SB Nation - Rashad Baker

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins

sireric — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:15:09 -0000

Buffalo Bills (1-2) at Miami Dolphins (0-3)
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 4:05 PM ET
~~Joe Robbie~~ ~~Pro Player~~ Land Shark Stadium - Miami, FL

Make no mistake about it, folks: two very desperate football teams face off this Sunday in Miami. At 1-2 and 0-3, respectively, neither the Buffalo Bills nor the Miami Dolphins can afford to fall back any further off the pace being set by the red-hot New York Jets. With Chad Pennington gone for the season and Joey Porter possibly unavailable as well (keep your fingers crossed), this is an opportunity that the Bills need to take advantage of. Kick 'em while they're down, and kick them hard.

I am happy to report that, although it took until Week 4 to get there, we have finally come to a team that the Bills have a winning record against over their last five meetings. Keep in mind that since this is a division opponent, this post covers the last five times these two teams have played in Miami. Those last five meetings are re-visited after the jump.

December 5, 2004: Bills 42, Dolphins 32
Terrence McGee started this game by taking the opening kickoff 104 yards to the end zone for a very quick 7-0 lead. Drew Bledsoe would add four touchdown passes - two to Lee Evans (21, 69), one to Eric Moulds (30) and one to Tim Euhus (15) - to pace the Bills offensively. What seems amazing to me about this game is how on earth Miami scored 32 points, and totaled 403 yards on the day, while throwing five interceptions and losing two fumbles. McGee, Rashad Baker, Nate Clements, Takeo Spikes, and even Pat Williams recorded interceptions in this game. Williams returned his 20 yards for a score. Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay split a sack in this game. How does a defense play so well and so badly all in the same game? If not for Williams' pick-6 and McGee's return to open the game, the Bills could have conceivably recorded 7 turnovers and lost the game. Weird.

December 4, 2005: Dolphins 24, Bills 23
This is the game that Lee Evans and J.P. Losman were an unstoppable duo for the first quarter. Unfortunately, there were three more quarters to play, and the Bills' offense packed up and went home after the first 15 minutes. Losman hit Evans three times for scores of 46, 56, and 4 yards to give the Bills an early and commanding 21-0 after 12:46 had gone by in the game. Olindo Mare got Miami on the board with a 23-yard field goal; add a London Fletcher sack of Gus Frerotte in the end zone for a safety, and the Bills led 23-3 after three quarters. That's when the immortal Sage Rosenfels entered the game. Rosenfels engineered three scoring drives - ending in a Ricky Williams 5-yard TD run, and Ronnie Brown 23-yard TD catch and a 4-yard Chris Chambers TD grab that came with six seconds left on the clock - and Miami escaped with the win. Fletcher had two sacks on the day counting his safety, and Aaron Schobel had a sack and an interception.

September 17, 2006: Bills 16, Dolphins 6
This was the Daunte Culpepper sack-fest. The Bills sacked Culpepper seven times, with Ryan Denney (3.0) leading the way. Three Rian Lindell field goals of 33, 45, and 43 yards, as well as a Josh Reed touchdown reception from Losman, accounted for the scoring for the Bills. Losman only had 83 yards passing on the day, and Willis McGahee rumbled for 91 yards on 25 carries, but it was enough for the Bills. Angelo Crowell had a sack and an interception for the Bills.

November 11, 2007: Bills 13, Dolphins 10
During the Dolphins' horrible 1-15 season (stupid Ravens!), the Dolphins had enough in them to give the Bills a pretty big scare on this day. After a 38-yard Jay Feely field goal, a Chris Kelsay sack of Cleo Lemon for a safety, and a Lemon five-yard TD scramble, the Dolphins led the Bills 10-2 going into the fourth quarter. A Marshawn Lynch 3-yard "Beast Mode" touchdown and a "Beast Mode" two point conversion tied the game up with 9:46 to play. Exactly nine minutes later, Rian Lindell won the game for the Bills with a 34-yard field goal. After the game was over, a gigantic wind gust came out of the western New York area as Bills fans everywhere released the breath they were holding.

