Jalen Richard’s story is truly that of an underdog as he was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent following the 2016 NFL draft. The rookie was pretty mediocre at best during his college career at Southern Mississippi as he rushed for over 1,000 only once during his four years with the Golden Eagles.
Denarius Moore’s consistent play was enough to put him higher on this list than Curry even though Curry had more receiving yards. I had forgotten about Porter’s suspension in 2006 which stemmed from his bickering with then head coach Art Shell. I always wonder what these receivers could have done with the young star the Raiders now have under center. Either way, real fans can appreciate how far the Raiders have come from those days and enjoy even more the present day success.
In the first part of the preview and prediction series, we looked at the AFC East, and it was a unanimous decision that the Patriots would have no problem winning the crown there. Now, we get to start in the Raider Ramble’s back yard; Let’s take a look at the most notable offseason moves made in the AFC West.
Welcome to the first of our eight-part series as we take a look at each division in the NFL. The Raider Ramble will dive in and review the highlights of each division’s offseason moves as well as give our predictions for who we think will win each division and why. So let’s get underway as we start with the defending Super Bowl champions’ very own backyard.
In part one of this series, we took a look at the top three quarterbacks of the Oakland Raiders’ “Dark Age”. I’ve deemed this time with such gloom immediately after the Raiders lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2002 NFL Super Bowl up through the 2013 season, the season before Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, and Gabe Jackson were drafted. During this period the Silver and Black combined for a total record of 53-123. So now we will take a look at the best running backs during from this disastrous period.
As Raider Nation scans the 2017 horizon, one thing is clear, the “Autumn Wind” surely has begun to blow throughout the entire NFL landscape once again! Raiders fans across the globe are waiting with eager anticipation to watch their young talented team take the NFL head on and pillage and burn their way to an AFC West title for starters, then the AFC Championship, then claim the title as “World’s Best”. But one thing shouldn’t be forgotten; many dark days had to be endured to get to this point in Raiders history.
It’s no secret that injuries play a significant role in football and nobody knew that better than Oakland Raider fans in 2016. Indeed, Carr’s injury played the leading role in the demise of Oakland’s Super Bowl contention hopes last season, but two other injuries hurt the Raiders in 2016.Â
After an impressive 12-4 campaign in 2016, it’s no secret the Silver and Black are back. This may seem rather obvious at this point in time, but one year ago the franchise and its fan base still didn’t quite know what they had in Derek Carr after going 7-9 in 2015.
It’s no secret the Raiders have some pretty tall tasks ahead of them in the passing game with most of their competition coming directly from their own division, playing guys like Talib, Harris Jr., and Peters.
In spite of this, between Carr’s growth over the past few seasons and a young talented receiving corps. the Raiders should weather the storm and come out alright. Plus the addition of Marshawn Lynch in the backfield should create plenty of opportunities to keep the defense guessing.
Ask any Oakland Raiders fan about general manager Reggie McKenzie and they’ll tell you he seems to have the uncanny ability to pluck talented players out of a seemly vast ocean of “forgotten” rookies. Think Jalen Richard and Seth Roberts to name a couple, both of whom made a significant impact for the Silver and Black on the field and will have the opportunity continue to do so in 2017.
