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Thoughts from the Dark Side
Oakland Raiders Camp Battles: Linebackers- Who will join the Law Firm of Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard?
As the camp battles series winds its way through the defense, we come to the linebackers. The Raiders have two ‘backers who are knocking at the door of the Pro Bowl in Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison. They form a dynamic duo and have become both fan favorites and top notch players. They combined for ten interceptions last season, and only look to improve on that as they are both young. The question is not whether they will make the team or be starters, but who will surround them at the linebacker position?
Projected Starters: Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison, and Robert Thomas
Thomas Howard turned in a Pro Bowl caliber season last year intercepting six passes, including a stretch where he had four games in a row with a pick. He took two of them back for touchdowns. Kirk Morrison added four picks of his own. Robert Thomas split the starting duties with Sam Williams last season, and will continue in that role unless he is beat out in camp.
Projected Depth: Sam Williams, Isaiah Ekejiuba, Ricky Brown, Jon Alston
Sam Williams is the Raiders answer to “Glass Joe” as he can’t seem to stay healthy for an entire year. He was resigned over the offseason, which is a show of support from upstairs. Isiah Ekejiuba and Ricky Brown are not guys who will make much noise as ‘backers, but they are an integral part of the Raiders special teams coverage units. It was whilst Ekejiuba, Brown, and Jarrod Cooper were all healthy that the Raiders shut down Devin Hester. Jon Alston has been seeing a lot of time in minicamps in short yardage formations and has been impressing the staff.
Outside Looking In: Edgerton Hartwell, Grant Irons, and Malik Jackson
Of these three, Hartwell has the best chance of moving up to make the team. After being less than impressive in camps, coach Lane Kiffin had the following to say about him, “We gave him a chance to come in here and prove himself.” That is far from a ringing endorsement. Malik Jackson is a rookie undrafted free agent, who is not likely to be much more than a camp body. Grant Irons has played both linebacker and defensive end, but neither particularly well. His best chance to move up would be as a purely depth player who can fill in at linebacker or base end, but is a long shot.
What to look for:
Can Sam Williams actually stay healthy? Will Hartwell be able to step things up, despite his slow start in minicamps? Has Grant Irons’s time off helped him step up his game? Can Robert Thomas hold off the competition? The battle for reserves and third linebacker position will be a reason to stay tuned to the third and fourth quarter of preseason games.
WildCard:
Sam Williams’s health is a huge wild card. He is the poster boy for unfulfilled potential. He has been tried out as a pass rushing DE and as a linebacker and has never seemed to step up in either role. He has shown some flashes, but wold promptly get injured. Also, Hartwell is one who is thought highly of by the Raider Nation, but seemingly not so much by the Raider coaching staff. He has to prove himself if he is to make the team.
Looking forward to training camp here at TFDS!
This entry was posted
on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 2:52 am and is filed under Edgerton Hartwell, Isaiah Ekejiuba, Ricky Brown, Camp Battles, 2008 Oakland Raiders Training Camp, Malik Jackson, Grant Irons, Raiders News, Robert Thomas, 2008, Raider Nation, Jon Alston, Training Camp, Oakland Raiders Current Player Analysis, Raider News, Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison, NFL News.
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14 Responses to “Oakland Raiders Camp Battles: Linebackers- Who will join the Law Firm of Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard?”
July 5th, 2008 at 3:22 am
They combined for 10 ints last year buddy, uno
July 5th, 2008 at 3:27 am
uno, you need to proof read.
July 5th, 2008 at 4:02 am
D’oh! I was thinking ten… and even broke it down later…
July 5th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Morrison’s awesome. If you think of it, Howard’s more of the pass coverage man and Morrison plays the run. Both of these guys should have Pro Bowl seasons with the offenses avoiding the corners and throwing to their RB and TE underneath, right in the Law Firm’s range. I think Hartwell should get the job. Put him in on run plays and use Williams or Thomas on blitzes. that is if Rob Ryan would ever blitz.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Very nice write-up Patrick!!
