Raiders need an identity

This just in, the Oakland Raiders may have found an identity. For years, it has been hidden under piles of ineptitude. It all started when Al Davis called Nnamdi Asomugha into his office and said, “Look kid, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be around. We need to win now.” Mind, you, this is not exactly what Davis said, but Davis did sit down with Nnamdi at some point very soon after the season and say something similar.

Asomugha was asked about the conversation on ESPN first take recently. “It was something that lit a spirit inside of me…lit a fire inside of me,” said the All-Pro Raiders cornerback. “It made me say, ‘This has to be our year.’ That’s the kind of thinking he had going into it. He was going to do all he could in the offseason and thru the draft to make sure that it happened as soon as possible. He’s always wanted to win, it’s always been his thing, ‘We have to win’, but there’s a different sense of urgency in us having to do it sooner rather than later.”

But often in sports, as it is in life, it’s not enough to want something.

The week leading up to the Baltimore Ravens game at the end of the 2009 season, I said that the Raiders needed to draw inspiration from the Ravens middle linebacker. I said they needed to find their inner Ray Lewis. Last season was like watching the movie Jekyll and Hyde for the Raider Nation. You never knew which Raiders team was going to show up from week to week. Would it be the team that got beat down by the Jets at home, or would it be the team that actually looked like they had some talent on the squad and beat the Steelers on the road?

In my article I said, “The thing that I would most like for the Raiders to do is look inside of themselves as a team and find out where their emotional leader is.”

At the time, the Ray Lewis reference was impossible to ignore. Ray brings high energy to the game of football. Ray Lewis is a game changing player whether it is with his stuff of LaDainian Tomlinson on fourth down in the Chargers game in 2009, or whether it is by creating an opportunity for his defensive teammates to make a big play. Ray Lewis is one of the most respected players on the field in every game that he plays in. Ray is the type of guy who gives 110 percent on every play—even in practice. When you play on a team with a Ray Lewis not giving your full effort is not acceptable. But Ray Lewis is more than that. He is the Ravens voice, heart, and soul. Teams who play the Ravens don’t game-plan against Ray Lewis; they have to game-plan against the whole defense because of Ray Lewis.

Once upon a time, I thought Bruce Gradkowski could be that type of guy for this team. He really showed his inner self to this team during his brief tenure as their starting QB. However evidently everybody, except for me, already believes Gradkowski will be a spectator in 2009, barring injury to the recently acquired Jason Campbell. That’s not saying that I believe Bruce will be named the starter, I’m just saying there may actually be more of a competition than some folks anticipate. Gradkowski is a fighter.

But let’s scratch Gradkowski. Look to the new voice of the Raiders, Nnamdi Asomugha. Sure he is a great player. Sure he is educated. Sure he is a shut-down player who people game-plan against. But you don’t have the factor of teams game-planning against the whole defense because of Asomugha, they just simply game-plan to avoid him.

ESPN reporter, Bill Williamson, actually suggested that Rolando McClain would give the Oakland defense an identity. Williamson says adding Campbell and McClain will make the Raider more competitive than last year’s team, and it’s very hard to disagree with that; certainly, even harder when it’s coming from a guy who used to write exclusively for the Broncos. It seems as though, like the Raiders ultimately do to everyone, they are growing on the guy. He also wrote another article suggesting McClain, “will make the Raiders better against the run and I think in a couple of years, he will be the face of the defense.”

So maybe the Raiders have discovered that leader they need through the 2010 NFL draft. McClain did request a copy of the playbook as soon as he found out he was drafted. John Marshall’s defense already showed signs of life without McClain last year, as they led the league with 93 tackles for a loss. Prior to McClain’s arrival they shored up the two positions that will be flanking the rookie with the move of Trevor Scott to WSLB and the trade to get Kamerion Wimbley to play the SSLB position. The entire defense is almost in place right now, and let me tell you it looks real good on paper…I mean REAL good.

McClain is a guy who will know what everybody is supposed to be doing. It will not take him long to establish himself in a defense that needs an identity; a defense whose voice, heart, and soul have yet to be discovered. Did the Raiders do well in the draft? They did better than well, they did fantastic.

Some will contend that they didn’t address their offensive line issues with the selection of Jared Veldheer and Bruce Campbell. I have to disagree, not because I think both rookies will make an immediate impact though. In fact, my reasoning has very little, almost nothing to do with the rookies. The real reason why the offensive line will be better this year is because Tom Cable will be able to put in more work with them with the addition of offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who is a skill player specialist. In addition to that, the competition is deeper with the addition of the rookies and the addition of Langston Walker in the middle of 2009. I think the offensive line is still a weakness, but it will not be the Achilles heel of the team.

The worst thing that could happen to this team in 2010 is that they beat themselves. Tom Cable has done a fine job of eliminating the stupid penalties that have held the team back at times in the past. He has taken a group of lost players who had no sense of camaraderie and led them to forming a positive vibe. For the first time in a long time, they actually resemble a team—as in one unit, not several different pieces making up a 53 man roster; 53 men committed to one purpose, if you will.

I still think the only thing that is left for this team is to find that leader. Sometimes it’s the quarterback, for the Indianapolis Colts it is Peyton Manning, for the New England Patriots it is Tom Brady. Sometimes it can be found in the coach, like Rex Ryan for the 2009 New York Jets or Jeff Fisher of the Tennessee Titans. The Ravens, of course, have Ray Lewis. The 49ers, across the Bay, have Patrick Willis and head coach Mike Singletary; they have a good thing going there.

I really think this team’s identity needs to be on defense. If the offense can shy away from turnovers and three-and-out series, I think the Raiders will find themselves in a good position to win some ball games in the fourth quarter. With Jason Campbell being a game manager along with Rolando McClain becoming the face of the Raiders defense, they could really make a push at .500, beat the San Diego Chargers for the first time in 6 ½ years, and become a team that will be a playoff contender they strive to be in 2011. A lot of cards need to fall into place for the youngsters, but I am confident they will find their identity in 2010. They will shed the Jekyll and Hyde stigma, and you will know which Raiders are going to show up week in and week out by the end of this season.

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