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[raider5]

going to be a long trying season?

offensively I like where we're at....defensively, I'm just hopeful. If Arden Key and Maurice Hurst can make an impact right away, then I think we'll be okay...but that's a big IF...

 

[njavier03]

If Conley plays as well as he was projected to last season and Obi improves, our secondary will be aight. I do think we need one more DB though. Even if its a vet that can teach/mentor our young guys. I'm optimistic about Key and Hurst, but weary of his heart condition. Given our schedule and Gruden, we can win 10-11 games. Last season was just a **** show, and that was a locker room problem. We had the talent, but had too many internal issues.

 

[raider5]

How do you guys feel about the Karl Joseph rumors? Vic was saying the coaching staff isn’t in love with him that much.

If that is the case though, passing on Derwin James pisses me off even more

 

[monstar]

I take anything this staff says with a grain a salt

we did nothing to help our defense and o yea i forgot mack still aint signed a deal

 

[njavier03]

idk about NOTHING, but eh idc. off season always brings up "reports" and "sauces" just to stir the pot. lmk when we're 4 games in, then we can talk about real ****.

 

[HNL HI]

I can only hope Guenther can rejuvenate dude

 

[albooboo]

I can only hope Guenther can rejuvenate dude

I hope so. Since Obi is going too be out for a while

 

[raider5]

I hope so. Since Obi is going too be out for a while

Obi hurt again? already?

 

[HNL HI]

Obi hurt again? already?

Gruden said he doesn't look close to being ready

 

[Deleted member 185039]

Gruden has all of his ESPN QB Camp quarterback picks on the roster. Incredible.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Inside the Raiders’ first OTA: Audibles, lots of movement, and depth-chart developments

By Ted Nguyen May 23, 2018

15

The vibe of the Raiders’ first organized team activity seemed to take on the personality of coach Jon Gruden. It was loud, energetic, and had a frantic tempo. There was a large emphasis on communication. Two big screen monitors were installed on each practice field to show replays of each play in practice so players could get instant visual feedback.

There was an assistant whose only job was to write the play just called by Gruden on a whiteboard and hold it high so that players who weren’t in the huddle could see the play call and take mental repetitions. Before every snap, there was a shouting match of adjustments from the defense and offense.

The defensive unit would make its calls and formation adjustments. Then quarterback Derek Carr would yell his audibles that had some interesting names.

Both guard Gabe Jackson and receiver Amari Cooper said that Gruden’s offense has an answer for everything and that it’s a complete system. This was evident in how many audibles were made at the line of scrimmage by Carr and Connor Cook in only the first day that offenses could go up against defenses.

“We changed plays like 30 times today,” Gruden said. “We went with a no-huddle offense I think 16 times today.”

Though Carr hasn’t had a lot of time with Gruden’s playbook, he seems to have a lot of freedom at the line already. One time, he changed a play, watched the defense adjust, and then called another audible.

A notable difference in the Raiders’ offensive scheme was the use of shifts and motions. On nearly every play, a tight end or multiple tight ends shifted to the other side of the formation. Some plays had tight end shifts followed by a wide receiver motion.

Last year, the Raiders didn’t utilize pre-snap movement nearly enough. Not only will these added shifts and motions make life harder on opposing defenses, utilizing them in practice forces the Raiders defense to communicate and stay focused on adjusting and lining up correctly in team drills.

Jackson said Gruden was throwing a lot at the Raiders’ starting offense to see how much the players could handle. The early parts of OTAs will serve as an examination of who’s been studying their playbooks. So far, they’ve passed the exam.

“We covered a lot of situations. I was pleased,” Gruden said. “We ran numerous gap-blocking plays, zone-blocking plays, different protections.”

Last year, it seemed like the Raiders were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole by running so much outside zone with that big offensive line.

While it looks like the outside zone will certainly be part of the scheme this year, the Raiders’ run game will be more varied and should be aided by a spike in the use of play action. The Raiders practiced a lot of play action on Tuesday, especially boot plays.

Cooper practiced during the first period of practice but either tweaked his hamstring during that session or at some point earlier in the offseason because he didn’t practice after the first period of practice.

I asked Cooper if he was working in the slot more:




Ted Nguyen

✔@FB_FilmAnalysis
https://twitter.com/FB_FilmAnalysis/status/999023767178260481

Asked Coop if he’s working in the slot more:

1:26 PM - May 22, 2018

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Some coaches want their receivers to keep it simple and only learn either outside or inside receiver. Gruden wants his receivers to learn how to play in every spot because he wants to have the flexibility of lining them up anywhere. This way, the Raiders can be in better position to take advantage of specific matchups.

Early depth-chart stuff
The Raiders had two separate groups during team sessions. The first-team offense and defense along with guys that heavily get into the rotation practiced on one field, while players on the second and third teams practiced on the other.

Though things can and will likely change by training camp, there were some clues to how the depth chart may shape up by looking at how the groups were split.

Hold the presses! Fifth-round pick Maurice Hurst, a defensive tackle, is working with the first group while second-round draft pick P.J. Hall, also a defensive tackle, is working with the second group. Just kidding. That’s not news. Anyone with eyes knows that Hurst would have been a first-round draft pick if it wasn’t for his heart condition.

On Tuesday, Hurst was in the starting lineup with Justin Ellis. The starting ends were Bruce Irvin and Tank Carradine, who was in place of the absent Khalil Mack. I’m not sure if I just didn’t notice Mario Edwards Jr. or he didn’t practice, but he definitely wasn’t a starter on Tuesday. This could be Gruden’s way of motivating Edwards, who is in a contract year.

Under defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, the Raiders will play more two-deep coverages and quarters, which sort of eliminates the strong and free safety designation. In the first period of practice, it looked like Karl Joseph and Marcus Gilchrist got a lot of the first-team reps, but in a later team period, Joseph and Reggie Nelson started.

