Edweirdo's Oakland Raiders Report

Gannon directed the most complex offense in football, made great reads, took care of the ball, and efficiently managed the offense. Many big plays came on his audibles. It seemed that after the 4-4 start, Gannon was much more willing to take risks by running to pick up key first downs with his legs to sustain drives. He set a number of all-time marks (consecutive 300-yard games, most 300-yard games in season, most completions in a season, most completions in a game). He surprised many with big downfield completions. Most importantly, Gannon played well in big games (vs Denver, at SD, at PIT).

Starters: LT Sims (B+), LG/RG Middleton (A), C Robbins (A), RG Collins (A-), RT Kennedy (A). Backups: Walker (B+), Stinchcomb (B+). Pass protection was superb for almost the entire season. Kennedy was a rock and only had 1 poor game (@Rams). Sims played well for the most part but struggled in Miami vs start RDE Taylor. Walker stepped up huge his rookie year at both T positions and validated the Raiders selection as a 2nd round pick. Stinchcomb, a former T, played well at LG while Collins was out. Middleton was miffed at missing the Pro Bowl and deservedly so. Middleton was a monster; there were many games where he shoved DTs around. Robbins had a great season anchoring the middle of the line and calling out assignments. Run blocking improved dramatically as the starters became healthy.

RBs: Garner (A), Wheatley (B+), Crockett (A-), FB Ritchie (B). Garner was the heart and soul of the offense and made huge plays on the ground and in the passing game. Wheatley picked up steam late in the season. Crockett was money on short yardage plays. Ritchie had another fine season lead blocking.

WRs: Brown (B), Rice (A), Porter (A-). TEs: Jolley (A-), Williams (B). Brown had a quiet but productive season. Rice was the go-to receiver and had a monster season. Porter emerged as a big-play receiver with speed, size, and soft hands. Jolley shined late in the season with clutch receptions and great open-field running. Williams played through a painful foot injury and had his best season as a Raider; he did a solid job blocking and picked up nice YAC.

DTs: Parella (A-), Adams (B+), Rod Coleman (A). DEs: Bryant (B+), Armstrong (B+), Cooper (B), Grant (B), Upshaw (B-). Parrella led the heart of a line that was 3rd in the league vs the run and definitely faced the toughest schedule for opposing RBs. Rod Coleman was fresh the entire season and used his athletic ability to get great pressure on QBs. DE play against the run was good, and the pass rush came around in the second half. Bryant played well until going on IR. Armstrong stepped up huge in the pass rush down the stretch after a quiet first half. Cooper and Grant came along nicely in their first season of seeing significant playing time.

SLB Romo (A-), SLB Smith (B+), MLB Harris (B+), WLB Barton (A). Barton produced consistently the entire year. His speed, instincts, and aggressive tackling were a significant upgrade to the Raiders LB corps. He definitely deserved to go to the Pro Bowl. Romo delivered as expected with physical open-field tackling and good pressure on QBs. Harris validated the front office decision to let Biekert go as Harris' play improved throughout the season. He flashed outstanding sideline-to-sideline speed and made big hits. Smith had his best season as a Raider and was effective in limited playing time.

CBs: LCB Charles Woodson (A-), RCB James (B), Buchanon (B+), Shaw (C+), Love (B), Jennings (B). S: Rod Woodson (A), Dorsett (B+), Gibson (B). Rod Woodson anchored a battered secondary all season, made huge plays (accounted for 11 total turnovers), and raised the level of play of the other safeties. His TD pick in Denver sparked the Raiders turnaround to a 7-1 finish. Charles Woodson started the season strong but got hit by the injury bug. Charles played well by forcing fumbles and hitting hard; he only struggled in 1 game vs Terrell Owens. James was excellent in defending passes within 15 yards from scrimmage. He did get beat deep occassionally. Buchanon flashed monstrous talent, made some huge plays, but needs to tackle better and more consistently. Shaw played OK in subbing for Charles, but he got beat deep badly in Miami. Love was a pleasant surprise after he made the roster and held his own in Miami and at home against Denver. He used his speed to stay close to receivers. Jennings played well in subbing for Shaw in Miami. Dorsett tackled with a vengeance and showed improvement in coverage. Gibson showed great flexibility in playing SS and nickel; he got off to a productive start but was quiet in the second half as he battled a calf injury.

K Janokowski (A), P Lechler (B+), kick coverage (C-), punt coverage (C-), KR (B+), PR (C). Jano had his best season as a Raider and led the league in touchbacks. His new one-and-half step FG kicking approach really improved his accuracy. Lechler was inconsistent relative to Pro Bowl expectations. Kirby and Knight did a solid job at returning kicks. Buchanon was incredible in returning punts until he got hurt. Aside from Buchanon, we really had no PR game. Coverage was consistently poor most of the season.

HC Callahan (A), OC Trestman (A-), DC Bresnahan (A-), ST Casullo (B-). The Raiders coaches consistently out-gameplanned their counterparts. Callahan took this team to a new level, esp on offense with the same talent as the previous season. He did a fantastic job at leveraging younger players (e.g. Porter, Walker, Gibson), keeping the older players fresh, and made aggressive decisions to close out games. Callahan showed cahunas in sticking with very unconventional offensive playing calling (e.g. throwing 64 times in Pitt). Trestman designed an aggressive passing attack and ditched some of the cute-but-high-risk plays (e.g. shovel pass in red zone) as the season went on. Bresnahan deserves a lot of credit in getting the front 7 to gel and play well despite the number of devastating injuries to the secondary. Casullo was not able to get return coverage under control all season.