We got us some linebackers...

Crossbones

Same shit. Different day.
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Really looks like the young linebacking corps might be something special. I know it's early but they look a lot better than the OL who has been around for 2+ years and are still sucking.

I'm pretty excited about this bunch. There is some speed there and with some luck from the injury bug we might really have something good. I hope the Raiders take advantage of Howard and Sam Williams and turn them lose at times to get after the QB. They coulde be devasting IMO.

What do y'all think?

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On another note, the dreaded comparisons to Tony Manderich are beginning all over the NFL with respects to our "nasty" left tackle. That's not a good thing.
 
What a difference a year makes, eh? Last year it was Brayton (bwahahahaha), Clark (steady but limited) and Morrison (rookie). Actually, it was pretty much just Clark & Morrison.

Morrison is going to be beast at MLB IMO, Sam Williams might this year's "Derrick Burgess" and Thomas Howard by all account is an athletic rookie with loads of Potential. Mix in the solid veteran Danny Clark (should someone get injured or falter) and a rapidly developing Darnell Bing, and we have a nice combination of speed and aggression in our LB'er corp.

It's a beatiful thing to see isn't it?

Next year's draft will likely focus on D-Line a bit and this defense could really be someting special. Shit, I'm excited about our potential this year !!!
 
Morrison has a lot of upside, so does Thomas Howard. I think Bing, if he keeps working hard, can develop into a solid cover LB in a couple years, although I don't know how bright his future is in the NFL. Sam Williams is outstanding when he's healthy, but it seems like he's too fragile to be counted on for extended periods of time
 
ERIC GILMORE

No stop sign

If you didn't know Raiders starting outside linebacker Sam Williams and only read his medical history, you'd swear he must have played at least 10 NFL seasons by now.

Williams, a former Clayton Valley High School star, had surgery on his right knee to repair cartilage damage. He had surgery on his left shoulder to repair a torn labrum. He had surgery on his left knee to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus damage.

Williams made two trips to injured reserve and missed 38 games because of injuries.

Ten seasons? Try three.

Williams has logged enough hours in hospitals and training rooms to convince many football players that a less dangerous line of work might be in order.

Instead of looking for the nearest exit, Williams has become even more determined to have a long, successful NFL career.

"He's the kind of kid that when adversity comes, he kind of blows it off and does what he has to do to come back," said his father, Sam Williams Jr., during a telephone interview Monday.

"That's what he's done. Even as a kid, he never felt sorry for himself when things went bad. We've always told him you can't dwell on bad things that happened."

Williams -- he's officially Sam Williams III but goes by Sam Williams -- is the kind of player you can't help rooting for.

He doesn't whine. He doesn't wallow in self-pity. He certainly doesn't quit.

Two seasons ago, Williams' teammates selected him as their Ed Block Courage Award winner -- every NFL team picks one.

"It was difficult," Williams acknowledged last week. "Not being able to play and watching my friends go out there and play, knowing I'm supposed to be out there with them.

"But at the same time, I couldn't do anything about it. All I could do was get better and get ready to go into the next season. That's what I've been able to do."

Coming back from a serious injury is nothing new to Williams. Early during Williams' junior season at Clayton Valley under coach Herc Pardi, he suffered a broken arm.

Williams came back to play the final few games that season, had a stellar senior year -- Clayton Valley went 9-3 -- and landed a football scholarship to Fresno State.

"He never missed a practice, never missed a meeting," Pardi said, recalling Williams' junior season. "He had that resiliency early.

"That's the type of quality Sam has. He has great fortitude. He's going to stick to something and make it a go."

For Williams, that's been true on and off the field. Williams, who is black, battled the city of Clayton in federal court for four years, alleging racial bias in a February 1999 traffic stop.

A jury in 2002 cleared a Clayton police officer of racial bias. But a second jury ruled in 2003 that the officer lacked sufficient reason to stop Williams and awarded him $7,500 in damages. The city of Clayton was ordered to pay $78,950 of Williams' legal fees.

"He's not one that likes to be up front," Williams Jr. said of his son. "He wanted it to be over. He knew it was something that had to be done.

"He didn't appreciate what went on. He didn't think it was fair."

Williams now lives in Alameda but still spends plenty of time in Clayton with his childhood friends, his father said.

"I love the town," Williams told the Times after the 2003 verdict. "I grew up there. I just wanted them to admit they were wrong and fix things."

Sam Jr. said he and his wife, Joann, moved from Clayton to Sacramento in part because of the stress of the trial but also to be closer to his work. He taught adult basic education in a parole office in Sacramento and now is project coordinator for a drug education program at Folsom State Prison.

At Clayton Valley, Williams was a classic late bloomer in football. He had never played organized football until his freshman year. His father, fearing injury and burnout, made him wait.

"If he was going to play, I wanted him to play and continue to play," Sam Jr. said. "I guess it worked."

Growing up, Williams played soccer and baseball. As a junior he played volleyball at Clayton Valley for the first time and was an instant star.

"He's just a natural athlete," Sam Jr. said.

Williams' combination of size -- he's 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds -- speed, quickness and football instincts convinced the Raiders to draft him in the third round in 2003.

Williams started four games at outside linebacker and appeared in five others in 2004 after recovering from shoulder surgery. Last year he was slated to start again before blowing out his left knee during a joint practice with the Houston Texans.

This year he's healthy again and back in the starting lineup.

"Sam is doing well, doing well, knock on wood," Raiders coach Art Shell said last week. "We just have to keep him healthy."

So far, so good.

