The Man Behind The Curtain

It's been a long time since The Raider Nation has been able to celebrate anything. 2002 was 8 years ago, and has seemed even longer. The 2010 NFL draft has finally injected a little bit of life back into Raiders fans, as they saw sensible picks made, and filled positional needs. With the 8th pick in the first round the Raiders took R. McClain, LB from Alabama. Although the pick surprised the "experts" I thought it was a great choice unlike some of the recent early draft picks. The Raiders have a solid MLB who can stop the run, and be a leader on the Defensive side of the field. This is no knock on Kirk Morrison who was traded to the Jags for an extra draft pick. Kirk has done a great job over the last few seasons, but Raiders just felt they needed a change and to revamp the Run D. Sad to see Kirk go, and wish him the best. With the new scheduling of the NFL Draft, the fans had to wait a full day before seeing there teams pick again. With the 2nd and 3rd round picks the Raiders took DT L. Houston, and OT J. Veldheer. Houston will be used to stuff the run as a DE, and Veldheer will obviously try to help sure up the right side of the O-line. In the 4th Round Raiders took B. Campbell who is the most athletic OL I've ever seen probably. He is a bit raw, but as a 4th rounder is a steal in my opinion and also fills the need of O-lineman. Head Coach Tom Cable was an O-line coach so it shouldn't be to hard to develop his raw talent possibly at RG. The Raiders took WR, Ford (Davis speed guy), CB W. McFadden, LB T. Goethel, CB J Ware, and CB D. Brown in the following rounds.

They filled all there need positions via the draft, except one (QB). Raiders fans know that J. Russel isn't the answer at the QB position. As the rounds passed with the big QB names falling off the board, fans were wondering if we'd take a QB and who would it be. Then the news broke that the Raiders had sent the 4th round 2012 draft pick to the Redskins for QB Jason Campbell. The Raiders got their QB, and an experienced one for that. Campbell to many isn't a franchise QB, but is a much needed upgrade and the hard worker we've been waiting for. He leaves one messy organization for a (and this hurts to say) less messy one. Campbell has improved in each of his last 3 seasons, and will hope to continue that trend with the Oakland Raiders.

Each year I get excited about my team, and am left with nothing but disappointment. This is the first time in many years though, that I felt we actually made a lot of the right moves. They seem to be heading in the right direction overall as an organization. I hope it's not a repeat the last several years, but a repeat of the Raiders former glory the Raiders were known for.

Break out player predictions:

Bush/McFadden - I expect that with a QB that can make some throws teams won't be stacking the box as much. With that I feel Mcfadden and Bush will put together a nice season together, bringing back the solid run game of the Raiders.
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McFadden - 975 Rush Yards 450 Rec Yards 7 Total TD's
Bush - 875 Rush Yards 170 Rec Yards 8 Total TD's

Chaz Schillens - He was hampered by injury last season early on, but when healthy he has shown to be a solid WR with big play capability. If all goes well with staying healthy I expect some solid numbers from Chaz this season.

Schillens - 55 Recs 900 Rec Yards 5 TD's

Just Win Baby!