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News Archive
July 4 - August 27, 1999
Several players listed as backups will get extensive playing time Monday night to see what they can do against better competition.
The Raiders will give K.D. Williams reps at strong side linebacker with the No. 1 defense to see if he's good enough to take the starting job away from James Folston. Williams doesn't have great size. The Raiders list him at 235; he's probably closer to 230. Nowadays the prototype outside backer goes 240+ with speed. If Williams is a little light, he does have plenty of speed, and he's been a sensation backing up Richard Harvey on the weak side.
This is a good example of the Raiders' longstanding philosophy of trying to play their best athletes even when a position conversion is necessary. Williams is too good to sit.
Lost in the shuffle: Travian Smith. As much as some (including this observer) had hoped he was ready, he's not.
T Matt Stinchcomb will also see time with the first unit. He's looked good against scrubs. How will he do against starters?
DE Tony Bryant (back), punter Leo Araguz (calf), WR Horace Copeland (hamstring) and TE Derrick Walker (hamstring) all returned to practice. For Araguz it was his first practice in a week. He said he is not 100 percent, although he doesn't feel any pain, and said he expects to play against San Francisco. Coach Jon Gruden said Copeland and Walker "were moving around good."
Are the Raiders finally getting serious about special teams? They now have Tim Brown practicing punt returns along with Darrien Gordon, Charles Woodson, Tyrone Wheatley and Rodney Williams.
Sources: Contra Costa Times, San Jose Mercury News
WR Irving Fryar, who was thought some months back to be close to signing with the Raiders, has agreed to terms with Washington.
Source: Associated Press
In fallout resulting from the injury suffered by QB Scott Dreisbach in Sunday's exhibition game, the Raiders worked out QBs Paul Justin and Doug Nussmeier today, then signed Justin.
Cut to make room was recently acquired RB Ray Zellars.
There had been conflicting reports in the media as to whether the Raiders would seek to sign another quarterback. Dreisbach has a broken fibula in his right leg and will be out 4 to 6 weeks (best case scenario, voiced by coach Jon Gruden) or 6 to 8 weeks (AP reports).
Why such a fuss over Dreisbach? If you weren't able to see the two exhibition games the Raiders have played, Dreisbach not only outplayed Pat Barnes by a wide margin, he showed enough to merit serious consideration as the team's quarterback of the future.
Barnes has an unfortunate tendency to display "happy feet" at the least sign of a rush, and makes poor decisions under pressure. He threw an atrocious interception Sunday when he should have just heaved the ball out of bounds.
Dreisbach, in contrast, has demonstrated the ability to stay in the pocket except when it's truly necessary to scramble, and he has consistently made the right decisions under pressure. He has amazing poise for a rookie who threw only 5 passes his last two years in college. In this observer's view, Barnes was in serious jeopardy of being out of a job soon.
Expect to see both Zack Crockett and Dreisbach back on the active roster when they've healed. Both players have proved themselves too valuable not to keep.
Sources: Associated Press, Raiders.com
No surprise at all: the play of weak side LB K.D. Williams Sunday. He had 8 tackles and 2.5 sacks in another great performance.
Williams is a lock to make the final cuts and could supplant Richard Harvey as the starter by next year. Of course, you'd already know that if you'd read my analysis of the defense written last month. :-)
Meanwhile, Travian Smith, whom the coaches were hoping would unseat James Folston on the strong side, has been pretty much invisible.
Receivers, receivers: The enormous list of receivers on the roster is being narrowed by a process akin to natural selection as one receiver after another gets hurt.
Starter James Jett has been nursing a tender hamstring and has yet to play, but his job is secure. Rodney Williams, hampered by a bad knee throughout camp, was a very pleasant surprise Sunday. He had three catches and showed good quickness. Terry Mickens started in Jett's place despite sore ribs.
Kenny Shedd showed the speed we all know he has. It was Shedd's 43-yard reception from Dreisbach down the middle of the field that set up the winning touchdown.
Horace Copeland aggravated a hamstring Sunday and came out after one play. Chris T. Jones sprained a knee—not the knee that was seriously injured in 1997— and will be unable to play for six weeks. Considering the competition, this observer doesn't expect Jones to be around for the season opener.
Healthy, but seeing virtually no game action thus far, are rookies Howard Maxwell and Creig Spann. Gruden had spoken highly of Spann during mini-camps, but given the way the Raiders have been spreading the ball around, you'd have to think that the lack of action thus far doesn't bode well for either Maxwell's or Spann's chances. No-name Rico Cannon has been hampered by a hip flexor.
Sources: Contra Costa Times, San Jose Mercury News
RB Zack Crockett, who had won the niche spot as the Raiders' third down/short yardage runner, broke a bone in his right foot on Monday and is out for an estimated four to six weeks.