When the defense was in one-deep coverage, Joseph played more free safety, but there were times when he rotated into the box as a strong safety.

It seems Joseph has a starting spot solidified right now, while Gilchrist and Nelson will battle it out for the other spot. Nelson played for Guenther in Cincinnati, knows the system, and seems to have the upper hand. He was very vocal on the field.

Last year’s second-round draft pick Obi Melifonwu worked with the second group, but didn’t participate in the full-speed team drills and Gruden added that he didn’t think Melifonwu looked close to being healthy yet.

There was a heavy rotation from play to play with most of the position groups, but one constant was the outside corner positions. Gareon Conley and Rashaan Melvin were on the field for a ton of snaps. Leon Hall took a lot of reps at nickel.

Coaching report
While Gruden kept his eye on the first group, offensive line coach Tom Cable was on the other field with the second group. This was likely in part because first-round draft pick Kolton Miller is working with the second group and Cable wants to make sure he’s close to his prized pupil.

One coach who stood out on Tuesday was senior defensive assistant Jim O’Neil, who was working with secondary coach Derrick Ansley. Ansley coaches the corners while O’Neil coaches the safeties.

O’Neil was criticized during his two years as defensive coordinator of the Browns and one year with the 49ers (2016), but some coaches are better as assistants rather than coordinators. He knew exactly where everyone had to be and was in the players’ faces. He was watchful and coaching intensely on every play.

Player of the practice
When you’re practicing with no pads, it’s very hard for linemen or linebackers to stand out. Quarterbacks, wide receivers, and defensive backs usually shine in these type of practices. One guy who stood out: Conley. His ability to cover and smoothly run step-for-step with guys was notable. Conley was getting praise for his play by coaches during practice and Gruden even called him “special” after practice.

— Reported from Alameda

 

[njavier03]

i'm trying not to drink the kool-aid, but that article got me hyped

we need Conley badly, and i like Gruden's approach. our offense was so bland and predictable last season.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Raiders strength and conditioning pioneer Tom Shaw sets the tone for Jon Gruden (and is making Jordy Nelson faster)

By Vic Tafur 6h ago

11

Jon Gruden’s voice carries over the practice field in Alameda, but the Raiders coach’s shadow looms larger.

The shadow not only sees who is in shape, but who is working hard to get in better shape. The shadow has a plan for every player, but also is an observer, seeing which veterans are coasting and which are helping younger players.

The NFL weight room is the ground floor for team building — “the mental toughness (and) camaraderie starts down there,” Gruden said — and the shadow, or Tom Shaw, the Raiders strength and conditioning coach, makes sure the players are grinding.

“We have a great bunch of guys,” Shaw said Wednesday in his weight-room office. “I have been impressed. There are no turds. We brought in a lot of new guys and everyone is competing hard. We are going to cut some good players in August, guys who will be on the street for about 30 minutes.”

When Gruden was hired (again) in January, he said adding Shaw was a priority. Just like owner Mark Davis had pursued Gruden for a long time, Gruden’s courtship of Shaw was not a quick slam-dunk.

After all, Shaw, 59, had his own little empire going at Disney World. Shaw had won three Super Bowl rings as a strength and conditioning assistant with the Patriots but left the NFL in 2006 because he had the need.

The need for speed.

“I left for good, I was never coming back,” Shaw said.

Shaw is a renowned speed coach who has trained the top NFL prospects for 25-plus years, the last 11 in Orlando. Shaw’s Performance Enhancement Camp at the 220-acre ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World has been hallowed ground for 153 first-round picks (and 10 of the last 15 Super Bowl MVPs).

Seven of the top 10 40-yard dash runners in NFL scouting combine history were trained by Shaw, one of the pioneers in what is now a ridiculously crowded field of combine trainers.

So, what is he doing here, at the Raiders facility?

“I came back to help Jon win,” Shaw said. “Like I said, I am just a shadow. I am just here to help him fulfill his dream. He wants to win.”

Shaw started working with Gruden when the former coach brought in quarterbacks for his “QB Camp” TV series on ESPN. Shaw supplied the receivers, running backs and defensive players, and they would train together.

“Jon got a chance to see how we work with the athletes,” Shaw said. “And he kept coming around even when the show wasn’t filming, Three years ago he asked me if I was interested in getting back in and I said, no, I wasn’t.”

Gruden was putting together his dream staff, assistants who would be ready to jump when he finally sent out the Bat signal that he was returning to coaching.

Gruden kept working on Shaw, who was the top guy on his list, over even the coordinators.

“Six years with the New England Patriots,” Gruden said. “He was with Bobby Bowden in the glory years at Florida State. He was with the New Orleans Saints. What I saw down there from him, the way he was handling young players, veteran players, major league baseball players, that was something I wanted.

“He was my No. 1 hire. That guy touches the whole roster, all the time.”

Gruden knew he would get his guy. And he did, not only because of his persuasiveness but also because of how much Gruden reminded Shaw of someone else.

“His passion for the game is like Bill Belichick’s,” Shaw said. “Everyone wants to win, but it’s the guys that are dedicated and put the time in … this is, truly, their life. Football is the passion of Jon’s life and Belichick is the exact same way. It’s the most important thing in his life.

“I see now that he is doing other things, but I never saw Belichick do anything else. Jon is that guy, in everyday at 4:15 in the morning, breaking down film.”

Shaw and his staff are also in the office until after the sun goes to bed most nights, and it is a family affair. Shaw’s daughter, Kelsey Martinez, and Gruden’s son, Deuce — more on his growing legend later — joined D’Anthony Batiste and Rick Slate on Shaw’s staff and put the players to the test.

