Post by TheShadow on Jun 6, 2006 17:01:59 GMT -5
www.sportsmemo.com/handicappers/ted/articles/598/
By Ted "Teddy Covers" Sevransky
We’re nearing the conclusion of my series outlining potential bet-against teams heading into 2006. Today, I’ll be ripping apart the Oakland Raiders, exposing their numerous flaws heading into the upcoming campaign.
Al Davis is a tough owner to work for, and the Raiders head coaching job was probably the least attractive opening of the 10 available positions this past offseason. We’ve seen Davis shuttle through coaches at a near-record clip since he fired Art Shell following the 1994 season, including successful coaches like Jon Gruden. So, to bring the process back full circle, Davis brought back Shell, who has been out of coaching for years.
It’s surely worth noting that Shell got the job only after Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt was the latest to tell Davis that he didn’t want the position. Shell was the Raiders coach for a six-year span, guiding them to a 54-38 regular-season record and a trip to the AFC Championship Game in 1990. Oakland has had only three winning seasons since Shell was fired, including that 4-12 debacle in 2005.
But we’re talking about a guy that hasn’t been a coach in this league for more than a decade. Dick Vermeil went 4-12 in consecutive seasons in St Louis upon his return to football following more than a decade out of the game. Yes, he took the Rams to a Super Bowl title in his third year at the helm, but that’s irrelevant for the purposes of this discussion.
Nor can we look at Joe Gibbs driving the Redskins back to the playoffs last year. We have to consider Gibbs 6-10 mark with the Redskins in his first season back on the job in 2004. It’s no easy task to have success with a new head coaching gig after an extended period of time away from that level of responsibility.
But it gets worse than Shell for the Raiders coaching staff. New offensive coordinator Tom Walsh has been running a bed and breakfast resort in Idaho for the past five years. Walsh’s last season in Oakland back in 1994 cost Shell his job. Walsh might be the single most mystifying offseason hire in all of football, more bizarre, even, than Terrell Owens agreeing to play for Bill Parcells in Dallas. Walsh is primed to fail, just as Paul Hackett was primed to fail as the New York Jets offensive coordinator two years ago, and Ted Tollner was primed to fail with the Lions last year.
Free-agent signee Aaron Brooks was a coach killer in New Orleans, the moral equivilent of the departed Kerry Collins. Brooks has the talent, no question about it, but he fits the classic Raiders profile – raw talent, but poor execution. Brooks wasn’t a winner at Virginia in college and he was never a winner for the Saints. Why should that change here?
Randy Moss is about ready for a blowup, isn’t he? Oakland’s offensive line didn’t provide enough protection for Collins to look for Moss downfield last year, and the OL was not improved this offseason.
The draft provided some immediate defensive help with top two picks Michael Huff (safety out of Texas) and Thomas Howard (linebacker out of UTEP), but not enough to matter. Oakland’s linebacking corps and secondary remain below par on paper, leaving the Raiders extremely vulnerable on defense once again.
Just about every key player on the Raiders roster has some character issues. The players know that the power here resides with the owner, not with the head coach, and they play accordingly. And the AFC West is loaded. Denver, San Diego and Kansas City all have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. That should leave Oakland as the prime contender for last place in this division once again in 2006.