The Oakland Raiders have gotten progressively younger since the days of Jon Gruden as a head coach. Certainly there has been a lot of turnover, not only in personnel, but also as far as coaching staff as well. But the 2010 team appears to be the cream of the crop of the last eight years. It’s becoming increasingly harder to predict what the final 53 man roster will consist of.
New quarterback, Jason Campbell, is excited about what is going on around him in Napa, California. “Coming to the Raiders could be a really good situation because it’s a young football team and I’m a veteran here,” Campbell told Greg Papa on CSN’s Chronicle LIVE. “When I was in Washington, I was kind of the young guy trying to fit in with the older guys. This is exciting because with the younger group of guys, we can grow together for a while.”Campbell had to throw some balls away on this particular day while throwing to some of the guys who are lower on the depth chart, with Chaz Schilens and Louis Murphy not participating. He did earn praise from coach Hue Jackson for throwing some balls away instead of throwing the dreaded interception. He also earned praise from reporters for a deep ball to Johnnie Lee Higgins that came from deep in Raiders territory backed up near their own goal line.
The offense is extensive and multi-dimensional according to Campbell, “This season, we do a whole lot of things. It’s not like it’s a west coast system, or it has a name. We try to do what we can to attack the defense, have a strong running game with great play action. We will still have some quick game in there also, but we’ll try to do different things. Whatever the defense presents itself, that’s what we’ll try to attack. That’s the positive about this offense is that we are not limited to just one style, we can do multiple things.”
The Zone Blocking Scheme may slowly work its way out of the offense, but that’s okay with current left tackle starter, Mario Henderson. “We’ve changed up on a couple of blocking assignments but it’s the same principle,” Henderson said. “It’s been easy to adapt. It’s coming along real good, but come Monday, we’ll be able to tell when everything’s 100 miles per hour,” Henderson said. I’ve been told the Raiders may run some plays with two tackles on same side and also work in some trickery.
Marcel Reece is making his presence known on the practice field as well. While he is penciled in as a FB, Reece has not been shy about showing off his versatility. He’s been tried at wide receiver and tight end as well as the FB position.
“I just want to be on the field and making plays,” Reece said. “It doesn’t matter what letters are next to my name, whether it’s `FB,’ `H-back,’ or whatever. They can call me anything I want as long as I’m on the field. Coach Jackson, coach Cable, coach Tollner, and Mr. Davis all have an idea of different things they want me to do,” Reece said. “Whatever I can do to help this team, I want to be on the field to do it.”
Rookie tackle Jared Veldheer is showing his versatility as well. He played some first string offensive left tackle in today’s practices as well as getting in some reps at the center position. Head Coach Tom Cable said that Veldheer needs to work on his consistency at the tackle position as well as some mental aspects o the center position.
“We’re really working Jared at center as well. He’s playing both left tackle and center,” said Cable. “I think he’s doing fine, there is a mental part he has to catch up to, but physically, he’s doing fine. He has a background in playing center as a high school kid and early in his college career. He’s a long bodied-short legged guy, so he’s really closer to the ground then what that 6’8″ looks like.”
Cable also talked about how his rookies are sponging info from the vets, “I like the way the (rookie class) has taken to the older leadership on this team. You see the young linemen talking to Richard and you see Rolando talking to Trevor and Kamerion. Rookies come into camp and they got a lot on their plate and I think they are reaching out for guys to help them learn how to do that.”
Speaking of Rolando McClain, it appears his plate is already half-full. AS soon as his linebackers coach said, “99 percent of time, guard will lead you to play,” McClain was spotted trying to fire up his teammates, Trevor Scott and Kamerion Wimbley. He has one of his best practices today, perfectly reading a Campbell to McFadden swing pass and intercepting it in stride. Later on, it was said, that if he were in pads, he could’ve “blown up” McFadden five yards deep in the Raiders backfield.
Meanwhile, hue Jackson showed very little patience with a slow offense walking up to the ball. Whenever he saw them walking up to the ball, he made them re-huddle and start over again. Jerry McDonald tweeted, “Jackson has re-huddled more than any coach than Art Shell, difference being it’s usually about tempo. With Shell, they were confused.”
Last but not least, Darius Heyward-Bey continued to impress onlookers. He caught two touchdowns, one of which he jumped high in the air, landed on his back, and popped right back up. The guy has been completely focused and intense running crisp routes and turning hard up the field after making each catch. Playing like his 220 pound frame suggested he was capable of when the Raiders took him seventh overall.
“I watched a lot of guys do some runs after the catch, using the stiff arm, and how that propelled them up the field, so I just decided I got to put that in my game,” DHB said. “I don’t mind getting hit. When it comes time to delivering a blow, that speed goes out the window.”
Now some quick hits from Day 3:
- Cable and WR Chaz Schilens both made reference to a shoe which would give him more support.
- Among members of KO coverage team are Jacoby Ford, Hiram Eugene, Sam Williams, Quentin Groves, Mike Mitchell, Jerome Boyd, Stevie Brown, and Travis Goethel.
- First training camp appearance of Al Davis was in his cart near field house. Ford dropped a pass right in front of him. That seems to happen every year to some young wide out.
- During a period of inside run drills, the defensive line was Jay Richardson, Richard Seymour, John Henderson, and Lamarr Houston.
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