October 26, 2008: Dolphins 25, Bills 16
After Chad Pennington hit Anthony Fasano for a two-yard scoring pass giving the Dolphins a 7-0 lead, the Bills rattled off 16 straight points to go up 16-7. Rian Lindell hit on three field goals, and another Marshawn Lynch "Beast Mode" TD dive accounted for the Bills' points. After that, however, it was all Miami. Three Dan Carpenter field goals and a Ricky Williams TD run would have been enough, but for the third straight game between these two teams in Miami, there was a safety. This time it was Joey Porter stripping Trent Edwards in the end zone and Duke Preston falling up top of the ball first. Lee Evans had another huge day versus the Dolphins with seven catches for 116 yards. (Note to Lee Evans FF owners: Evans kills the Dolphins.)

Know Thy Enemy 2009: Philadelphia Eagles - December 20

Fooch — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:00:22 -0000

After six straight games of non-division opponents, the 49ers get Arizona and Seattle back to back in what could be monstrous matchups for divisional supremacy (or at least we hope). However, late December gets them a pair of non-divisional matchups, one of which will see them facing one of the NFC favorites in the Philadelphia Eagles. If not for some of the worst play-calling in recent memory, the 49ers had a shot at upsetting the Eagles last season. The Eagles only get better this season and have most definitely become rather intriguing with a certain quarterback addition. Glad I waited on this particular preview.

The Philadelphia Eagles are represented here at SB Nation by JasonB over at Bleeding Green Nation.

2008 Overview
2008 was a rather odd year for the Eagles. You of course had the bizarro tie that Donovan McNabb didn't know could happen. The Eagles stormed through December winning four of five games, and having everything fall their way the final day of the season to gift them with a wildcard spot. They then proceeded to make quite a bit of noise in the playoffs, knocking off Minnesota and New York en route to a very unlikely NFC title game between the Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals did win but not before blowing a 24-6 lead in what turned out to be a highly entertaining second half of football.

The Eagles offense finished the season 13th in the league overall, 12th rushing and 14th passing. The Eagles offense has rarely been spectacular, but once again got things done. On defense, though, the Eagles finished the season 3rd overall and 3rd against both the run and the pass.

After the jump we look at the Eagles offseason additions and subtractions, 2009 Questions and Answers and a quick preview of the matchup...

Additions
We'll get to the controversial addition in a minute. The Eagles knew they had a solid defense last season and an improved offense could have won them a Super Bowl, given how last year's playoffs played out. The Eagles wasted little time on offense through free agency and the draft. They added a pair of offensive tackles in Stacy Andrews and Jason Peters and solid fullback Leonard Weaver. In the draft they went heavy on offense, adding WR Jeremy Maclin, RB LeSean "Shady" McCoy and a potential steal in TE Cornelius Ingram. On defense, the Eagles lost Brian Dawkins (pissing this guy off to no end), and went with Browns free agent FS Sean Jones as his replacement. Probably a downgrade, but still a solid addition. They also ~~signed safety Rashad Baker and~~ traded for CB Ellis Hobbs for some depth.

The one addition that has everybody abuzz is quarterback Michael Vick. Given the existing QB situation in Philadelphia, this was certainly an intriguing addition. When it was announced by the Monday Night Football crew, Ron Jaworski thought it was an awful move, while Jon Gruden thought it had great potential and was willing to wait on it. I have to side with Gruden. It's a low risk deal for the Eagles (given that the second year salary increase is a team option) and as they say you can NEVER have too many offensive weapons. Imagine if the Eagles rolled out McNabb and Vick in the same offensive formations. I recall reading somewhere that McNabb mentioned how he might roll out at receiver or even tight end on a play here or there. Even though I'm not an Eagles fan, they might be the most intriguing team outside of the 49ers (just because) that I'll want to watch on Sunday. I'm absolutely fascinated by how they might utilize Vick.

Also, please keep this thread's discussion to football-related matters. If people post about the dog stuff, the comments will be deleted. This is about the football aspects of the signing.

Subtractions
The most notable change was the departure of Brian Dawkins. Eagles fans will miss him, but given his age, they were going to have start looking in a new direction at some point. The same also holds true for offensive tackle Jon Runyan. He took care of business on the line, but he was getting up there and the Eagles have made some impressive additions to bring down that average age. They also let Tra Thomas walk, but again, they made the necessary replacements.