“They have done a great job setting the tone,” linebacker Tahir Whitehead said. “Getting everybody ready for practice, knowing what the coaches want and expect of us, planning for the season. Everyone is pushing in the right direction.”

The strength coach has become even more important thanks (or no thanks) to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Gruden can’t talk to his players in large portions of the offseason. And even in the first two weeks of spring, when the players come back to the facility, they can only be there for four hours a day, four days a week — and the coaches aren’t allowed on the field with them.

Gruden took 45 minutes of that four hours for classroom time with the players, and gave Shaw the remaining three hours and 15 minutes.

“I was truly blessed for him to allow me that much time, because on most teams, it’s the other way around, I would get 45 minutes,” Shaw said. “Most teams have their guys lift and then run as fast as you can, and that’s it.”

Shaw and his staff had the players lift for the first hour and 15 minutes, and then do field work (two days a week on cutting, one on straight speed work and one on football conditioning). He has enlarged the sand pit and made the players run the streets of Alameda for two miles, and is introducing the rookies to Pilates soon.

A receiver and track star in his day at Central Michigan University, Shaw took his master’s degree in exercise science and became a speed coach at Florida State (and worked with Deion Sanders). Then, with the Saints and Patriots, Shaw developed a lot of his strength and speed program from his mentor and now Cowboys strength and conditioning coordinator Mike Woicik.

(Fun trivia: Woicik and Shaw gave former Raiders coach Jack Del Rio his first coaching job, as an assistant strength coach in New Orleans in 1997.)

(More fun trivia: Shaw has not only worked with seven current Raiders players at his camp, including Carr, Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin, but also trained the fathers of Raiders players Mario Edwards Jr. and Maurice Hurst.)

For years, Shaw has told his athletes to “relax and run fast,” with no straining or extra movements and longer strides. And his methods get result with not only young players, but older ones as well.

Shaw said that 32-year-old Jordy Nelson is already faster than when he arrived here in March. Many critics thought Nelson was shot after knee surgery two years ago, but Shaw said Nelson actually had the fastest time when he recently put a radar speed sign on the practice field.

“Jordy has been doing everything I have asked him to do, it’s been pretty impressive,” Shaw said. “Nelson and Martavis Bryant are workaholics for me, they and Amari Cooper are the bellcows.”

Nelson said veteran players have to be constantly aware they are setting an example.

“I think if a young guy watches a veteran guy go about his day,” Nelson said, “if it’s in the meeting room. If it’s in the weight room. If it’s the way he recovers and prepares for a game or the way he practices. That will have more impact than me just sitting there and saying a bunch of stuff.”

Some of the players did need some initial prodding.

“We had five offensive linemen who were between 30 and 40 pounds heavier than when they left the facility last season,” Shaw said. “They were eating whatever they wanted and were doing nothing. … It’s $665 per pound per practice, and we can fine them twice a week so that’s 12 grand if you’re 10 pounds over. I could buy a new truck.”

Shaw blames the CBA. And the players. But mostly the CBA for putting such extreme limitations on how much time young players can spend at the team facility.

“The CBA was made by older veterans who only cared about themselves,” Shaw said. “The CBA kills the players. When I was with the Patriots, we had the kids for five months during the offseason. They would work three weeks and then be off one.

“Kids had a chance to develop. Now, they don’t. Besides the pay, the CBA is a bad deal because kids can only use the team facility as a Gold’s Gym during the offseason. We can’t go on the field with them, and you can’t involve a football. It would be like in Silicon Valley, telling your employees you can come in but you can’t use your computer. But owners don’t want to pay the rookies or for their housing.”

Luckily, Shaw has the right staff to get the Raiders players up to speed.

Martinez, his daughter, is the NFL’s second female strength and conditioning coach (the first was Lee Brandon, with the Jets in 1988-89). Martinez worked at the Tom Shaw Performance Camp at Disney, and was in charge of the baseball program (30 players trained there, including major leaguers Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Gonzalez, Martin Prado and Ender Inciarte).

“I couldn’t run my program without her,” Shaw said. “She builds weightlifting cards, does a lot of the computer stuff and also spots guys and works with the guys.”

Shaw adopted Martinez when her father passed away and said it’s been “really cool” to share this passion with her.

Martinez earned her way, as did Deuce Gruden, who worked on the ******** staff for three years.

“Deuce is not just the head coach’s son,” Shaw said. “Deuce is a gold medalist in power lifting. There is no one on this team who is as strong as Deuce Gruden.”

When the players see the 5-foot-5 Gruden squat 405 pounds, “they’re pretty impressed,” Shaw said.

Do like Deuce.

The players lift with their upper body Monday and Thursday, with their lower body Tuesday and Friday and they have go up five pounds every lift — curls, biceps, triceps, chest, etc. — every week.

And Gruden and Shaw have been pleased with players actually wanting to hit the weight room thus far.

“We can change the culture here or the culture will change us,” Shaw said. “We have to make the players understand there is a rhyme and a reason to what we’re doing, and we need maximum effort. There are only so many great players. We have to help the good players get better, and we have to change the culture here that everyone here can play. Instead of just a select few.”

 

[HNL HI]

I like those kind of articles about the support staff and the influence they have on the team

 

[Deleted member 185039]

I like those kind of articles about the support staff and the influence they have on the team

It still makes you wonder what happened over the last six years.

 

[raider5]

 

[albooboo]

Mychal Kendrick is coming in tonight for a visit.

 

[raider5]

Gruden wasn’t lyin when he said he likes taking players away from KC

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Paul Guenther is working on turning the Raiders defense into well-trained thoroughbreds

By Vic Tafur Jun 4, 2018

14

There is no receiver’s mix tape or any other background noise at the Raiders’ organized team activities this year, but if you watch defensive coordinator Paul Guenther work with his players the last few weeks, you can almost hear the classical music.

