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Thoughts from the Dark Side
Mini Camp reviews nearly uniform after first day
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McFadden continues to impress when given a chance
Going around the web today, although I’d rather be at the Alameda facility for the second day of the rookie mini camp, and I’m finding that many of the reporters have either pooled their reporting resources or see things nearly the same as each other. Now, I’m not going to complain or criticize this phenomenon because it’s probably a good bet I’d see many of the same things. Instead let’s recap what’s being said around the web about the Raiders drafted, undrafted, and unsigned players.
On McFadden - As advertised, he’s fast. Many reporters seemed to wonder if he had gotten as many reps as the other backs, Bush and Rankin, but Kiffin said he did…so he probably did, but Kiffin also said that McFadden wasn’t a priority for the Raiders to draft either.
On Bush - Rotoworld probably put it best when they printed Bush, “ran with smooth athleticism that belied his size.” That might be the best news many in Raider Nation could have heard/read. He can also catch the ball still and compared to McFadden he’s much bigger.
On Branch - He’s the safest pick besides McFadden to make the roster due to his special teams ability. He’s coming listed on the depth chart as a strong safety and he weighs nearly 210 lbs. Jason Jones seems to think he looks like Vinnie from Naughty by Nature, but after watching his press conference, I kept thinking he looked and carried himself a lot like Ronnie Lott. Wouldn’t it be great if he played that way?
On the first day - Jeff Otis threw a pick to linebacker Ronnie Pentz, but other than that there were on turnovers and Kiffin was impressed with how the players picked things up. All of the receivers dropped passes, but Lofton was there for instruction on all of the missteps.
On notables trying out - The two biggest were Nebraska/Arizona St. QB Sam Keller and Lofton’s son David from Stanford and the CFL. Keller may have played himself into a training camp spot, while Lofton left the field after getting burned on a play with an injury.
Other notables watching - William Thomas, former Eagle and Raider linebacker was there watching with Calvin Branch and Jon Kingdon. It’s reported that he’s trying to get a job in a scouting department. Fred Bilitnikoff was also there watching with heir to the thrown, Mark Davis.
On rookie draft pick press conferences - The Raiders have them on video on their website. You can check them out here. Each young man, during their respective press conferences, oozed confidence and all held their own really well. Any of these guys would make Raider Nation proud as a representative of the Raiders. The funniest part of all of them is when the reporters are asking Trevor Scott about growing up a Buffalo fan (that’s where he’s from), he said that all of his friends and family have already told him that when he visits as a Raider they won’t be changing their allegiance to the Bills. Can anyone in Raider Nation NOT respect that?
I’ll be scouring the net, radio, and TV for anything new. If I find anything, I’ll be back with a quick post. Today, Patrick is in the Oakland area attending Jarrod Cooper’s Code 597 event at the Oakland Animal Shelter. He’ll be reporting on that either tonight or tomorrow. For donations, adoption, or the Code 597 shirts (all proceeds go to Code 597) email helpcode597@gmail.com. For more details, go to Coopers’ MySpace page or the Code 597 website.
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24 Responses to “Mini Camp reviews nearly uniform after first day”
May 10th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Rob they have always said that Bush was fast and shifty despite his size. That is why I have always liked him so much. Fast, shifty AND big? Glad he is on my team.
Man I love Jarrod Cooper. Anyone who brings the kind of passion he brings to the field and helps in pet adoption as well is tops in my book. From a guy such as myself who is passionate in everything I do and loves animals with equal passion; he is my kind of dude. I hope he is around for good this time because he certainly is around doing a lot of good. When I see him I will tell him so.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Great write up Rob. Am checking in from my phone and I will have the code 597 coverage up later tonight.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
BTW guys where is the button to click to see that roster/depth chart page you guys put together?
May 10th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
[…] Read more. Posted in Blog, Oakland Raiders | […]
May 10th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
LDizzle - We’re revamping it (roster/depth chart page) a little so we’ve pulled it temporarily. We’ll work on getting it up soon though.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:35 am
speaking of minicamp… Did you all hear about the fight at the Raven’s camp? I guess Fab really likes the better organized team activities over there. Who knew that better organization means the whole team brawls out on the pratice field for three minuts over a rough tackle. I wonder what Fab was doing during the fight? Probley hiding out, we all know that he did not have the heart to make a tackle. So you know he don’t have the heart to mix it up with the Raven’s.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Does anyone know if the rumors of uniform changing/tweaking ( ie. Raider insignia on sleeve) are legit, or just rumors.
I don’t remember anything on the sleeves in camp before, However, they are finding more mercury in the salmon up here so, the brain isn’t what it used to be.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
They have had the shield on the arm in camp for several years now, and it always seems to start a rumor on the ‘net somewhere that a change is in store.
I hope they NEVER change the uniforms.