Aside from that, they lost LJ Smith and Correll Buckhalter. Buckhalter will be replaced by Shady McCoy, which could end up being an upgrade if McCoy gets things going. Maybe not immediately but soon. As for Smith, he's struggled to stay healthy and even when on the field, he hadn't been overly productive in the passing game the last couple years so it made sense to look for a replacement.

2009 Questions and Answers
Right off the bat, what do they do with Michael Vick and how does it affect Donovan McNabb? I realize McNabb is saying all the right things now, but I am wildly intrigued to see what happens if McNabb struggles at some point. Kevin Kolb seems to be the guy tabbed for the future and once he gets healthy (sprained MCL, day-to-day), he'll be added into that equation. It's just human nature where if Vick has some success in whatever role, people might clamor for him if McNabb struggles.

Although I like Shady McCoy, I also think the running game could have some question marks if Westbrook goes down. He's sat out so far and might sit the whole preseason, which might not be the worst thing in the world. While a guy like Buckhalter wasn't exactly a homerun hitter, he was a reasonable backup. McCoy is the primary backup and is unproven at this level. Alongside the QB and RB positions, the offensive line will play into this. They're rolling out a new pair of offensive tackles, so we'll see how cohesive the unit is early on.

On defense, the questions surround how the team does without veteran leader Brian Dawkins. Even if he was getting up there in age, he was still effective. Sean Jones is talented, but he's not Brian Dawkins at this point.

vs. San Francisco
In our early schedule discussion, Bigelow and I split, me predicting a loss, Bigelow predicting a win. While this is certainly a game the 49ers could win, I think they have less of a chance this year compared to last year. Bigelow wasn't high on McNabb but I think he's still a tough QB to handle. Throw in the fact that it's a December home game for the Eagles, a great second half team, and this is quite a tough matchup.

2009 Schedule Preview: Week 2 @ the Philadelphia Eagles

Saintsational — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:00:20 -0000

The Eagles enter the 2009 season after falling to the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game. Over the last few years Philadelphia has slowly become an NFC rival of sort to the New Orleans Saints, having played once in 2007 and twice - including the playoffs - in 2006; All of which were here in New Orleans. Last seasons Saints schedule was Eagle-free but the birds are back for more in 2009 and to keep the new found tradition alive and well. This time, it's on their turf and it could prove to be the first real challenge for the black and gold. So what have the Eagles been doing in the meantime and what can Saints fans expect from the next meeting of these two teams? That's exactly what we'll take a look at.

Eagles Offense

Donovan McNabb demanded more weapons on offense and threatened the Eagles front office to be more aggressive this off-season and it seems they've listened. At least a little. Not only did the team use their first three draft picks on the offensive side of the ball - WR Jeremy Maclin, RB LeSean McCoy and TE Cornelius Ingram - but they also acquired offensive tackle Jason Peters from Buffalo to help protect McNabb in what was one of the more talked about trades of the off-season. Already the sixth best passing offense in the league last year, thanks to the performance of rookie receiver DeSean Jackson (that's how it's done, Meachem!), the Eagles look to maintain their high-powered aerial attack, despite the loss of tight end L.J. Smith.

Though the Eagles lost backup running back Correll Buckhalter in free agency this year, McCoy was a great pickup and a good value in the second round of the draft. The acquisition of fullback Leonard Weaver also has fans in Philadelphia excited about the depth at running back this season behind Brian Westbrook.

An upgraded Eagles offense could definitely get the better of the Saints defense, particularly the secondary. This might be worrisome.

Eagles Defense

The Eagles pass defense took a bit of a hit this off-season when it lost veteran free safety Brian Dawkins along with strong safety Sean Considine. Alas, the team addressed those needs in the off-season by signing two free agent safeties: Sean Jones and Rashad Baker. Then, of course, there was the inevitable departure of Lito Sheppard (not to the Saints) whom the Eagles replaced by bringing in cornerback Ellis Hobbs. Philadelphia's linebacking corp and defensive line remain strong and pretty much in tact.

