Wed Jan 2 19:08:33 2008

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Evaluating the Raiders

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(Sports Network) - Have you noticed that we didn't seem to make fun of the Oakland Raiders as much this year? Why is that? After losing at home 30-17 to the Chargers on Sunday, they wound up finishing 4-12 and tied for last in the God-awful AFC West. If a coin flip goes their way, they could end up with the third overall pick in the 2008 draft. This is Clipper-esque, yet the ridicule did not pour into the eastern side of the Bay Area this year.

Credit first-year head coach Lane Kiffin for establishing a new line of credibility with this organization. Although lousy on paper, the Raiders were able to put a respectable product on the field in 2007. That's not something that can be said for the teams under the handful of previous coaching regimes. Still, Oakland finished the season on a four-game losing streak, which leaves a sour taste in the mouth of its 32-year-old head coach.

"Let's go back to reality," Kiffin said Monday. "We're 4-12. So, regardless of how we ended those (final) games, we got a lot to fix."

The fixing should start on the defensive side of the ball. A year ago, the Raiders defense ranked third in the league. That ranking turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors that derived from having one of the worst offenses in the history of football. Thanks to a coaching and roster overhaul this past spring, Oakland showed enough improvements on offense to expose its sub-standard defense. Fewer Raider turnovers and a better running game forced opponents to operate on a longer field. Presented with more acreage to march down, those opponents were able to rack up more yards against Rob Ryan's unit.

"It really was disappointing, because I really felt that the defense was gonna be our strength. I never told the offense that, but what I felt was we were going to play great defense," Kiffin said. "There had been a lot of improvement from two years ago to last year on defense, so I thought we'd continue to build that with returning 11 guys. Unfortunately, that's not the way it worked."

Consequently, Ryan's career in Oakland is no longer going to work out. The defensive coordinator is expected to leave later this week and take the same position with the New York Jets. Kiffin will be searching for a replacement. It just so happens that the defensive coordinator down in Tampa - the man who helped bring Kiffin into this world - is in the final year of his contract. You can handle the speculation on your own from here.

Whoever is in charge of the Raiders defense will at least have a talented group to work with. Individually, the Oakland defenders are primarily world- class athletes with tremendous potential. Linebackers Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard both pose tremendous speed, as well as the instincts necessary to force turnovers on a regular basis (they ranked first and second on the teams in tackles this season and combined for 10 interceptions). The secondary is laced with quick cover corners (Nnamdi Asomugha, Fabian Washington and Stanford Routt) who are a few great tutorials away from having the technique required of an upper-tier stopper. If those players can develop - Asomugha already has developed; Washington is close and 2008 will be a make-or-break year for Routt - then last year's No. 7 overall pick, safety Michael Huff, will be allowed to roam free and develop as a playmaker.

Up front, the Raiders' best players happen to be their oldest: defensive end Derrick Burgess and defensive tackle Warren Sapp. Both still have at least one more good season left in them, but as Oakland's feeble run defense proved this season, both need more help around them.

Obviously we haven't even addressed the offensive side of the ball, which revolves around the development of JaMarcus Russell. The rookie quarterback made his first career start against the Chargers on Sunday. His performance followed the usual script: amazing arm, undeveloped pro football IQ. The result was a solid but not spectacular 23-of-31 for 224 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

Russell has the talent to be a star and, thanks largely to Tom Cable's new zone-blocking scheme, it appears that he'll have the run game support needed to ensure he'll be facing an honest defense each week (Oakland ranked sixth in the league in rushing this season).

For the first time since the Jon Gruden era, the Raiders head into an offseason good enough to at least have a sense of direction in reconstructing their club. How long the reconstruction project takes remains to be seen, but you can bet that the head coach isn't going to be vacillating at any stage.

"We'll make some changes this off-season, we'll get ready to go for year two, and make sure that everybody's on board," Kiffin said. "Now (the players) understand us better and what our expectations are.

"(They) understand that it's not OK because we played some teams well, and we won a couple of divisional games. That's not OK. This season was not a success."

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Contact Andy Benoit: abenoit@benoitmedia.com