Derek Carr landed in a perfect situation last year.
No, the Oakland Raiders didn't have 10 All-Pro players sharing the field with him or a dominant defense with a brilliant supporting cast to alleviate the pressure on him. Instead, he had no expectations to meet on a team that would keep him out of the spotlight.
Carr had no expectations for a couple of reasons. For one, he wasn't a first-round pick. He went in the second round and wasn't expected to start ahead of Matt Schaub during his rookie season. Carr took Schaub's job, but it appeared to be more of ...
The Oakland Raiders have high hopes heading into the 2015 season.
Which players have looked good at minicamp? Who needs to pick it up?
Watch as Stephen Nelson and Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area discuss the Raiders in the video above.Read more Oakland Raiders news on BleacherReport.com
The Oakland Raiders' offseason practice regimen concludes after three weeks of organized team activities and a three-day mandatory minicamp. Some poignant issues need solutions heading into training camp in July. This final week of practice has revealed some interesting camp battles, glaring holes at positions and some depth issues that could become problematic if not handled adequately.
We’ll delve into each of the following five issues and offer some early solutions for consideration.Begin Slideshow
The Oakland Raiders should move Austin Howard back to guard in order to strengthen the right side of their offensive line and allow another young prospect to develop.
It all started a couple of weeks after the Super Bowl. New head coach Jack Del Rio made one of his first major decisions, moving Howard back to his natural position at tackle, per San Francisco Chronicle writer Vic Tafur:
Playing to Howard’s Strengths
Former interim head coach Tony Sparano made a strategic move transitioning Howard inside as an interior lineman in 2014. He worked with the former undrafted talent in New York as an ...
As we continue to slowly but surely make our way toward another season of Oakland Raiders football (kickoff is less than 100 days away!), and as the roster continues to take shape, we can start to look a little more closely at the 2015 schedule.
There's no way to determine at this time which games on the schedule will be "must-win" games. There's also no way to accurately tell, especially with a rebuilding team like Oakland, which games the team "should" win.
However, there are five games on the schedule that the Raiders can win. The Raiders now have the talent and ...
Much of the excitement around the Oakland Raiders surrounds quarterback Derek Carr, but the Raiders front office has injected their running back stable with dynamic talent capable of moving the chains.
Running backs Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden have left town—the former for retirement and the latter renewing his career with the Dallas Cowboys. The Raiders have a slew of running backs entering new phases in the beginning stages of their careers. Initially, it seemed as though a two-man RB committee would emerge, but one particular player has separated himself from the pack.
Latavius Murray: The Lead Back?
There was very little said ...
When it was decided that Oakland Raiders’ offensive lineman Austin Howard would switch back to his natural position at tackle, he became the front-runner for the starting position in the upcoming season. As College GameDay anchor Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friends.”
Of all the competition battles heading into training camp, the battle at right tackle is the least talked about competition. Usually when a player reverts back to their natural position, vast improvements are expected. Howard will likely have a better season as a tackle, but his track record doesn’t indicate he should become the front-running starter:
In ...
The Oakland Raiders selected tight end Clive Walford in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft.
What will Walford's role as a rookie be? Will he have success with the Raiders?
Watch as Adam Lefkoe and Bleacher Report NFL Analyst Chris Simms discuss Walford in the video above.Read more Oakland Raiders news on BleacherReport.com
Who's more important to a team's success: the players or the coaches?
It's a common argument in sports that's unlikely to reach a conclusion anytime soon. Both sides have a good argument. There may never be a consensus. But one thing that both sides can agree on is that the players and coaches both play an important role, and one can't succeed without the other.
For the Oakland Raiders, there's been a dearth of talent on the field in recent years, and it's undeniable this fact has played a major role in the team's struggles. But what can't be ignored is that the same is ...
Three weeks of organized team activities have concluded, and the Oakland Raiders are setting up for a mandatory minicamp in the upcoming week before a bit of a layoff.
No pads, no real heated competition, but skills are on display during these team activities. Coaches want to see players absorb the playbook and execute the basics as a foundation to a productive offseason.
Who has impressed in the first three weeks? Who’s making an early case in their positional battles? We’ll go through all the juicy details coming out of Alameda, California.Begin Slideshow