May 11th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Thanks Patrick, I agree, no change necessary.
May 11th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Dizzle Coop is a really cool guy. I have net him a couple of times now. He seems to truly enjoy hanging out with the fans.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Now I have a question worth answering. Who will get the start all season? Justin Fargas is often injured due to his reckless abandon running style. Michael Bush seems like an NFL RB but he has also had injuries and is unproven. Darren McFadden has fumbling problems, is a little bit small, and is a rookie. LaMont didn’t really live up to my expectations but is a serviceable back. Who do we pick? How do we split the carries?
May 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
hey raidz,
michael bush broke his leg in college and when healed the bone is stronger. the only cocern for him is the way he moves and the reports in camp were positive. by the way d-mac is slightly taller than 6-1 200+ lbs. i don’t recall that being a bit small that’s pretty much a prototypical size back in the nfl.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
oh yeah, they still want to get a 1000 yards out of fargas. i can see bush being the short yard specialist and d-mac creating matchup problems against linbackers and safeties with his abilities to move outside as a reciever
May 11th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Michael Bush and Mcfadden should be like Lendale White and Reggie Bush were at SC. Michael Bush will pound em and pound em plus he can catch the ball out of the backfield and is much more explosive and in better shape than Lendale. Defenses will be beaten up by Bush allowing Mcfadden to break the big runs. I think Fargas will get a lot of carries early in the season until Bush and Mcfadden catch up and Fargas will remain a part of the offense because he runs so hard and no one knows how to juggle Rb’s like Kiff who had sometimes 6 capable backs at SC.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Thanks I am not much of a USC fan so i wouldn’t know. In fact I’m a UCLA fan haha.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
raidz … first of all.. you need to read about mcfadden’s fumbles man the majority of those fumbles came from when he took snaps at qb and on kick returnsnone came from actually holding the ball like a RB out of the I formation. that’s what lane and tom are going to be careful about, not putting the weight necklace of INSTANT GREATNESS on his shoulders.
the most important thing to realize raidz is that this is all in college… that wasn’t with NFL coaching. tiki barber used to fumble it like mad until he learned to carry the ball higher on his chest.. then he secured it a lot better after that, the rest is history with him.
overall, you have to look at this “crowded backfield” as a blessing… if one RB gets shaken up from a play… you just substitute! plus dude.. they have a possible option of using all 3 of them at once, seeing as mcfadden can lineup at wideout
as for him being small… man you need to do a little reading raidz, the man is 210 lbs and 6′1 .. theres nothing small about him besides the fact he has skinnier legs… which 1. makes him less injury prone, not having MASSIVE LEG STRENGTH makes it less likely that a player will have less strains and pulls and MOST IMPORTANTLY #2 you think he can make his legs more powerful in the next 4 months? because with the HUGE DRIVE MCFADDEN HAS to do awesome in the NFL, i think its very possible the man will come into the preseason with beefier leg strength.
keep the faith brother, THE UNDERDOG WILL RISE ONCE MORE!
May 11th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
and when i mean none of the fumbles came from lining up as a RB, i mean a limited amount of them. besides, if you carried the ball 785 times in 3 yrs.. wouldn’t you slip up once in a while?
May 12th, 2008 at 10:30 am
OGKUSH don’t make excuses for why McFadden fumbled a lot. He fumbled a lot and that is the end of it. There is no excuse for it he just needs to fix it or he will not play.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
True LDizzle, when a guy fumbles it does not matter if he is a RB, WR, KR, or PR. A fumble is a fumble, I just hope D-Mac can get it fixed.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
LDizzle your right. All I got to say he better fixed that problem because he is going to get paid a lot of money.
May 12th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Alright I got some mixed opinions about D-mac but how do we split the carries between these 4 good running backs?
May 12th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Well point to the matter is Dmac fumbles alot, but thats not a problem that cant be resolved with a little coaching, practice, and working out. But the value with Dmac is he can play kick/punt returner if we need a spark on special teams, he can catch the ball, he’s a very good blocker, and obviously he can run the ball well. I think Dmac will be successful because he’s not the savior of the franchise or running game he’s going to be a nicd compliment to Fargas, Bush, and J. Russell
GO RAIDERS!!!
May 12th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
tom rathman the rb coach says that d-mac was carrying the ball the right way at camp. he should know since he only fumbled the ball like seven times in his long career in the nfl. have faith brothers
May 15th, 2008 at 4:00 am
[…] reporters have either pooled their reporting resources or see things nearly the same as each other.http://mvn.com/nfl-raiders/2008/05/10/mini-camp-reviews-nearly-uniform-after-first-day/Web 3.0: Web 3.0 - You Ain&39t Seen Nothing Yet!Nov 18, 2006 … web 3.0. The recently coined term […]
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