Guenther stands in front of a handful of overturned garbage cans — yeah, offensive linemen, that’s what defensive guys think of you — and directs his players like a conductor would his orchestra. The hands constantly moving, with him telling a linebacker that he turned too soon or a defensive back that he is in the wrong place based on the offensive formation called out.

Guenther will then also station himself behind the secondary and direct traffic from there.

“New staff, new players, new scheme,” Guenther said last week at the team facility. “Just trying to get all three levels of the defense seeing it through the same eyes. The guys have been picking it up better than I could have imagined.”

It’s an attention to detail that hasn’t been seen in these parts in quite a while.

While Jon Gruden’s comeback as the Raiders head coach has gotten all the headlines, his pick of Guenther, 46, as coordinator could be equally as important to the Raiders’ hopes of turning around last year’s 6-10 record.

His defenses in Cincinnati were known for not only being well-prepared, but having a nasty streak.

“Defense is not for nice guys,” Guenther said. “We’re going to play physical, with press coverage on the outside, be strong against the run and not back down from anybody.

“I want to get back those old Raiders defenses.”

The Raiders brought in 10 veteran free agents on that side of the ball to help Guenther with the culture change.

“There is a lot to love about Coach Guenther,” said Raiders linebacker Emmanuel Lamur, who was with Guenther the first three years of his career in Cincinnati. “He loves to win, that’s written all over him. But the main thing is he makes guys better.

“He is looking for guys that are smart and that give it their all, he doesn’t care if you were picked in the first, second or third round or are a free agent.”

Guenther was the Bengals defensive coordinator the last four seasons, and takes over a Raiders defense that has been bad for a long time. Since the team was in the Super Bowl after the 2002 season, defensive coordinators Chuck Bresnahan, Rob Ryan, John Marshall, Bresnahan again, Jason Tarver, Ken Norton Jr. and John Pagano have never had the team in the top half of the league in scoring defense.

Guenther’s defenses were No. 2 in 2015 and No. 8 in 2016, before falling to 16th last year, as his unit had to carry the league’s worst offense. His teams were top-five in interceptions and passer-rating against from 2014-2016, while the Raiders have been torched annually and last year were the worst (five total interceptions) and third-worst (101. in those categories.

Norton and head coach Jack Del Rio were big effort guys the last three years, and not very hands on at practice. The team didn’t get a lot of out its draft picks the last three years and general manager Reggie McKenzie is hoping that changes with Gruden and Guenther, and that those players weren’t just bad picks.

Guenther likes these players. He is known for having two linebackers in the “A gap,” on each side of the football, in a 4-3 defense, but wants his scheme and players to fit together, and not force anything.

“Before I took the job, I watched a lot of their games from a year ago and when I got here I watched some of the practices,” Guenther said. “I wanted to see their abilities and where they could fit for me, or what I needed to put in because ‘that guy is that kind of player.’ We have a system that I believe in but you can always tweak it to players’ strengths.”

Guenther has always had a vision and been good at tweaking things. He has head-coaching experience — he was the youngest coach in college football at 25 at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania — and has coached a little offense. He left Ursinus to be a defensive coach for Steve Spurrier at Florida, but that changed before his bags were packed. Spurrier took the money and went to the NFL to become the head coach in Washington, and was able to give Guenther the last spot on the staff — offensive quality control coach.

He then helped out former Raiders coach Hue Jackson with the running backs, and learned how to attack protections.

“I learned what the offense is looking for and how the linemen are supposed to set, and what gave offenses problems,” Guenther said. “It was a great experience for me.”

Lamur said players can tell that Guenther is different than most defensive coordinators.

“He breaks it down all the way from pass protections to receivers’ route combinations,” Lamur said. “He wants you to know the playbook and all the possibilities as much as he does. He wants you to understand why we’re doing a certain blitz stunt, not just do it.

“He is a great teacher. … We’re looking pretty good right now. Guys are picking things up really fast.”

The book on Guenther is that he doesn’t like to blitz. The book is wrong.

“If you can get home with four and cover with seven, to me that’s as good as a blitz,” Guenther said. “When you blitz is when you can get exposed. But there have been years when I blitzed a lot. It depends on how we progress.”

And with linebackers lined up on either side of the center, just pretending to blitz and disguising coverages can be effective. The linebackers can always drop back with Guenther bringing pressure from somewhere else.

And right now, there is only so much Guenther can do because his best chess piece is on the shelf. Khalil Mack, the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, is sitting out until a long-term contract gets done.

“I am anxious to get him out here and start working with him,” Guenther said. “He will enjoy the system we have here. And there are even things he can improve on.”

Khalil, if you are reading this, Guenther says you will have more 1-on-1 matchups.

“I do think this system will free him up, I do,” Guenther said. “It’s going to be hard with some of the fronts and some of the pressure packages we have for teams to target him. We’re going to move him around. He might be on the right side, he might be on the left side … we might line him up over a guard.

“If you over-set to him, you’re going to open up holes on the other side of the formations that we’re going to be able to expose.”

On that other side will be converted linebacker Bruce Irvin, who went from having doubts whether he would be brought back this season to one happy pass rusher and a team leader in drills so far.

“I liked Bruce coming out of West Virginia,” Guenther said. “I went to work him out down there, and his best assist was rushing the passer. Used to be, you had to be 285 pounds to play defensive end, but not anymore. He has fit in like a glove at that spot right now.”

Guenther will have Irvin and other players come down in meetings and show what they’re supposed to do in certain lineups, coverages and techniques.

“I want them to say it just like I would say it,” Guenther said. “So there is no gray area to what we are doing.”

While the linebacker position may be full of question marks, it’s a good mix of guys, from young to old, from big to small, run-stoppers to coverage guys.