I think you’re being nice to Williams, though. This guy is the typical “Al’s Boy”. We traded up for him because we thought he could be the next Simeon Rice at DE. It was a BIG stretch to trade to the 3rd round. As it turns out, he’s a LB, not very fast, and gets injured too often. With his resigning, he’s officially on the Al Davis “off the bus” care-plan.
Thanks for giving T.How major props. He’s the total package. Of course he can cover (just ask D.Mac), but Howard is super fast sideline to sideline as well, and can deliver a hit. He is perfectly built for the position, and will make the ProBowl for the next 6 years!!
July 5th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
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July 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Hopefully one of these guys can step up… I think Sam Williams has a chance to be good as long as healthy…
But i like Morrison… But multiple sites have made suggestions that we move him out to SLB(which i think was his position in college, i think) and get another MLB, because he’s undersized and gets pushed around by the big guards… In my opinion it wouldnt be a bad idea, only if it was neccesary(example-injury to our SLB and since we dont have depth at that position, but we have a good back up MLB)… I’ve also heard we move him to an OLB position and move to a 3-4 defense… With his speed it wouldn’t be a bda idea… But i’d prefer if we kept Howard and Morrison where they are… I think an undersized MLB’s best friends are two BIG DT’s if not ask Ray Lewis in 2000 when he had Sam Adams & Tony Siragusa… Thats why i think we should get Grady Jackson & pair him up on running downs with Terdell “turd” Sands… But i guess we’ll have to wait and see…
GO RAIDERS!!!
July 5th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Unfortunetely, if the raiders don’t do well this year (i pray that i am wrong) then it will remain to be difficult for any raider to make the probowl(except for lechler of course haha) … but again i hope i am totally full of sh!t. as for the SLB position… I know we need depth at the DT position people.. but we need EXTREME HELP at this position.. the raiders need to make a big trade for someone that’s a urlacher type player.. a guy that can hunt down runners with no remorse for his well being and make plays on the ball in the air(much like our other 2 studs) … i mean, they havent had a dominating stud at this position in too many years to count. this is the weakest position on the team in my opinion, because there is very little talent competing for it.
July 5th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
p.s. i hope i am wrong about the turdman.. i hope he was just shaken up by the death in his family, and as rob or pat said the other day(sorry forgot which one of you), he’s been working his ass off in the weight room… good god that sent a big sigh of relief over me.. because i know if the man REALLY tries, he can be a dominating force against the run.. and even get hands on the QB when a full on blitz happens.
July 6th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Raiders will turn it around,…………
July 6th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
You forgot the biggest question mark facing these guys: can anybody step up and become a run stuffer? If not, gonna be another long season.
July 6th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
The biggest key to stuffing the run is whether or not the d line can keep the o line off the backers. Even Ray Lewis didn’t look that great when he didn’t have strong play in front of him.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Like i said and then Patrick said its all about the big men in front of you… Look at the best MLB in the league they usually have good and big DT’s in front keeping blockers off of them… Thats why i think it would be great to get Grady Jackson…. Then pair him up with Terdell “turd” Sands on most of the running downs… With Jackson then we can give Kelly a smaller role more of a situational role… Since he’s coming off a serious injury… And Jackson & Sands are both 300+lbs so that should help Morrison become a run stuffer…
GO RAIDERS!!!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Right Mark, we need a run stuffer! Morrison and Howard did great in pass coverage. In part the poor run defense was due to the guys upfront not protecting the LB’s from the O-line, but we have to have a hard nosed run stuffer. I thought they’d bring in a host of young guys to compete to upgrade at the SLB spot, but it hasn’t happened and I’m a little disapointed in that. We’ll just have to see how they do with hopefully much improved D-line play. I’m still a little concerned about both the D and O-lines.
Did we do enough?
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