The team wasted no time in finding not one, but two, replacements. Signed Tuesday were free agent RBs Tyrone Wheatley and Ray Zellars.
Wheatley, a first-round draft pick of the Giants in 1995, has been a major disappointment thus far in his short NFL career. Released by the Giants, he signed with Miami during this past offseason. He was cut by Jimmy Johnson on Monday following an unimpressive performance in an intrasquad scrimmage last weekend.
Wheatley, 27, has been listed at 6 feet and 235 pounds in the past, although the Raiders are showing him on the roster at a relatively svelte 230. Heh . . . His best year as a pro came in 1997, when he rushed for 583 yards. Last year the Giants activated him for only 4 of 16 games after he reported to camp overweight. Wheatley would like nothing better than to resurrect his career with Oakland.
"We've had instances in this league where guys have played five or six years in one place and quote-unquote stunk up the joint," said Wheatley. "The next thing you know he's at another team and he's the next greatest thing that ever came out of football." He cited Jerome Bettis and Brett Favre as examples.
"It's great to be here," added Wheatley. "The man who's done so much for football—I'm speaking of Mr. Davis (owner Al Davis)—you can only say, 'Wow.' He represents football. It's wonderful to be here."
Zellars, 26, was cut by New Orleans during last season and finished the year with Cincinnati. At 5-11 and 233 pounds, he's a banger. He won't stun anyone with elusive moves and he won't outrun anyone to the end zone. That said, he may be just what the doctor ordered for the Raiders' anemic short yardage game.
"He's more of a power runner, not much finesse, not many moves," said running backs coach Skip Peete. "You want a straight-line guy, someone who'll make one decision and go."
The Raiders intend to try Zellars at tailback.
Sources: San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Raiders.com, Associated Press. Photos from Raiders.com.
One of the roster spots given to the two runners opened up Tuesday with the retirement of QB Andre Ware.
Hurt during the NFL Europe season, Ware was getting few reps in camp. Also militating against his chances of making the final 53-man roster was the fact that the Raider coaches like rookie QB Scott Dreisbach. Dreisbach has the advantage of being eligible for the practice squad.
Sources: Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Sacramento Bee
Released late last week was 6th-round draft pick DT Daren Yancey. Yancey was unable to overcome back troubles dating back to a college injury suffered while playing for BYU. Obviously the Raiders had decided he was worth the gamble of a draft pick. This one didn't pay off.
Yancey had been placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list four days before his release.
Starters who won't play for the Raiders in Saturday's exhibition opener are FS Eric Turner (foot), WR James Jett (hamstring), and CB Eric Allen. In Allen's case, he decided not to play as a precaution, in large part because the game will be played on unforgiving artificial turf.
Sources: San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle
Today we have some laughs as well as some serious news. First the laughs . . .
Scouting the opposition: Hot news from NFL.com: "The Rams capped three days of joint practice sessions with the Indianapolis Colts with a scrimmage Saturday at the University of Illinois-Champaign, billed as 'As Real As It Gets.' Afterward, coach Dick Vermeil was pleased with his team's effort.
" 'I don't have any one football player to single out that didn't do well or as well as we expected them to do,' Vermeil said. 'Some guys did better, so it was a very pleasing experience for us. It's not an indication that we're a great football team or anything like that, but it's an indication that we're going in the right direction.' "
Allow this cynic to point out that when you're as bad as the Rams (quarterback Trent Green!), it's difficult to go in any direction but up.
Source: NFL.com
Bulbs work better with current: It took NFL Europe signee Jeff Beckley, a punter-kicker, a while to figure out that he was only in camp to give P Leo Araguz a very occasional breather. After 10 days or so Beckley eventually realized that he wasn't getting many reps. Whereupon, his hopes of starting dashed, he voluntarily quit the team.
"I guess he wasn't getting enough work here as the extra guy," said Araguz in something of an understatement.
The Raiders signed draft picks Roderick Coleman, Daren Yancey and JoJuan Armour last Friday, and inked the remaining two rookies, Dameane Douglas and Eric Barton, late Saturday, so the team was at full strength for Sunday's practices except for Charles Woodson, who was excused to attend his brother's wedding.
Senior assistant Bruce Allen, commenting on the negotiations with Douglas's agent, said, "There's a pie. Matt (Stinchcomb) ate a big bite. Tony (Bryant) ate a little of somebody else's pie, and then everyone (else) is getting some of the rest."
For the uninitiated, the 'pie' referred to by Allen is very real. Information on the rookie salary pool is available on this site.
Rookie Douglas caught a taste of coach Jon Gruden's intensity when he lined up incorrectly for a play and failed to hustle back to the huddle after another. Douglas had a trash-talking reputation at Cal, but this observer suspects he's about to get a quick lesson or two in humility.
Sources: San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times
Personnel moves: The big item was the workout of RB Chuck Levy on Sunday. Cut recently by the Whiners, Levy is not only speedy and elusive, but a gutsy runner as well. Bruce Allen said he anticipated the Raiders would be talking with Levy's agent this week.