“Marquel Lee has had a great spring,” Guenther said. “Derrick Johnson has only been here a couple of weeks and he’s picked it up. … He brings so much energy and experience.

“I give them a little more each day and then we can start from that level at training camp. I’m excited.”

Safety Reggie Nelson, 34, is back after a rough season and while that name ignites flames when it comes to Twitter or story comments, Guenther says the former Bengal is a key piece to the puzzle.

“Reggie knows our system inside and out,” he said. “Reggie is the kind of guy if you tell him what to do and how to do it, he is going to do it exactly how you want him to do it. If there is any gray area in there, then maybe he is not going to be as effective. …

“We got Reggie in Cincinnati out of Jacksonville. He was a first-round pick and we traded a seventh-rounder for him. We went into his body, pulled the wires out and re-wired him and he played at a high level for us. So, I am expecting nothing different here.”

Guenther has heard how bad people think Nelson was last season.

“Reggie played 99 percent of the snaps last year,” Guenther said. “We’re not going to have guys playing 99 percent of the snaps. ‘Your goal is to play in this package or that package.’”

Same with Karl Joseph, who will rotate with Nelson and Marcus Gilchrist at safety. A bit undersized, Joseph has not really stood out like one would hope a 2016 first-round pick would. Guenther liked him coming out of West Virginia, and is not concerned about what Joseph did or didn’t do under Del Rio and Norton.

“We just want to get Karl to understand the details of how offenses attack and where the ball should be thrown based on the coverage,” Guenther said. “As well as the leverages of everything that he has to play with. We all know that he can come down and hit ya, so that shouldn’t be an issue in the run game.”

I mentioned that Joseph hasn’t really shown that advertised part of his game yet.

“Well, that was his strength in college and that’s the kind of player I hope he can become here,” Guenther said.

While Guenther watched film of Joseph and all the players from last year, he immediately threw it out.

“I haven’t mentioned last year one time to these players,” he said. “I don’t know what they were told to do. I am just focused on teaching them and how they can best fit.”

Gruden helps by putting Guenther and his defensive players to the test every time they take the field.

“Jon gives you a lot of stuff offensively,” Guenther said, “shifts and motions and different kinds of route combinations, and we really haven’t had a lot of mental errors.”

Guenther became best friends with Jon’s brother, Jay, when the two were on the Bengals staff. Guenther said he and Jon also clicked, and have been talking about joining forces for years if and when Jon ever returned to the sideline.

“We just got along right away,” Guenther said. “We just both really love coaching. It’s been great so far. The energy, the attention to detail and we’re trying to make hard work fun for the players.”

Jay wanted to hire Guenther as the Washington defensive coordinator, but the Bengals turned down a request to let him be interviewed before the season ended. When it did, Jon Gruden pounced.

“He’s a great teacher,” Gruden said. “He’s been able to get a lot of players … Vontaze Burfict, undrafted out of Arizona State, became a star player. He can coach coaches. He can coach a lot of different situations to a high level.”

Even being at small college, being a head coach is big (not to mention Guenther took Ursinus to the NCAA playoffs his last two years.)

“I think being a head coach gave him a great overview,” said agent Bob LaMonte, who also represents Gruden and offensive coordinator Greg Olson. “Then you mix in his time on the offensive side of the ball and his ability to connect with players, and I think Oakland really has something here.

“Gruden had his pick of anybody, and he picked Paul.”

The glare and attention surrounding Gruden should definitely push Guenther onto the next hot lists of head-coaching candidates if the Raiders defense has success all of a sudden.

And there’s every reason to think it’s possible. The players just have to watch the horse-racing footage that Guenther splices into the practice and game film.

Guenther is an avid horse racing fan who actually bought a turf horse, O’prado Ole, four years ago. The horse has been laid up with shin problems but could race this summer at Arlington.

“I think there are a lot of similarities between horse racing and football,” Guenther said. “From the auction, or draft, to all of the time and training, and then you let them race. … I do mix in a lot of horse racing.

“Different races of how horses come from the back and finish strong. A match race … I tie it into different parts of the session, because everyone likes to watch a good horse race. I have a library of stuff, because you’re always trying to motivate guys in different ways.”

And the players not only love it, but have embraced Guenther’s primary message even in June.

“Keep the blinders on,” Lamur said. “Have tunnel vision and ignore the noise. And run fast.”

— Reported from Alameda

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

The A to Z of Raiders’ offseason work, with one minicamp to go before training camp

By Vic Tafur Jun 8, 2018

9

The Raiders have a three-day minicamp next week, concluding their offseason program of workouts and organized team activities. Players got a crash course in the new staff’s offensive and defensive systems, and got to know all 39 free agents and rookies signed.

(And yes, it’s cool to call someone by his jersey number for weeks, maybe even a month.)

What did coach Jon Gruden and his staff learn? What did we learn, in the one day a week reporters were able to watch?

Here is the A to Z of the OTAs:

Arden Key: Some people (cough) thought the Raiders might have reached with their top four draft picks this spring — offensive tackles Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker and defensive linemen P.J. Hall and Key. Key had some off-field issues at LSU, but it’s safe to say that Gruden doesn’t see him as being any riskier than the Raiders’ underwhelming draft picks from the last three years.

So far, Key has looked as if he will be the team’s No. 3 pass rusher behind Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin. He is built like a young Aldon Smith and is very bendy.

BeastMode: We have covered this plenty, but Marshawn Lynch could be sharing time with free-agent and former Buccaneers running back Doug Martin. They split first-team reps on Tuesday, as Martin, 29, has shown some fresh legs after two down years.

