The Oakland Raiders 2018 Season Thread

How many wins will the Raider have

  • 6 or fewer

    Votes: 23 62.2%
  • 7

    Votes: 1 2.7%
  • 8

    Votes: 1 2.7%
  • 9

    Votes: 3 8.1%
  • 10

    Votes: 8 21.6%
  • 11+

    Votes: 1 2.7%

  • Total voters
    37
At first I thought it was the Cromartie with the 12 kids with various women. But deep sigh, I was wrong. He did have a good season last year.
 
I think we gave up on him too early, but we’d also be paying for nothing. I’m not surprised after the DRC signing though.
 
Obi was not invested in football and casual about returning to us. Cut the fat and set the tone for everyone else.


Quick trigger: Raiders waive 2017 second-round pick Obi Melifonwu


AP_18213709846632-1024x683.jpg

By Vic Tafur 3h ago
comment-icon@2x.png
9
save-icon@2x.png

Raiders safety Obi Melifonwu fell out of favor with new Raiders coach Jon Gruden quickly. I thought Gruden was just going to stash last year’s second-round pick on injured reserve for a year before eventually giving him his walking papers.

But that’s not what Chucky would do, is it?

On Thursday afternoon, the Raiders waived/injured Melifonwu, who had missed the last two weeks of training camp and practices with yet another injury. Gruden would only say it was a “lower body flare-up” and wouldn’t later elaborate, but I reported last week it was thought to be tied to last year’s season-ending hip surgery.

Melifonwu went to see a specialist, and it must have been far, far away. I was told Melifonwu hasn’t been at the team facility for 10 days.

Melifonwu finishes his Raiders’ career having played in five games (one start) in his rookie season. He spent 10 weeks on injured reserve due to both a knee and the hip injury.

But last year’s coaching staff and this year’s both might agree that Melifonwu’s biggest malady may be that he doesn’t love football. There were whispers that Melifonwu was “fragile” in the locker room last season, and that would be a big reason why Gruden would cut him when it wouldn’t cost anything to stash him on IR for another year.

That and it sends a message to the rest of the players that there are no scholarships given under the new coach’s watch.

Melifonwu’s contract is guaranteed and the Raiders will take a $1.73 million salary cap hit if he is not picked up on waivers by another team. A waiver claim is clearly their hope, otherwise he lands back on their injured reserve list unless they choose to work out an injury settlement.

I asked Gruden about Melifonwu several times in the last two weeks, but his most telling response was in a 1-on-1 encounter in the locker room after the first preseason game.

“He is still being evaluated,” Gruden said. “We have a team of evaluators … and they are going to give us all the evaluations.”

He couldn’t keep a straight face, and the body language was clear: Melifonwu was a lost cause.

The 6-foot-4, 224-pound Melifonwu was one of those NFL combine freaks who is strong and long and runs fast and jumps high. That masked a college career at Connecticut where he disappeared a lot and he moved up the draft boards until the Raiders took him in the second round with the 56th overall pick.

He was supposed to be a guy that the Raiders could finally use to cover tight ends, after years of the middle of the field being a speedway. But he was not that guy. Not even close. The injuries and ineffectiveness frustrated former coach Jack Del Rio to the point where he threw Melifonwu in at cornerback against Tom Brady in Mexico City last season. If he was trying to embarrass him and general manager Reggie McKenzie for making the draft pick, it worked. The rookie got roasted and Brandin Cooks scored a long touchdown and is still running free.

Melifonwu battled getting on the practice field again this year at the start of camp. But then he had his shot.

He had a real chance to make an impression on the new staff on Aug. 6, when three safeties were sidelined and Melifonwu got most of the first-team reps.

The next day, the Lions came to Napa for joint team practices. When the Raiders jogged out on the field, Melifonwu wasn’t with them. And the story essentially ended there.

Fair or not, Gruden and his teammates didn’t think Melifonwu wanted it, and they didn’t want him.

Also Thursday, the Raiders officially announced the signing of former Giants cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
 
haven't been following too much this week, are the starters getting a lot of work tonight?
 

Raiders vs. Packers: Five things to watch in the third preseason game, including … ta-da … Doug Martin


AP_18225859205721-1024x728.jpg

By Vic Tafur Aug 24, 2018
comment-icon@2x.png
12
save-icon@2x.png

The dress rehearsal was the only dangling thread of credibility that the NFL preseason had, as the league charges fans a lot of money to watch a lot of players who will be playing in Canada in a few weeks. But the magical third game, well, that was when starters would play into the third quarter before skipping the fourth game and strapping it up for the season opener.

The thread has been pulled and flung into the trash.

The Green Bay Packers aren’t going to play Aaron Rodgers and several other starters at all on tonight at the Coliseum. The Raiders are planning to play their starters for a little more than a quarter.

Raiders receiver Jordy Nelson, meanwhile, will play against his former team, and he talked to reporters about it Monday and … wait, you don’t really care. It’s a preseason game, and a shabby dress rehearsal one at that.