The Saints offense was number one in the league last year so I'm allowed to believe they can achieve success against any other teams defense but the Eagles are certainly nothing to laugh at in that department, having been ranked third in the league themselves. Exploiting the new secondary may be the key.

Eagles 2009 Season

9-6-1

Last Meeting

December 23, 2007

Week 16	1	2	3	4	OT	Final
Eagles	21	3	7	7	--	38
Saints	14	3	0	6	--	23

Why the Saints Can Win

It won't be freezing yet in Philly.

Why the Saints Can Lose

The defense might not be improved enough to stop McNabb and company.

Prediction

Saints 21 - Eagles 20

Newly Acquired

CB Ellis Hobbs

OT Jason Peters

FB Leonard Weaver

S Sean Jones

OT Stacy Andrews

S Rashad Baker

2009 Draft Picks

WR Jeremy Maclin

RB LeSean McCoy

TE Cornelius Ingram

CB/S Victor Harris

OT Fenuki Tupou

WR Brandon Gibson

G Paul Fanaika

OLB Moise Fokou

Key Losses

OL Tra Thomas

FS Brian Dawkins

RB Correll Buckhalter

TE L.J. Smith

SS Sean Considine

Linkage

Bleeding Green Nation

SB Nation Eagles Coverage

Saints @ Eagles Coverage

Philadelphia Eagles Roster

Philadelphia Eagles Depth Chart

Philadelphia Eagles Transactions

Poll

Will the Eagles hand the Saints their first loss of the season?

No, the Saints have got this in the bag.

213 votes

Sadly...yes.

257 votes

No. The Lions will take care of that.

27 votes

497 votes | Poll has closed

Previewing the Kansas City Chiefs 2009 Schedule: Week 2

Chris Thorman — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:49:32 -0000

OAKLAND, CA - NOVEMBER 30: Larry Johnson #27 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the second half against the Oakland Raiders during an NFL game on November 30, 2008 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

View full size photo »

On September 20th, the Oakland Raiders (5-11) will travel to Arrowhead Stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs (2-14). This will be the Chiefs first AFC West opponent of the year, while Oakland will be in the middle of three straight divisional games to start off the season. They play San Diego in Week 1 and Denver in Week 3.

Last season, when the Kansas City Chiefs played the Oakland Raiders in Week 2, the fans got their first indication that something was seriously wrong with our football team. On 47 rushing attempts that day, the Raiders ran for 300 yards and 14 first downs. QB Jamarcus Russell only completed six passes on seventeen attempts. The Chiefs didn't even score until there was four minutes left in the game. And we gave up a Raider touchdown after that, making the final score 23 to 8.

Needless to say, it was a rough day to be a Chiefs fan.

But as a consolation, the Oakland Raiders 2009 off season has made it tough to be an Oakland Raider fan. It hasn't been the comedy of errors that we've seen play on in Denver but we're talking about Al Davis here. We're talking about the league's second worst run defense and an owner who has done virtually nothing to address the problem.

After the jump, we take a look at what the Raiders have done this off season to improve their team and then we'll examine how this Week 2 match up in Kansas City may go down.

2008 Season Snapshot

The 2008 Oakland Raiders finished the season ranked 29th in both points and yards gained per game, 32nd in passing yards and 10th in rushing yards per game. Their defense didn't fare much better over the long haul. Oakland finished 2008 24th in points allowed; 27th in yards allowed; 10th in passing yards allowed; and finally 31st in rushing yards allowed.

Where the Raiders excelled was rushing the football. They rushed for more than 150 yards in five contests and went over 100 yards rushing in nine games total last year. The rushing combo of Michael Bush, Darren McFadden and Justin Fargas was a potent one, as the team split carries mainly between those three players and amassed nearly 2,000 yards rushing for the season.

With Jamarcus Russell throwing the football last year, the Raiders were absolutely terrible in the passing game. Russell passed for over 200 yards only three times and passed under 150 yards a game nine times.

Much like the Chiefs did, the Raiders got killed in the running game last year on defense. The Raiders gave up over 2,500 yards rushing on the ground and had a middle of the season stretch where nearly every team destroyed Oakland on the ground.

2009 Off Season Roster Moves

Veteran Signings: QB Jeff Garcia, RB Gary Russell, FB Lorenzo Neal, OT Khalif Barnes, OT Erik Pears, G Marcus Johnson, C Samson Satele, DE Greg Ellis, DT Ryan Boschetti, S Keith Davis.

Draft Picks: WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, SS Michael Mitchell, DE Matt Shaughnessy, WR Louis Murphy, OLB Slade Norris, DE Stryker Sulak, TE Brandon Myers.

Offseason Losses: FB Justin Griffith, WR Ronald Curry, WR Drew Carter, WR Ashley Lelie, OT Kwame Harris, C Jake Grove, DE Kalimba Edwards, OLB Robert Thomas, SS Gibril Wilson, S Rashad Baker.

While Al Davis continues this off season to sign guys with serious knee problems, let's go straight to the source of Raiders fandom over at Silver and Black Pride to get their thoughts on the team's first round pick, WR Darrius Heyward-Bey:

40 YARD DASH TIMES ARE NOT EVERYTHING

This is why we will never win until al davis goes away. if you want fast guys there’s plenty of skiny sprinters in the olympics. WE ARE THE WORST RUN ORG IN THE NFL.

Even if he turns out to be descent picking him at 7 is terrible imo. We could have grabbed a 4th rounder and traded down a dozen spots to snag him. Bah being a Raiders fan on draft day is rough.

So, without going into too much more detail, Raiders fans are quite upset with Al Davis not properly addressing the team's needs through the draft. Through the draft, Oakland did bolster what is quickly becoming one of the best secondaries in the NFL. Despite being a reach, second round pick S Michael Mitchell is highly talented. Top corner Nnamdi Asomugha makes #2 CB Chris Johnson's job that much easier as well.

The team did address part of their offensive line needs through free agency by adding OT Khalif Barnes. As you can see though, the Raiders did pretty much nothing to address that terrible defensive line. Al Davis, at it again.

Darren McFadden #20 of the Oakland Raiders carries the ball as Derrick Johnson #56 of the Kansas City Chiefs defends during the first half of the game on September 14, 2008 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Why the Chiefs Will Win

It was clear last season that teams knew what to do against the Raiders - run the football. And with Al Davis doing virtually nothing to fix that problem this off season, the Chiefs' best chance to beat the Raiders in Week 2 is to pound, pound the football. Larry Johnson and Jamaal Charles are going to have to combine for at least thirty rushing attempts this game to ensure a Chiefs win. It would make no sense not to attack the Raiders biggest weak point.

Couple that terrible run defense with what will hopefully be an improved and more efficient passing game with Matt Cassel leading the way and the Chiefs should definitley have the Raiders' number on defense. If the team can't produce yards and points against this Raider defense in Week 2, it's going to feel a lot like last season's Week 2 loss in Oakland - demoralizing, depressing and a sad indication of things to come in KC.

The lack of a decent Oakland passing attack will also help the Chiefs win this game. Jamarcus Russell still hasn't impressed really anyone and the addition of WR Darrius Heyward-Bey hasn't exactly put the Raiders over the top in the receiving talent category. If you take a look at the Raiders roster, tell me who exactly besides Heyward-Bey is Russell going to throw to? Javon Walker? TE Zach Miller should see an increase in his production this year. He may end up being Oakland's most reliable target.

Why the Raiders Will Win

By far the biggest reason the Oakland Raiders were able to win one of their two games against the Chiefs last year was their ability to run the football. The Raiders may have been 31st in the NFL in rushing yards allowed but the Chiefs were 30th (and not far behind Oakland's average). The Raiders will be looking to do what the Chiefs will be looking to do against them - run the football all day long.

Quarterback Tyler Thigpen #4 of the Kansas City Chiefs is sacked by Derrick Burgess #56 of the Oakland Raiders during the first half of the game on Saptember 14, 2008 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

I'll admit it. A new defensive scheme with hopeful but unproven younger guys makes me scared against Darren McFadden, Michael Bush and Justin Fargas. Those three destroyed the Chiefs last year in Week 2 and there really isn't a whole lot, besides the addition of Tyson Jackson, that makes me think the Chiefs will have solved their rushing problems by Week 2.