Carr: Derek Carr has looked sharp and has some new toys to play with, in Jordy Nelson and Martavis Bryant, a deep threat he’s never had with the Raiders. Greg Olson is back after being the offensive coordinator in Carr’s rookie season, and has seen a lot of growth.

“Probably in the maturity really, more than anything,” Olson said. “Certainly, physically he’s matured in the three years that I was gone. Also, I just think his knowledge of the game, he’s taken that to a new level in my opinion. His knowledge of defensive schemes. Understanding how to attack different schemes that he’s seeing in the passing game and also understanding protection phases.”

Dance moves: MC Hammer came out to Wednesday’s session, hitting the team with his positive energy before practice and serving as the deejay during it. Afterward, he offered dance tips. Hammer said the atmosphere was “electric” and that Gruden “is going to take us back to where we were.”

Eddy Pineiro: The undrafted rookie from Florida took all of the field goal attempts in Tuesday’s session while Giorgio Tavecchio, last year’s kicker, was merely a spectator. Gruden is very fired up about Pineiro’s leg strength and accuracy.

Fadol Brown: The 6-foot-4, 285-pound defensive end is just the right size for Paul Guenther’s scheme up front, and the Ole Miss product has been one of the biggest surprises this offseason. But not to Guenther. He watched practice film from last year and said the practice-squad player’s effort always stood out.

Gucci: Former Giants receiver Dwayne Harris apparently wears it head to toe. He has some juice in the return game and will need to beat out Ryan Switzer and/or Seth Roberts to be able to buy the high-end designer’s line next year.

Hurst and Hall: Rookies Maurice Hurst and P.J. Hall will ideally give the Raiders something they sorely lacked last season: an interior pass rush.

Hurst, arguably a first-round talent, fell to the fifth round due to a heart condition and Guenther said he couldn’t keep quiet as the second round became the third and the fourth.

“I was saying, ‘Draft him, right here!’” Guenther said. “When you look at these players in the draft, you have an eye for what you’re looking for. … When you watch him play at Michigan, he had certain traits for a three-technique in our defense.

“When he started to slide and he was there for us to pick in the fifth round, I couldn’t believe it, really. He has great (push). The three-technique is the penetrator of our defense. He does a great job with that.”

There will obviously be a learning curve:

“He’s going to have to learn big man’s game a little bit,” Guenther said, “where you don’t get the double teams as much in college. You’re going to get a lot more of that in the NFL. Then obviously in the pass rush. He’s slippery in the pass rush. He has good side to side movement. He’s a powerful guy.”

Instant reaction: Left tackle Donald Penn left an angry phone message for Gruden the night that the Raiders drafted Miller and Parker in the first and third round. He and Gruden have laughed about it since, and Penn is working hard to come back from a gruesome foot injury and at least delay Miller’s takeover of his spot by a year.

Jordy Nelson: Strength and conditioning coach Tom Shaw said the former Packers receiver is in great shape, and it’s safe to say that Nelson is more hands-on than Michael Crabtree when it comes to meetings and dealing with younger receivers.

“He’ll just be like, ‘What if we did the route like this or like that?’” Carr said. “Jordy is very detailed. He wants to do everything exactly how you want it done. I see why Aaron (Rodgers) loved throwing him the ball. He knows if you’re comfortable, you’ll throw it to them. …

“You just see when you add a guy like that, it just trickles down throughout the whole room of guys. Just their study habits. You see Jordy off to the side when another group is in, he is probably just telling somebody something about a route or a technique or a coverage.”

Kolton Miller: I tweeted out that the future left tackle took a couple of snaps at right tackle on Wednesday, and some thought that meant a departure from Gruden’s earlier comments that Miller would focus on practicing on the left side. I wouldn’t put too much stock into the two snaps, as he was likely just getting his feet wet. Parker was drafted in the third round to start at right tackle and that is still the early plan.

Lee: Marquel Lee has surprised Guenther a little bit, and the second-year linebacker may carve out a role for himself on running downs. As of right now, veterans Tahir Whitehead, Derrick Johnson and Emmanuel Lamur are the three starting linebackers. Second-year player Nicholas Morrow could also factor in on passing downs.

Mack: “Return of the Mack, Return of the Mack …” Sorry, no, don’t play the classic Mark Morrison jam quite yet. Khalil Mack is still not reporting, as he is waiting for his big contract extension. The defensive end is surely in great shape, and will be ready to jump in when he finally hits the facility (or Napa, for training camp). Guenther is not too concerned about it.

“Well, he’s going to have a lot of catching up to do,” Guenther said. “We’re going to have to have a plan for that for sure. Really, I’m really concerned about the guys that are here now working. These guys have been busting their tails every day.”

Mack could be fined up to $84,000 for missing next week’s minicamp.

Nelson: Raiders safety Reggie Nelson will be a big part of the Raiders defense under his old coordinator Guenther. He is also excited about last year’s No. 1 pick, cornerback Gareon Conley.

“Oh man, I’m happy to see Conley out there running around,” Nelson said. “A player of his caliber — long, just like (Rashaan) Melvin — he’s showing why he was the first-round pick. I think there’s a high standard out there for him and he’s holding that up. I think Conley is doing a great job right now doing what the coaches ask him to do.”

Obi Melifonwu: The second-year safety took an inside football from Gruden last month about not being close to being ready to play, after injuries last year. But he has started participating in team drills the last two weeks and a Raiders player or official actually had something nice to say about him.

“I think Obi is working out all of his kinks and stuff right now,” Nelson said. “I’ve always been a fan of Obi, his size and how athletic he is and what he brings to the table when he’s healthy and stuff. So, I just can’t wait to see more out of Obi.

“He’s flying around, doing a good job competing like everyone else. I think Obi is going to be one of those shocking (us), because I like him. He’s a great athletic guy, tall, you know, just his body build period. Only he can stand in his way, to be honest with you.”

