Category — Oakland Raiders

Circle your calendar, Oakland fans. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that, according to sources, the Russell-era will begin December 2nd against the Denver Broncos. Evidently, that’s the perfect time.

The Raiders have circled Dec. 2 vs. the Broncos as the likely starting debut for the 2007 No. 1 overall pick, team sources told ESPN.

Russell’s “light came on” a couple of weeks ago, a source told ESPN.

Russell had a great week of practice, then weighed in at 259 on Friday after hovering in the 270s most of the season.

On a 6-game skid, the Raiders have decided that prioritizing the future may be in the best interests of the team, especially after locking up JaMarcus Russell with the largest rookie contract in NFL history — a 6 year, $68 million deal.

A blog I enjoy reading recently asked this question. His argument is that “he simply makes too much money to stand around and watch” and “he needs to be on the field.”

The blog actually broke down all aspects of the argument, but those are a couple of the main points. And they make sense. Unfortunately, the Raiders haven’t been effective in pass protection and the team’s discipline on the football field hasn’t been on par with the rest of the NFL. In fact, it’s been much much worse as the team is at the bottom of the league when it comes to committing holding and false start penalties.

Before the season started, you probably assumed that the AFC West would shake down something like this: San Diego in first place, followed (in order) by Denver, Kansas City, and Oakland. Fast forward to today, four weeks into the season, and you probably have a hard time believing the Raiders, Broncos, and Chiefs are in a three way tie for first place while the Chargers are coming apart at the seams, dropping their past three games, two of which they were heavy favorites.

So what happened? Why the shift in dominance?

Looking at San Diego, it seems obvious that the coaching change from Marty “can’t win in the postseason” Schottenheimer to Norv “can’t win any time of the year” Turner was a bad move. It was criticized the day it was announced and things are only going to get worse unless the Chargers salvage the season and go on a tear to make the playoffs. Unlikely.

Up to this point in the offseason, the Oakland Raiders and JaMarcus Russell have been in a stalemate regarding contract negotiations. But a source close to the situation has informed the San Francisco Chronicle that the two sides are “close” to getting a deal done. The report wouldn’t be conflicting with other rumors, and it would be good if the two sides can resolve the matter soon.

Both sides worked into late Friday night to settle their differences over a contract that’s believed to be worth $61 million over six years. The emphasis is especially on guaranteed cash and it could break the rookie record already set this offseason by Calvin Johnson. In fact, it’s rumored the deal could involve more than $30 million guaranteed.

Lane Kiffin still hasn’t made his decision as to who will start the team’s season opener, but he’s whittled his options to two: Daunte Culpepper and Josh McCown. The latter will start Thursday against Seattle before being relieved by Culpepper.

“We’re still going to evaluate the two of them for the starting job,” Kiffin.

Fantasy owners should probably draft as if Daunte Culpepper is the starter. He has a better prior history as a starter and his laser arm impressed Al Davis enough to pick him up as a free agent. Ultimately, he’s more talented than McCown.

The Oakland Raiders have two preseason games left, but no decision has been made as to who will be the starting quarterback when the regular season rolls around.

“Yeah, I think it definitely is (unusual),” Kiffin said in a Sunday teleconference. “We’d love to have (a starter) right now, but we don’t.”

This is coming from a team that struggled between two incompetent quarterbacks last season. The combination of Andrew Walter and Aaron Brooks — and a porous offensive line that allowed 72 sacks — equated to just under 2800 yards passing, 6 — yes, six — passing touchdowns, and 21 interceptions.

ESPN’s Insider Jeremy Green is excited for the Raiders, more specifically for their acquisition of Daunte Culpepper. In fact, he reported that “people within the Raiders organization say it was apparent from the time Culpepper first stepped onto the field that he was indeed the answer they were looking for to their quarterback issues.”

Culpepper, as you know, was brought in to compete with Josh McCown for the team’s starting spot. And all indications point to him winning the position battle.

But his success could also come to fruition for another reason, other than simply taking over. Contrary to his time spent with the Vikings and Dolphins, Culpepper doesn’t have any expectations. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Oakland, if you didn’t already know, is a mess. Rookie head coach Lane Kiffin is working hard to pick up the pieces, but the deck is stacked against him.

The biggest disappointment perhaps deals with Oakland’s running back rotation, something that the team figured they had used the offseason effectively to strengthen. Drafting Michael Bush late because of his injury could prove to be a shrewd move, but until then he’ll be stuck on the PUP list with the potential of missing the first 6 weeks of the regular season.

But the addition this offseason that made the most noise was the acquisition of Dominic Rhodes, the former Colts’ running back. Unfortunately, he’ll miss the first 4 weeks of the season with a suspension.

Apparently Culpepper impressed enough Raiders’ personnel during his workout with the team on Monday. Enough, that is, to earn himself a one-year contract to compete for the team’s starting position.

Will he earn it?

Not according to NFL Network’s Adam Schefter who reported that starting spot is Josh McCown’s to lose. But you have to figure that Al Davis will make his case for Culpepper. After all, the Raiders’ owners loves big quarterbacks with strong arms. It might be the first test that dictates who is in charge of the Silver and Black: Davis or the (very) young Lane Kiffin.

Fantasy Tip: For now, leave Oakland’s quarterback carousel off your draft board. The uncertainty surrounding the situation is too great, and the eventual starter(s) will be playing behind a shaky offensive line.

The Oakland Raiders have gone out this offseason and worked hard to remedy their quarterback situation. Both the acquisition of Josh McCown and drafting of JaMarcus Russell have gone a long way in building up the position.

But Russell’s prolonged holdout has the team scrambling for another quarterback to fit the bill. And that person just might be Daunte Culpepper.

“Daunte’s something we’ve been looking into for a little bit,” Kiffin said. “This is kind of the climax of that, working him out.”

It was originally rumored Oakland was interested in trading for Culpepper prior to the draft. One scenario had the Raiders drafting phenom wide receiver Calvin Johnson with the first pick and making a trade to acquire Culpepper as the starting quarterback.