Also, I know I'm not in the minority when I emphasize how much different this offense is going to look without Tony Gonzalez. I really have no idea what to expect without TG lining up for the Chiefs. I suspect that the loss of TG is going to hurt much more than any of us really want to admit right now. We'll be finding out very early in the season, and especially during Week 2, just how well the Chiefs are going to function without the Hall of Fame tight end.

Finally, the Raiders have a big edge on special teams. Sebastian Janikowski will continue to be a top notch kicker, even if the last few seasons haven't reflected that. Shane Lechler is the NFL's best punter. Plus, Oakland has two great return men in Justin Miller and Johnnie Lee Higgins. Miller returned two kickoffs for TDs last year and Higgins took three punt returns all the way back for scores. One big return by either one of those guys, resulting in a field goal or a touchdown, could be the difference in what I predict is going to be a close game.

My Prediction

I hate admitting this but the Chiefs and Raiders are pretty close in talent level right now. Things could easily change if say our rush defense gels quickly in 2009 but for right now, these two teams are pretty even.

I don't believe that either one of these team's defenses are going to be markedly improved by Week 2. With that said, I'm not predicting a shootout either. Both secondaries could be considered team strengths, which will limit both team's relatively weak passing games. I predict a sloppy game that is decided by one or two defensive breakdowns that result in points for the opposing offense. Looking at last year's Chiefs/Raiders point totals, I predict a 20 to 17 Chiefs win. The Arrowhead Advantage pulls the Chiefs through in a close divisional game.

More...

Previewing Week 1: Baltimore Ravens

Silver and Black Pride's Sunday Community Poll: The Raiders Offseason Recap, Your Grades

TheRaiderWay — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 11:09:28 -0000

With this coming week's final OTA, the Raiders 2009 offseason will have concluded. We then have a lull in football activity as we await the start of the 2009 season with the Raiders reporting to the training camp complex in Napa at the end of July. The only news that we can really expect is the July signings of their 2009 draft class. All the draftees are expected to be inked and in camp by the reporting date as is typical for the Raiders, with the exception of 2007 with the a-typical Jamarcus Russell signing.

The 2009 Raiders offseason was very active with players added, subtracted, re-signed and drafted. In addition the the players, the coaching staff saw a major turnover, as the Raiders will attempt to rise out of the 6 year pattern of losing and try to get on the winning path. Part of that offseason turnover and different from previous years, is that the Raiders did not go out and just throw big money at players and hope that they would work out because they were being paid so much. Now they went with a more intangible trait with their offseason selections - character and that is something that this young rebuilding teams needs.

The 2009 offseason recap:

Players Subtracted:

Rashad Baker - Safety
Drew Carter - Wide Receiver
Ronald Curry - Wide Receiver
Kalimba Edwards - Defensive End
Justin Griffith - Fullback
Jake Grove - Center
Kwame Harris - Offensive Tackle
Ashley Lelie - Wide Receiver
Seth Wand - Offensive Tackle
Gibril Wilson - Strong Safety

Players Kept (re-signed):

Nnamdi Asomugha - Cornerback
Rickey Brown - Linebacker
Cooper Carlisle - Offensive Guard
Jon Condo - Long Snapper
Isaiah Ekeijuba - Linebacker
Hiram Eugene - Safety
Chris Johnson – Cornerback
William Joseph - Defensive Tackle
Shane Lechler - Punter

Players Added:

Bruce Gradkowski - Quarterback
Erik Pears - Offensive Tackle
Khalif Barnes - Offensive tackle
Jason Horton - Defensive Back
Samson Satele - Center
Ryan Boschetti - Defensive Tackle
Marcus Johnson - Offensive tackle
Jeff Garcia - Quarterback
Shawn Bayes - Wide Receiver (UDFA)
Nick Miller - Wide receiver (UDFA)
Jonathan Compas - Offensive Tackle (UDFA)
Jerome Boyd - Linebacker (UDFA)
Desmond Bryant - Defensive Tackle (UDFA)
Chris O'Neill - Tight End (UDFA)
Frantz Joseph - Linebacker (UDFA)
David Nixon - Linebacker (UDFA)
Lorenzo Neal - Fullback
Gary Russell - Running Back
Samie Parker - Wide Receiver
Danny Southwick - Quarterback
John Paul Fochi - Tight End
William Franklin - Wide Receiver
Keith Davis - Defensive BAck
Charlie Frye - Quarterback

Player Drafted:

Darrius Heyward-Bey - Wide Receiver
Michael Mitchell - Safety
Matt Shaughnessy - Defensive End
Louis Murphy - Wide Receiver
Slade Norris - Linebacker
a Poll
How do you grade the Raiders 2009 offseason?

