Many questions have yet to be answered in regards to where the Raiders are at with the salary cap and what they are planning to do with the money they are going to spend on team salary this year. It’s hard to decipher all the different numbers and rumors that are going around about the team. On the verge of actually knowing what’s going to happen, and having my head filled with all kinds of transactions next week, I’ve decided not to write about the salary cap until they actually have to be under it when the season starts. And you are welcome. Right now, I want to talk about the vacancy at weak side linebacker.
During the time when some owners were busy fighting with the NFLPA*, Al Davis was busy investigating the undrafted free agents – and in particular, the linebacker class. According to Chris Hansen of Raidersblog.com, the Raiders have had interest in Mario Harvey of Marshall, Cobrani Mixon of Kent State, and Darnell Bolding of Northern Illinois.
Prior to the draft, the Raiders were also reportedly liked Marc Schiechl out of Colorado School of Mines. Many onlookers wanted them to take a gander at former Boston College stud, Mark Herslich. But the odds are that none of these guys will mean any more to the team than Frantz Joseph ultimately did even if they do end up signing them.
That means the Raiders will either find their guy via free agency or from the already supplied roster players. With the players already in place, the Raiders may have just what they are looking for. If they bring in more guys, it will just make the preseason battle that much more intriguing. One thing that is certain is they can’t keep all of them.
Right now, the list on the roster at the team’s website (under contract or not) consists of Ricky Brown, Thomas Howard, Bruce Davis II, Travis Goethel, Quentin Groves, Quentin Scott, Trevor Scott, and Sam Williams.
Obviously, Williams is a special teams ace with very little probability of starting any time soon and therefore he is eliminated. Quentin Scott and Bruce Davis II have almost no chance of beating out the other competition. After that, it gets interesting.
Thomas Howard was the man here for the longest time. The guy was a tackling machine in his first couple of seasons and showed excellent pass coverage skills as well. But at some point, Al Davis got tired of watching the defense get torched by halfbacks against their small, fast linebackers. Ultimately, Howard was replaced by Trevor Scott. Coming into the 2010 season, Howard had earned himself a spot in the nickel package, but due to injury, he lost that opportunity to the impressive Mike Mitchell. Something tells me Howard can still play and it would be interesting to see if he’d be better with Rolando McClain and Kamerion Wimbley as his cohorts.
Travis Goethel somehow became the favorite to win this position, not only this season, but last season as well. But an untimely back injury kept him off of the opening day roster in 2010. He did come back into the mix during the last eight games of the year. Goethel started off mainly on special teams, but ended up getting some defensive playing time later on in the year. It’s hard to judge exactly where he is in his development at this point. One thing that appears to be evident is that the coaches and the owner are high on this youngster.
Trevor Scott was expected to be the weak side linebacker going into 2010, but was shown up by Quentin Groves in the preseason and ended up moving back to his more natural position of defensive end. He started the season there, but left a lot to be desired. In the end, he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and it did him in for the rest of the season. In his absence, Matt Shaughnessy became what Head Coach Hue Jackson referred to as the most improved player of 2010, ripping off an impressive 56 tackles, seven sacks, and two forced fumbles. Now Scott finds himself in limbo yet again.
But the fact remains that he was beaten out at the beginning of the year by Quentin Groves. Groves was okay in 2010, less than spectacular and barely adequate. It may be just me, but he may be the player who declined the most over the course of the season. Towards the middle of the season, it became painfully clear to me that although he’s a really nice person, he is nothing more than a back-up at this level, albeit a solid back-up. Groves proved not to be the answer despite the fact that he was given ample opportunity.
Finally, Ricky Brown makes his way into the discussion. Brown is so instinctual when he plays that it makes up for the fact that he is a bit undersized for a professional linebacker. The guy has the necessary skills and there is no doubt that he can be an impact player. But much like Chaz Schilens, on the offensive side of the ball, that talent does no good if he can’t stay on the field. Brown has been off the field far more than he has been on it over the past two seasons and I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t make the team this year.
All of that being said, it’s hard to imagine the Raiders being comfortable with their linebackers right now, especially given the fact that they were sniffing around so much in the undrafted free agents. Soon they will be able to look at veteran free agents from other teams. Some of the names I like out of that group include but are not limited to Rocky McIntosh, Manny Lawson, and even Kirk Morrison.
Getting Jacoby Ford for the pick that they traded for Morrison turned out to be an excellent move. But bringing Morrison back the next year to play weak side linebacker for the team would be just classic Al Davis. And it could very well be the team’s best play in free agency.
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