Cut late last week were rookie WR James Battle of Oregon State and longtime backup T Rick Cunningham, who underwent an offseason spinal fusion procedure. Signed was DE Jonathan Kirksey, who's been in and out of several NFL training camps.
Sources: Raiders.com, Sacramento Bee, Contra Costa Times
Finally, this note: T Lincoln Kennedy is apparently still having problems with the plantar fascia in his foot. That condition, which also hampered Larry Brown, bothered Kennedy most of last season.
Yesterday the big tackle made some not-very-complimentary remarks about the quality of Nike shoes. The bigger question, though, is whether he'll be at 100% this year.
Many writers have speculated (wildly) that T Mo Collins will move to RT and Kennedy to RG. Until now there's been no indication the Raiders are actually considering such a move; in fact, Gruden has said such a change is not in the works. But if Kennedy has enough trouble handling outside pass rushers, that could change.
Source: Santa Rosa Press Democrat
The Raiders signed three additional free agents this month, two from NFL Europe.
Previously reported here was the signing of punter Jeff Beckley. Beckley averaged 45.5 yards per punt for Barcelona this past spring, and was the Dragons' franchise player. According to NFL Europe's web site, Oakland actually signed him on July 7.
Beckley also kicked off and served as a holder at Boston College. He's not fresh out of college—he was in Philadelphia's training camp in 1995 and is 28 years old.
Barry Sims, 24, played tackle for the Scottish Claymores this spring; the Raiders list him as a G/T. He's 6-5 and 305 pounds and played collegiately at Utah. He was apparently signed on July 12.
The most recent signee, WR Rico Cannon of Newberry College, is yet another of the bigger receivers whom the Raiders have dug up this year. 6-2 and 200 pounds, he joins the six other wideouts on the current roster who weigh at least 200.
Sources: NFL Europe, Raiders.com
RB Lawrence Phillips will meet tomorrow with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to discuss his possible return to the NFL. Phillips remains subject to a potential league suspension for punching a woman in the face when she refused to dance with him.
Source: Associated Press
Late update: P Leo Araguz will have competition in Napa.
The Raiders have signed former Barcelona punter Jeff Beckley, who averaged 45.5 per pop in NFL Europe this spring.
Source: Oakland Tribune
Undersized but very athletic outside linebacker K.D. Williams hasn't been talked up a whole lot by the Raiders coaches, but as today's Trib points out, both CB Eric Allen and DT Russell Maryland went out of their way to compliment the former CFL star during their recent chat sessions on Raiders.com.
Source: Oakland Tribune
The Lawrence Phillips picture may have changed significantly this past week with the news that featured 49ers running back Garrison Hearst may have a stress reaction in the ankle fractured in last season's playoffs. The fear is that Hearst might have avascular necrosis, the same disease which ended Bo Jackson's career. Necrosis occurs when, for lack of circulation, a bone, or bone tissue, simply dies.
Hearst is on crutches for the time being.
Suddenly the Whiners could be far more desperate for a running back than any of the half dozen other teams, including the Raiders, who have been reported to be pursuing Phillips. San Francisco planned to work out Phillips, Terry Allen, Charlie Garner, and Longneck . . . er, Harvey Williams last Friday.
Sources: Oakland Tribune, Sacramento Bee, Associated Press
Single game tickets for 1999 Raiders home games—including the Monday night exhibition against the Whiners on Aug. 30—will go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m., OFMA announced yesterday.
Source: Contra Costa Times
Former Raider T Scott Whittaker has signed with Seattle.
Source: FootballInsider.com
Team owner Al Davis turns 70 today. Best wishes for a great birthday from this Raider diehard!
The Lawrence Phillips watch continues . . .
Most media claim that five or six teams are seriously interested in signing Phillips, and most put the Raiders, and possibly Green Bay, at the top of the list. Oakland, it's said, has more cap room than the other teams.
A refreshing change from past years . . . One thing's for sure—getting rid of high-priced deadwood like Desmond Howard and Harvey Williams certainly didn't hurt.
It's worth keeping in mind that playing against the much tougher competition in the NFL, Phillips never did establish himself as even a top player, let alone a star. In two seasons with the Rams, Phillips rushed for 1,309 yards in 394 carries, a 3.3 average.
The son of ex-Raiders QB Jeff Hostetler was badly injured several weeks ago in an ATV accident, and Hostetler said he would take the year off, and probably retire from football, to help care for his son.
Tyler Hostetler, 8, and a 9-year-old friend rolled the vehicle on private property in West Virginia. The boy suffered an injury to his spinal cord and is now in a private rehab center, wearing a head brace.
Hostetler himself has not commented on the incident. The article quoted broadcast reports as its source.
Source: CNNSI