11%

A

91 votes

42%

B

323 votes

31%

C

239 votes

8%

D

61 votes

5%

F

45 votes

759 votes | Poll has closed

McNabb speaks on newest additions

JasonB — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:16:55 -0000

View full size photo »

There's probably no person whose thoughts I've been more interested to hear about the draft and the offseason than Donovan McNabb's. Finally Mcnabb has broke his silence on his Yardbarker blog. He talked for a while about what he's been up to personally, but then got down to football talk.

You'll notice that I am ready to move forward. I'm the first to admit that you must learn from your failures, I also believe that you cannot change the past. It's time to focus on the future.

As with every minicamp since I've been in the league, I'm excited about meeting my new teammates, getting to know them and working together on the field. We now have a lot of new, young skill position players and it will be exciting and interesting to see how they become acclimated to what we do here. If they can come in here and take their game to the next level, they will be productive pros and we can achieve great successes together. I want to welcome the new rookies and am excited to get to work with them.

I haven't taken the time yet to welcome some of the veteran free agents to the team. I'm looking forward to working with a new set of bookends on the o-line. Stacey Andrews and Jason Peters are young, athletic and physical. They will help in both the passing and running game. The same can be said for fullback Leonard Weaver. As for the additions on defense - Ellis Hobbs, Rashad Baker, and Sean Jones - I can't wait to see how Jim Johnson uses all the talent he has at his disposal.

I want to congratulate all the newcomers and let them know that I am excited to be working with them and taking the first step towards moving forward and getting something accomplished.

I love this guy and I love that probaby has more weapons now than at any point in his career. I just hope he stick around long enough for the likes of Jeremy Maclin, Shady McCoy, & Cornelius Ingram to really mature into reliable every down threats. Maybe that will be this year... who knows?

EaglesFanCast Episode 53 - Eagles Offseason Yawns

JasonB — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:17:33 -0000

This week I was a guest on the Eagles fancast and we hit a whole bunch of Eagles topics... Below is a roundup of what we talked about and you can listen to the show itself.

Wow the Philadelphia Eagles offseason seems long this year, doesn’t it? A bunch of heartfelt losses and nothing exciting on the signing front (with no offense meant to Stacy Andrews or the others). The Eagles did sign fullback Leonard Weaver, which fills a big hole on Offense and definitely helps the running game on a few levels. Other than that it’s been rumors, speculation and a few low-impact signings. This show, our friend Jason from Bleeding Green Nation stops in to chat with us about what’s been going on with the Eagles for the last few weeks. We also hit on various players and address a few rumors about some big profile players.

What we discussed:

Eagles signings: FB Leonard Weaver, S Rashad Baker and S Sean Jones

Eagles still have a lot of holes to fill

The team is conservative with their money, but have gone out and spent big in the past

Email from Aussie Eagle re: the Eagles signing all of these players to one-year deals

Weaver is definitely the best acquisition so far this offseason

Eagles President Joe Banner talked with WIP’s Howard Eskin

Brian Dawkins’ leadership role in Denver

Rumor prospects: Anquan Boldin and Braylon Edwards

Thanks to Todd, we get into a Donovan McNabb talk again

Listen to the show right here.

Eagles sign S Rashad Baker

JasonB — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:38:36 -0000

Baker's INT against Tampa in week 17 helped the Eagles make the playoffs

The Eagles have announced that they've reached a one year deal with free agent S Rashad Baker. The 27 year old has spent time with Buffalo, New England, and most recently Oakland where he nabbed 3 INTs last year.

Baker is a local guy from Camden, NJ.