"I feel really good," Williams said. "Glad to be back here with the boys. ... Whatever they ask me to do, I'll do. I just want to play football."
 
Anyone could tell Morrison was special last year. Moving him to the middle, where his lack of physical speed isn't exposed is a stroke of genius. What I mean by lack of physical speed is that he lacks the numbers people look for. But when you see how well he knows the game, how quickly he makes the right read, you realize that speed isn't everything, if he's 2 steps ahead on the field of a guy 1 step faster than him on the track, he's in better position to make the play. That's where Morrison's speed lies.

We knew Williams was a special player when Al Davis stopped a pre-draft workout early and sent the guy home. He'd seen everything he needed to know and didn't want anyone else seeing any more. I don't know that he's fragile, he's been injured by contact and you can't do anything about contact, it happens.

Howard is this year's Morrison. He's already up to game speed and needs to get his reads down. He's the guy who's 2 steps ahead of Morrison on the track and 1 step behind him on the field. What's been eye-opening has been his good reads. He's an average backer when it comes to reading, so his speed puts him ahead of the curve. Very nice! I'm looking forward to when his reads progress. Look out!

Bing looks good against the 2's. He'll be at least another season growing into his body and the position. I have little doubt that he'll be a good backer. Can he be something special? Time will tell. But right now he looks like he'll at least be a good player in a year or two.

With Clark on the bench we're stacked for today. So tomorrow looks like it already has a couple guys in the pipe.

The coaches like Irons behind Williams and Riddle as a project is coming along. From the position with the least talent to the position with the 2nd most in 2 drafts is impressive.
 
Actually I thought Morrision looked really quick the other night. I'm very happy though that he is inside now as I believe that is where he belongs and he'll perform even better there.

Somebody mentioned that Clarke's $2.7 Million salary may end up making him a casualty. Dunno but that sounds right to me. That's a lot of cheese for a backup linebacker.
 
Yeah, his salary is what we would save at this point of the season ($1.750 million). I would use him as trade bait to acquire somebody we need. I think we are showcasing him.
 
As for the linebackers in general, we now give Ryan more tools to exercise his defensive coaching skills. In the past it was like giving a painter one paint color to creat his portrait.

We can now disguise our coverages and become less predictable. We can now not succumb to the injury of one player. And, we now can cover the middle of the field where we have been hurt in the years past.
 
I'd still retain Danny Clark at 2.7/million - even as a b/u. He can come in and start at any LB'er slot if needed and his attitude and work ethic are great.

Just my two pesos.
 
RaiderIVlife said:
I'd still retain Danny Clark at 2.7/million - even as a b/u. He can come in and start at any LB'er slot if needed and his attitude and work ethic are great.

Just my two pesos.
Hehehe...yep, your two pesos but Al's $2.7 million.

We'll see. I agree that if money is no object we should keep Clark.
 
The $2.7 million doesn't really come into play...it is the $1.7 million salary that we would save. Clark can play any linebacker position but he is less effective at the outside positions. I would play Bing and someone else at backup in the outside positions.

If someone comes calling, I would feel better obtaining another defensive tackle for that type of money. If we are just going to cut him, I would rather keep him, in my opinion.
 
Not sure what type of DT we could fetch for Danny Clark, but it's a good thought. I guess I'm biased because much like Zach Crockett, he's one of my favorite Raiders. Tough and hard working. What else can you ask for?
 
RaiderIVlife said:
Not sure what type of DT we could fetch for Danny Clark, but it's a good thought. I guess I'm biased because much like Zach Crockett, he's one of my favorite Raiders. Tough and hard working. What else can you ask for?
You know you and AP are right about DT. I'm not feeling good. I like the way our backers and secondary are shaping up but I think the DT situation is grim. Sapp? Ummm, not happening so far. Kelly has looked perdestrain in the first two games. We need some big fat motherfucker who can eat up blockers...oh GRADY...
 
Man Antajj Hawthorne is doing just that. He gets in the backfield quick and then stands his ground, usually taking two blockers with him. Unfortunately, he's doing it against the 2's and 3's. He really looks good though.

Kelly and Sapp look good, just not great. I wouldn't call them pedestrian at this point since we are running a pretty basic scheme up front. Seen a stunt (twist) yet? Me neither. So basically, the OL gets to sit back and man/double up on a straight ahead drive. That's not going to make your DL look very good.

But look at it another way. Why are Williams, Morrison, and Howard making plays at or near the LOS? One reason and one reason only, the DL is in the backfield. If they weren't, the plays would be 2 yards downfield at least. So the line is getting it done. Right now they're not supposed to be getting noticed.

More info: the DL usually starts getting after it late in the 2nd, when they've had a few snaps off and the OL is still working through it. All of a sudden the DL is making plays. In pre-season that doesn't happen. You see most of the big plays coming from every team when the 2's and 3's are on the field because that's when the mismatches really happen.

Just another reason not to pay too much attention to pre-season.
 
Good take Rupert. Snce you've watched the tape you probably see/saw a lot more than I did watching it one time in full speed TV. All I can say is I hope you're right about the DL.
 
Man, if Antajj Hawthorne could emerge, it would be most excellent. I still don't like the idea of Warren Sapp starting (or playing too much). Ideally he would be a pass rushing DT to preserve him.

Rupert, how have Rashad Moore and Turdell Sands looked thus far?
 
Hawthorne has looked good late in the game. For me, I think the linebackers filling the gaps in the running lanes...stacking the line...is why the plays are being made at the line of scrimmage, IMO. I am concerned though when we aren't filling those gaps or when they come with power at us like the play where Tony Richardson scored the touchdown.
 
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