the only other tight ends on the roster are Brandon Myers, a third-year tight end out of Iowa, and Kevin Brock, who played on the practice squad last year.

Neither player has given any inclination they could step in for Miller and approach the kind of receiving numbers he has put up over the past four years.

With that in mind, the Raiders can be counted on looking hard at a tight end to add to the mix. If they feel safe about Miller returning, it wouldn't be with their first pick (No. 48) overall, but could strike with any of their subsequent selections, of which they have one in each round.

One name to keep in mind: Southern Cal tight end Jordan Cameron is a converted wide receiver with off-the-chart measureables in terms of running and jumping for the position and is the kind of potential mismatch Davis loves at the position. He's someone who could blend in nicely with the more fundamental Miller.

--Conventional wisdom still has it that Raiders owner Al Davis simply can't pass up a cornerback with a premium draft pick.

Not that it has applied to how the Raiders have operated over the past several years, considering there hasn't been a cornerback selected within the first two rounds in each of the last five drafts.

[NIPS]

There's a good chance the cliche could be restored this year, as the Raiders have all but waved goodbye to All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and will be seeking young blood to go along with newly re-signed Stanford Routt, veteran Chris Johnson and 2010 draftees Walter McFadden and Jeremy Ware.

The Raiders don't pick until the second round, No. 48 overall, having dealt their first-round pick to New England for Richard Seymour in 2009.

Asomugha's contract voided automatically when he failed to reach incentives without getting so much as a single interception, sack, forced fumble or fumble recovery last season.

But truth be told, the void made things much easier for the Raiders because they had no intention of picking up the third year of a deal that would have paid Asomugha $17 million or more in 2011.
The task for Davis and the Raiders in 2011 is finding another Asomugha, keeping in mind that when they selected him with the 31st pick in the first round of the 2003 draft, almost no one knew who he was and the selection was considered a major reach.

Asomugha was picked because he fit the kind of physical characteristics Davis loves in cornerbacks. He was fast, tall, had long arms, had played safety and looked to have the sort of Mike Haynes-Willie Brown look Davis loves.

Davis isn't locked into those characteristics however, with speed being the overriding requirement.

The last time the Raiders took a corner with a first- or second-round pick was 2005, when they moved up to take Fabian Washington at No. 23 and then grabbed Routt at No. 38.

Not surprisingly, Washington and Routt were the two fastest corners at the NFL scouting combine, both timing under 4.3 according to some stop watches.

Washington was a starter but was eventually traded away, while Routt was a late bloomer who was promising enough to receive a contract extension worth $31.5 million with the logical assumption being that Asomugha won't be pursued unless he's prone to giving a big hometown discount.

Oakland also drafted cornerbacks within the first two rounds in 2002 and 1998, moving up to take Phillip Buchanon at No. 17 overall and Charles Woodson at No. 4 in 1998.

Buchanon had a number of big plays but was burned almost as often before being traded to Houston. Woodson was a cornerstone of Oakland's division titles from 2000 through 2002 although he never achieved true greatness until moving to Green Bay.

All were considered to have the requisite skills to play the kind of press man-to-man coverage the Raiders play more than any team in the NFL. The downside for players such as Asomugha and Woodson is they were considered so good at it, the scheme never allowed them to venture into the areas of the field where plays are there to be made.

--What started in 2010 as a transition season away from being strictly a zone blocking team looks to be a more permanent move back to the gap and power blocking schemes more common to the tradition of the Raiders.

As the Raiders look to the 2011 draft and whatever becomes of free agency in a year of labor strife, they will be closely evaluating an offensive line that effectively paved the way for the NFL's second-ranked rushing team but has struggled in the area of pass protection.

Despite averaging 155.9 yards per game on the ground, second only to division-rival Kansas City in the NFL, Oakland struggled in the passing game in part because of 44 sacks surrendered, a total exceeded by only five teams in the league.

Upon the hiring of Lane Kiffin in 2007, the Raiders radically changed the blocking philosophies as espoused by former head coach Art Shell and line coaches Irv Eatman and Jackie Slater.

Kiffin brought in Cable, who had worked in Atlanta under Alex Gibbs, to make the Raiders a zone blocking team.

One of Cable's first moves was to shift Robert Gallery, a No. 2 overall pick in 2004, from left tackle to left guard. After struggling at tackle, Gallery became a standout and a team leader at left tackle.

Coach Hue Jackson's arrival as offensive coordinator started the Raiders' shift away from zone blocking in 2010. The changeover was completed with Cable's exit as head coach, along with the departure of line coach Jim Michalczik.

In their place is Bob Wylie, considered a strong technician in the kind of blocking schemes Jackson prefers, along with assistant line coach Steve Wisniewski, whose primarily responsibilities will be to preach work ethic and attitude.

Oakland does not pick until the second round, No. 48 overall.

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