Oakland Raiders Information
The Oakland Raiders started their existence in the AFL and joined the NFL with many other teams before the 1970 season. After the 1981 season, the team packed up and moved down the road to Los Angeles. During their 13 years in Los Angeles, they shared the city with the Los Angeles Rams (now in St. Louis). Before the 1995 season, the Raiders again gathered their belongings and moved back to Oakland where they’ve been ever since. The organization is best known for its outrageous fans and the stern hand of owner Al Davis who rules with an iron fist. Davis has been in power for years and is the NFL’s equivalent to Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Both owners have money to spend and they won’t back down or change for the authority of their respective leagues. The organization’s most successful coach was John Madden (now known for his insight as a commentator) who compiled a 112-39-7 record in his 10 seasons as coach. Bill Callahan was the coach in Oakland for the previous two seasons but after losing control of the team in the 2003 season, he was released and Norv Turner was signed as the new leader. Turner has head coaching experience in the league but made his name as a coordinator in the early 1990s with the champion Dallas Cowboys teams. He’ll inherit a team that went 4-12 last season but is only two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance.
The offense of the Oakland Raiders is full of big names and talented players, but where and how much those players will play remains to be seen. Rich Gannon has performed well over the last few years and deserved to be a pro bowler on more than one occasion, but he’s coming off a down year in 2003 where he was pressured more often and suffered a few injuries. The team signed Kerry Collins from the New York Giants, and Turner has proclaimed that Collins will in fact be the backup, but it should provide for the some competition early in the season. Running back Charlie Garner signed with Tampa Bay in the off-season, so Tyrone Wheatley will get the majority of carries while Justin Fargas will share the load. Jerry Rice and Tim Brown are first ballot hall of fame players, but that won’t help them on the field this year. The team will need Jerry Porter to step up and show that he can be a big part of the team’s future.
The defense is also loaded with star players that had trouble playing with each other and to their potential in 2003. Eric Barton led the team with 133 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss while Rod Coleman had a team high 5.5 sacks and Napoleon Harris had 3 forced fumbles. Phillip Buchanon led the team with 6 interceptions (2 returned for touchdowns) and also took 36 punt returns, scoring on 2 of them and recording an average of 13.6 yards per return. Charles Woodson is the ideal shutdown corner back that every team aspires to have. He can hit, run, and make plays on the ball, and he’s been compared to Deion Sanders because he’d also like to play offense and special teams in addition to playing defense.
The Raiders had a few holes on the offensive line, and their first two picks were used to try and alleviate that problem. Robert Gallery, an offensive lineman from Iowa and the second overall pick in the draft, was the number one player on many draft boards and will become an immediate impact player for the Raiders. Jake Grove, a center out of Virginia tech, was taken with the 45th overall pick. With their only other pick on day one of the draft, the Raiders again made a pick on the defensive side of the ball by selecting Stuart Schweigert, a safety out of Purdue.