Obviously this is a move for depth. By adding a potential starter in Sean Jones and a depth guy in Rashad Baker, the Eagles have replaced the roster spots vacated by Dawkins and Considine.

If the Eagles were to draft a safety next month, Baker would like battle it out with the pick for a roster spot.

Thanks to capt Nodar for the tip

Alumni Association: NFL Vols and the Wild, Wild West

Hooper — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:00:05 -0000

Today, I bring you a special edition of the Alumni Association. We'll be taking a look at Vols in the NFL as usual, but given the magical, mystifying, heart-stopping, unbelievable, heart-restarting, phenomenal, heart-restopping game that was San Diego v. Denver, I'm going to take a look specifically at Vols in the AFC West. That takes nothing away from other Vols like Jerod Mayo and his 7 solo tackles. I am, however, an avid Denver fan and, botched call notwithstanding, am still far too pumped about that game to think about much else in the NFL. (And yes, there was a lot of terrific football in the NFL this weekend. Wow.) So...

Dustin Colquitt, Kansas City Chiefs

Yeah, when the punter is the headliner for a team, it was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. Colquitt will undoubtedly be rewarded with a day off to ice his kicking leg after eight punts (!!!) against Oakland, of all teams. Even with eight punts, he still kicked his way to a 49.4-yard average, a long of 73 yards, and 5 punts within the 20-yard line. Dustin Colquitt, you win Player of the Game honors for the Chiefs in my book.

As for Herm, maybe he just shoulda stayed in bed.

Brad Cottam, Kansas City Chiefs

Not much to say here for the guy riding the pine behind Gonzalez. That's alright though; given the Chiefs' offense, it's not like Cottam is missing much.

Turk McBride, Kansas City Chiefs

McBride is currently the #2 left DE on the Chiefs behind Alfonso Boone. With limited action, McBride did record one solo tackle, but had little opportunity to grace the stat sheets otherwise. Fortunately for McBride, few Vols fans had the opportunity to watch this dud, so we didn't have to witness the agony.

Rashad Baker, Oakland Raiders

Rashad Baker is third in the depth chart at free safety and did not record any meaningful stats in Oakland's romp over Kansas City. Given that this is his fifth year in the league, he's probably destined for a quite and less-than-legendary career. But then again, given Al Davis, he might become the new head coach any day.

Gibril Wilson, Oakland Raiders

Wilson, another 5th-year safety, provided more support for the Raiders with 4 tackles (2 solo). For both of you Oakland fans out there, it's a good thing that this is down from his 11-tackle tally against the Broncos in week 1. This means that the defense did better of stopping people before they gained a jillion yards. But then again, this was against the Chiefs. So there's something there for both the optimist and the pessimist. Everybody wins!

San Diego Chargers

What?!? No Vols playing for San Diego??? Well, if the Chiefs get Norved, at least they know where to look.

Denver Broncos

No Broncos either??!!!1??/? Um... forget what I said about Norv. I mean, um, perhaps Shanahan is waiting on Berry? Can we at least call Cutler an honorary Vol? No?

/dodges rotten tomatoes

Well, with that dud, let's go into the bonus and look at a couple other notable performances:

Jason Allen, Miami Dolphins

Jason Allen is the #1 free safety for the Dolphins - sorta. If they're in the 4-3, Allen is atop the depth chart. If they're in a 3-4, he's #2 behind Chris Crocker. It'll be interesting to see which form wins out, though Parcells prefers the 3-4. Allen did not record a tackle, but Crocker recorded only 2, so it wasn't exactly an exciting night for free safeties against Arizona. Perhaps it should have been; Arizona does love themselves some deep ball.

Anthony Herrera, Minnesota Vikings

Herrera is the starting right guard for one of the strongest running O-lines the NFL has seen in a while. Thanks in part to his road-grading, Adrian Peterson took off for 160 yards on the ground in a losing effort against the Indianapolis Mannings Colts. Since NFL teams (and most other teams) tend to put their best run-blockers on the right side of the line, this is quite a compliment for a guy you'll never hear about on Sportscenter. But the big guy does a terrific job and gets love here (and the final billing).

So what did you notice?