What should Raiders fans be focused on? Glad you asked. The first player is obvious, considering how many of you have been clamoring to see him.

Doug Martin will play, and then quickly will go back on ice
The former Buccaneers running back has one carry (for three yards) in the first two preseason games and is a lock to make the roster as the No. 2 back behind Marshawn Lynch.

They will both “get a couple of thuds (Friday) and then we’ll get them out,” offensive coordinator Greg Olson said.

Many fans think that Martin hasn’t proven anything to be guaranteed a role this season. Jon Gruden is not many fans. He thought Martin looked rejuvenated when he signed him and nothing he has seen in offseason workouts or training camp has changed his opinion.

I have thought that Martin has looked quick through the hole in practice, and he is only 29 and healthy after two bad seasons in Tampa Bay,

He thinks it’s a good thing he hasn’t been getting a lot run the first two games. Because Gruden is going to be calling his number a lot starting Sept. 10.

“I know (with) the type of season we’re going to have and the type of work that we’re going to produce, it’s actually a good idea that we get less in the preseason,” Martin said after practice on Wednesday.

Martin is listed at 5-foot-11, but one reporter asked him if he was really 5-9.

“I’m 5-11 in the morning, you know,” Martin said, laughing. “By the end of the day, I’m probably around like 5-10 maybe … gravity.”

It’s Arden Key’s turn
Key is one-third of a talented trio of rookie defensive linemen that the Raiders are counting on. The other two, P.J. Hall and Maurice Hurst, each have a sack in the preseason already. Key only played eight snaps in his debut last Saturday, after missing the first game with an ankle injury.

He rushed from the right side every time, with seven of his snaps coming on third down.

“He did OK,” defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said Tuesday. “I think he was a little bit disappointed with a couple of his rushes. But, hey, it was his first NFL game, I said, ‘relax, go out there and do what you do.’

“You try not to over-coach those kinds of guys because Arden is special at what he does, rushing the quarterback. So, hopefully he’ll get some more snaps in this game and we’ll have him ready for the first week.”

Who wants to be the No. 3 wide receiver?
The coaches want someone to emerge tonight, after Martavis Bryant had a down-and-up training camp and slot receiver Ryan Switzer is apparently barely holding off Griff Whalen.

“There’s just a good battle there for the inside slot,” Olson said. “We started out, we also played Jordy some in there at the (slot). That’s a position, again, we have to get solidified. We have to find more consistency at that spot right now going into the third game.”

Gruden said even Seth Roberts has a shot at that No. 3 role. Roberts has been sidelined with a concussion, and I wonder if the Raiders would like him to play more to boost their trading possibilities than his odds of making the 53-man roster.

In Thursday’s roster projection, I had receivers Amari Cooper, Nelson, Bryant, Switzer, rookie Marcel Ateman and special teams standout Dwayne Harris making it. I think Harris is a lock.

More Calhoun and Cowser
We profiled Shilique Calhoun and James Cowser on Wednesday, and the two buddies are following up a killer China trip with another excellent adventure, trying to prove the coaches wrong and make the roster. Both third-year players were long shots coming into training camp, and both have made a lot of plays to turn heads.

By my count, there are truly only about five jobs open on this roster, and they are fighting for two of them.

Calhoun is trying to beat out Frostee Rucker and Treyvon Hester for the last defensive line spot, while Cowser is up against rookie Jason Cabinda and Kyle Wilber, another special teams dynamo, at linebacker. Cowser has done a good job of showing he is versatile.

“He’s playing linebacker, which is new for him in a 4-3 (defense),” Guenther said. “He’s getting better at that, had an interception the other day. And he can edge rush, so he’s a smart guy and I always tell them, the more you can do to help us win, you’ll be around here. He’s doing a good job for us.”

The Carr insurance
Yeah, I know some fans thought that was a cool nickname for the offensive line a couple years ago. But I thought it was too soft for an offensive line. So I am using it now for the backup quarterback competition.

It has been a doozy. Made me a little woozy. Connor Cook played well in the first game and then the magic potion wore off and he was the same ol’ guy he was last year in the next game on Saturday. He seems to lose his confidence and hold the ball too long if he doesn’t complete his first pass or two. EJ Manuel has a fumbling problem all of a sudden.

The guy who plays the best in the remaining two preseason games wins the backup job behind Derek Carr. Unless neither plays well and another team waives a veteran quarterback Gruden was excited about one time in his broadcasting career.

— Reported from Oakland
 
I think most of us expected big things after the draft from the rookies on the Dline. It’s great to see them living up to those expectations. Gonna be one of the best once Mack comes back.
 
I think most of us expected big things after the draft from the rookies on the Dline. It’s great to see them living up to those expectations. Gonna be one of the best once Mack comes back.

This whole contract standoff needs to be over with. Can both teams just give him and Donald the same contract already and move on?
 
Chris Warren ran cuz over for that TD :wow::lol:
Edit: wait for the replay if you’re not watching the game.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom