Team Draft Needs: Oakland Raiders
By NC43Hog | April 4th, 2006
Up next in the team needs features for the draft section are the Oakland Raiders. THN will be filling in all of the needs’ pages throughout April; so keep checking back for your favorite team.
Oakland Raiders
2005 Results: 4-12 (4th in the AFC West)
2006 Projected Cap Status: $10.8M under estimated cap.
2005 Season Recap: At 4-12, the 2005 season proved to be the last for Norv Turner, despite a payback victory over our beloved Redskins. Randy Moss, brought in to help revive the offense, didn’t work out as planned as the Raiders finishing the season ranked 21st in total offense. Jerry Porter seemed ALL WORLD against us and still should be a key contributor at the #2 receiver spot. Kerry Collins proved inconsistent at QB, but Lamont Jordan did rush for over 1, 000 yards. On the other side of the ball, the defense had a hard time stopping teams finishing with a dismal 27th team ranking. The bottom line, the defense was on the field too much and had trouble forcing turnovers. A league low 5 interceptions shows that the secondary is in need of some help.
Team needs: With a new, or should I say new/old Head Coach in Art Shell, the Raiders should return to a more balanced run/pass offense. They need to get more help at RB where Jordan had to carry 95% of the load in 2005. To make any running game successful, they will have to bolster their OL, where some shuffling and additions are expected. Parting ways with QB Collins, they have brought in Aaron Brooks to battle for the starting positions with incumbents Marques Tuiasosopo and Andrew Walter. On defense, they are extremely thin at the Safety position so a draft day selection may be Texas standout Michael Huff with the No. 7 pick.
2006 draft picks:
1st Round #7 | 2nd Round #38 | 3rd Round #69 | 4th Round #101 | 6th Round #176 | 7th Round #214, #255
Free Agency Status:
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: S Calvin Branch; RB Omar Easy; TE Zeron Flemister; LB/DE DeLawrence Grant; DT Ed Jasper; LB Tim Johnson; DT Kenny Smith; S Reggie Tongue; CB Charles Woodson.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: DT Terdell Sands.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS: TE James Adkisson; DT Anttaj Hawthorne; DE Tommy Kelly.
PLAYERS RE-SIGNED: S Jarrod Cooper; S Derrick Gibson; OG Corey Hulsey; DE/LB Grant Irons; OT Brad Lekkerkerker; OT Chad Slaughter; TE Randal Williams.
PLAYERS ACQUIRED: QB Aaron Brooks; CB Tyrone Poole; CB Duane Starks.
PLAYERS LOST: QB Kerry Collins; DB Renaldo Hill; OG Ron Stone; CB Denard Walker; DT Ted Washington.
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Scott Peek