Pads: The players aren’t wearing any yet, so just go ahead and pour salt over this entire story.

Quarterbacks not named Carr: Connor Cook started off getting the No. 2 reps, as Gruden wanted to get him as many chances as possible early on to make a run at EJ Manuel for the backup job. But the third-year quarterback is already back to third in line and has never really showed why Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanted him over Dak Prescott (only for Reggie McKenzie to trade up and snatch him). Newcomer Christian Hackenberg is just not going to get enough reps to be a factor or threat to anyone.

Rashaan Melvin the vagabond: The 28-year-old starting cornerback is well versed in picking up new defenses.

“This is my fifth team,” he said. “For me, it’s an advantage. To be able to go to different teams and learn a different system over time. I’ve been a part of a system like this before. It takes time, but, for me, being a part of other systems has prepared me for this. …

“Take as many notes as possible. Ask questions.”

Slot receivers: The Raiders will have a lot of them, as Gruden is making sure every receiver can play at every spot. I have always thought Amari Cooper should line up primarily inside, and while he recently said, “Yeah, I love the slot,” Cooper said defenses will have to adjust to where he lines up every play.

Gruden’s “doing a good job of moving us all around right now,” Cooper said. “We have something for everything. Every defensive look, we can audible to something to get in the right play for any defense.”

Tank Carradine: What a great name. And the former 49ers defensive lineman has been a great fit, too.

“He’s playing base end on first or second down,” with Mack absent, Guenther said. “He’s moving inside in the pass rush. He’s real smart. He knows what to do. He’s understanding the defense. He’s a strong son of a gun in there. He’s really going to help us out a lot in there.”

U: As in Raiders U. Gruden let players trade in an OTA session Thursday for a chance to coach local high school players in a 7-on-7 passing tournament.

“We heard last week that Santa might come and give us a day off if we had some good OTA days,” running back Jalen Richard told reporters.

The Dublin High School team, coached by linebacker Kyle Wilber, beat Lynch’s Kennedy-Richmond team to win the championship.

Vulgarity: Carr is cool with it. Well, not really but at least as far as outsiders’ concerns that he wouldn’t be able to handle Gruden’s tough coaching.

“Just because they haven’t heard me say the ‘F’ word before, they just assume that I can’t handle hearing it,” Carr said. “It’s just one of those things that we had a laugh at it, but went in one ear, out the other because I’m not going to lie, I didn’t even know what month it was we’ve been working so hard and so many hours. …

“When he gets after me, I probably deserve it. Secondly, I love it because I know that all he wants to do is get the best out of me.”

Let’s revisit this in the fall. Because Carr and his teammates won’t really see “Chucky” come out until the games are real.

Worley: Former Eagles cornerback Daryl Worley might yet be suspended by the league for being found in April passed out intoxicated inside a vehicle blocking a highway … with a firearm … and then tased during the 6 a.m. arrest after he allegedly became combative toward police. But the Raiders have him plugged in as a backup cornerback and he had an interception on Tuesday.

X marks the spot: Some players don’t get the benefit of the doubt from a new staff and are immediately in danger of losing their roster spots. Besides Melifonwu, returning defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr., end-turned-linebacker James Cowser and running back DeAndre Washington are all encouraged to have great training camps.

Yelling: Special teams coach Rich Bisaccia might be louder than Gruden. Fullback Keith Smith was with Bisaccia in Dallas last season.

“I think their coaching styles are really intense because they care about what they’re doing and they care about their players,” Smith said. “There are a lot of things that the NFL can lack at times because it’s such a business. Coaches sometimes can’t really break that barrier of treating you like a piece of meat in the business.

“That’s definitely one thing that Coach Gruden and Bisaccia really tap into, that interpersonal relationship. While he’s yelling at you and getting on you 24/7, that’s his way of showing that he loves you and he sees the potential in you to be a great football player. If he’s not yelling at you, then you know something’s wrong, like he doesn’t really believe in you. Their coaching styles are about how genuine they love the game.”

Zeal: (There aren’t a lot of “Z” words, people.) The coaches’ enthusiasm and hands-on approach has helped the players buy in immediately, after last year’s 6-10 train-wreck of a season under Jack Del Rio and his staff.

Gruden “talks **** like I talk ****, so we get along,” Irvin said. “We’ve got a great relationship. He speaks his mind, I speak my mind. I come to work, he comes to work. You couldn’t ask to work with a (better) person like that. A guy who is football, football, football. That’s all it’s about — winning and football. That’s the type of coach you want in the building.”

 

[raider5]

 

[HNL HI]

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Tom Cable is ready to mess with the Raiders’ players, and they’re loving it

By Vic Tafur 2h ago

2

It didn’t hit Tom Cable until he got off his flight at the Oakland Airport and got in the car to go to the Raiders’ facility back in January.

“There was a couple of opportunities and I wasn’t sure about this one,” the team’s former head coach and new offensive line coach said Thursday. “Once I got off the plane, it was like being at home.

“I really think from the car ride over from the airport to here, it was great peace.”

At peace with returning to Alameda for the first time since he was fired as head coach in January 2011, which was followed by then-owner Al Davis eviscerating him in an hour-long news conference, as new coach Hue Jackson and his family squirmed in the first row.

Jon Gruden, another former Raiders head coach that Davis actually traded away, brought Cable back. They both had some unfinished business.

“When I left here, I left here and I didn’t want to,” Cable said. “That’s just the truth. I put that team back and got it up off the mat.”

The Raiders were 8-8 in 2010, their first non-losing season since 2003, and a proud Cable told the players after the season finale in Kansas City, “We’re not losers anymore!”

The players loved it. Davis hated it, and he didn’t like Cable to begin with.

Cable went to Seattle and won a Super Bowl ring as offensive line coach and assistant head coach. The Seahawks fired him this January while rebooting their coaching staff and roster after a disappointing season.

Gruden came calling, and Cable was ready.

“It was really kind of natural and a comfortable decision to be back and wear these colors again,” Cable said.

He bleeds the Silver and Black, just like Gruden.

“This has been my team since I was a little boy, so it’s not like it changed because I got run out of town,” Cable said. “It probably just made it a little bit deeper for me, which is cool. That’s why I’m here.”

He is having fun with Gruden — the two often do Davis impersonations watching game film — and is not surprised that players have bought in so quickly.

“He has a really cool system,” Cable said of Gruden. “He has a really dynamic way of doing things every day, which I think is fresh and very refreshing for those of us who have been involved in the game in his absence.

“It’s been, I think, a lot of fun. It’s been the right kind of work. There’s a real vision here, and I think that’s important.”

Unlike many of the coaches on Gruden’s new staff who were waiting for the call for years, Cable said he didn’t really know Gruden that well.

”I’d see him when he’d come do Monday night games, and just knew who he was,” Cable said. “He knew who I was, and that’s really about it. I think the connection, at least for me, is he loves ball like I love ball. He’s intense about it.”

The two finally got a chance to sit down after last season, and Cable was “shocked” by how well the two hit it off.

The interview “was really refreshing. It was exciting,” Cable said. “He loves his football team like I do. Regardless of what the past had been for either one of us, there’s a little bit of Raider blood in both of us.”

Some of that blood was spilled when Davis took Cable apart at that news conference. The late owner fined Cable $120,000 for turmoil caused by a 2009 training camp fight with assistant coach Randy Hanson — Cable allegedly broke his jaw — as well as accusations of physical abuse against Cable’s ex-wife and ex-girlfriend. No charges were ever filed.

Davis also blasted Cable for having his girlfriend spend the night on the day before road games, and said he would have 86’d Cable even if the Raiders had made the playoffs that season.

No matter, Cable never addressed the owner’s comments and said that he still holds Davis in high esteem.

“My respect for him is unblemished,” Cable said. “I think that’s where people would say, ‘Why aren’t you bitter?’ Well, because you see for me, it’s different. He’s a teacher to me. He’s a mentor to me. Whether I get along with him or not, wasn’t the issue.

“I took so much from him. To have the opportunity to come back and help make this right, like the vision I had earlier … and to help Jon see this through the right way, that’s pretty powerful to me.”

Cable inherits an interior offensive line that has Pro Bowl stars in guard Kelechi Osemele, center Rodney Hudson and left tackle Donald Penn, and perhaps a future one in guard Gabe Jackson.

They weren’t as dominant last season as they were in 2016, and Osemele said they needed more tough love than what they got from Mike Tice last year.

“With Cable it’s definitely one of those things where it’s a challenge and a strain mentally, he kinda wants to try and ‘**** with you’ as he would say,” Osemele said Wednesday. “Like kind of mess with you a little bit.”

Cable will throw in trick questions to make sure his players are studying the playbook.

“With Tice it was just kind of, you know, straightforward, coaching guys,” Osemele said. “Maybe a little bit of babying here and there, but … just like tough coaching from Cable.”

Spare the tough guy jokes due to Cable’s past. Gruden said he is more than that.

“Usually the tough coaches, they help develop tough lines,” Gruden said. “The thing I love about Cable is he’s a great teacher. He can go down and sit in an offensive line meeting for 30 minutes and he can coach about three days of information.

“He’s always ready, he’s sharp, and he’s a good teacher, he’s into it every day, and he’s a tough guy. We like him.”

Cable is spending a lot of time in the classroom and on the field with rookie tackles Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker. He pushed hard for Miller in the first round, and has liked what he was seen — even though little matters until the players put pads on at training camp.

“It’s not too big for him,” Cable said of Miller. “He’s looked just fine. He’s kind of put an exclamation point on our choosing of him. What I saw in him was a lot of really good characteristics of a left tackle. He’s very athletic. He’s very smart. For a tall kid, he can really bend. …

“He has a quiet toughness to him that I think has really shown up a lot. His consistency already as a young player in spring football has been amazing.”

Another consistent player here this spring and early summer was one of Cable’s biggest fans in Seattle — running back Marshawn Lynch.

“We had a blast,” Cable said of Lynch. “We did something really magical to go to two Super Bowls. We win one. Should’ve won the second one. …

“He’s one of the smartest football players I’ve ever known. I don’t hand that one out very often. … He was phenomenal in the locker room as a leader in Seattle. I see the same characteristics going on here.”

Lynch has been splitting first-team carries with Doug Martin, but Cable is confident he can get the Lynch from the second half of last season and not the first half.

“To be back together will give him a chance to dust himself off from kind of an up-and-down year last year,” Cable said. “Didn’t really look like his old self until the last six weeks, I thought. Put him in something that he can rev it up and be who he is.”

Meanwhile, cornerback Gareon Conley missed the last two days of the three-day minicamp with a tweaked groin. Gruden didn’t seem too concerned, so all the Raiders fans pulling their hair out can stop.

The players are off for six weeks of fun before training camp starts July 26. Gruden is headed to the hospital for elbow surgery on Friday. It’s an old injury from his first stint with the Raiders … we’ll let him tell the story:

“I can’t straighten my right arm anymore, and it’s been sore the last few years. Mo Collins, one of my old offensive guards knocked me sideways and I landed on my elbow, so I had to get surgery. …

“I was simulating Junior Seau in an A-gap. We missed a couple gap calls against the Chargers and Mo got me.”

(Top photo: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)

I didn't know Cable grew up a Raider. That's nice to know.

 

[raider5]

RIP Mo Collins

 

[sohi 23]

Martavius