Nfl.com- Gil Brandt predicts afc west title for Oakland

[TheLongshot]

they added a rookie linebacker, an over the hill Dlineman, and a solid linebacker. thats really gonna help them score more points with campbell, no oline, no receivers, and justin fargas.

i do expect zac miller to have 1900 yards next season. campbell will be throwing to that dude on every friggin down.

I guess you forget that they are installing a new offensive system as well.

I'll disagree about the no receivers thing. Louis Murphy was a solid target as a rookie and it sounds like Heyward-Bey is starting to pick things up. There is also a lot of potential in the backfield with Michael Bush and Darren McFadden.

You are correct that a lot is going to depend on the OL, which was not good last year. The Raiders had a surprisingly solid draft this year which included a couple of OL, but whether they make an impact this year is under question.

I think that unless there is a big dropoff with the Chargers, they pretty much have the division. I think Denver is set up for a Zorn-like fall and there are still a lot of questions about Kansas City. Given that, I think 2nd place for the Raiders is certainly a possibility. But, there is a lot of baggage that team needs to get over.

[Big Blue Joe]

they added a rookie linebacker, an over the hill Dlineman, and a solid linebacker. thats really gonna help them score more points with campbell, no oline, no receivers, and justin fargas.

Miller is a very good receiving TE. Murphy and Schilens are up and coming receivers who've flashed talent despite the worst QB play in the NFL. And now that he's receiving some decent coaching, I've seen a number of positive reports on the progress DHB has made this offseason. Plus, Bush and McFadden, while oft-injured, are two very physically gifted RB's. If one of them can make it through the season, they won't miss Fargas at all. Personally, I'd take the Raiders' skill position players over the Redskins.

[Skins_Win_Again]

Please freaking do. The Raiders are clearly the worst team in that entire division and it's not even close. Denvers demise is over blown. The Chiefs are climbing up and getting better every year. The Chargers are going to be fine with or without Jackson. Thinking the Raiders stand a chance to win that division is beyond stupid. All of that talk will stop the minute real football is played. For that matter show me the 8 wins you see here:

http://www.raiders.com/schedule/season-schedule.html

And Jason Campbell is garbage, always been garbage and always will be trash. I don't give a damn if the man's got a great personality, this isn't ethics. It's football. And I could name 20 QB's I'd rather have them him. The best move this offseason any teams made on any team will likely be the Redskins kicking that piece of trash out and installing a real QB for once.

i can't understand how you could put the chiefs above the raiders. you're pathetic you can't even approach the issue logically. just because you hate campbell all football logic goes out the window.

Here's my breakdown of their schedule..

1. Titans- L

2. Rams- W

3. Cardinals- W

4. Texans- L

5. Chargers- L

6. 49ers- L

7. Broncos- W

8. Seahawks- W

9. Chiefs- W

10. Steelers- L

11. Fins- L

12. Chargers- L

13. Jaguars- W

14. Broncos- w

15. Colts- L

16. Chiefs- W

I only have them going 8-8 here however, they could beat some of the teams i have them losing to such as the Titans and the 49ers. They also could sweep the broncos as i could easily see the broncos going 6-10 this year. Plus there is a chance that they could split with the chargers depending on how effective their rookie is

[ntotoro]

I guess you forget that they are installing a new offensive system as well.

Ah, yes... another new Offense for Campbell to learn. As we have seen, he hasn't proven to be the quickest read (pun intended).

[Skins_Win_Again]

Miller is a very good receiving TE. Murphy and Schilens are up and coming receivers who've flashed talent despite the worst QB play in the NFL. And now that he's receiving some decent coaching, I've seen a number of positive reports on the progress DHB has made this offseason. Plus, Bush and McFadden, while oft-injured, are two very physically gifted RB's. If one of them can make it through the season, they won't miss Fargas at all. Personally, I'd take the Raiders' skill position players over the Redskins.

miller is a stud but i'd have to go with the cooley davis combo

[Skins_Win_Again]

Ah, yes... another new Offense for Campbell to learn. As we have seen, he hasn't proven to be the quickest read (pun intended).

lol well hue's offense is the one which campbell ran so effectively at auburn. I thik he'll have better success in an offense that fits him better.

[ntotoro]

lol well hue's offense is the one which campbell ran so effectively at auburn. I thik he'll have better success in an offense that fits him better.

College success in a system is worth less than Confederate dollars in the NFL. He also had two of the best College RB's of all-time.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

I don't know about that, not that Gradkowski is considered great by any means. Whenever people talk about Campbell, they never talk about how great a QB he is. It's always how he keeps coming up after a beating and is a stand-up guy. I'm still waiting for an analyst, broadcaster or whomever to say Campbell is a great QB around whom you can build a winning team.

I never said football analysts called Campbell "great", though.

I merely said that they looked at what the Raiders' looked like with Gradkowski leading the offense and I believe most feel Campbell is better than Gradkowski. So it would stand to reason that they feel JC would help improve the Raiders even more. I don't think they feel any real improvement on the Raiders will be ONLY due to Campbell, though...almost all sports mediots believed the Raiders had a pretty damn good offseason and draft so far.

I truly don't think any team in the NFL other than the Redskins would have let Campbell play as long as he did without getting the proverbial hook.

I think the Raiders kept Russell as their starter for 3 seasons, although he may have been benched for a few games during that time. I personally prefer sticking with a young drafted QB for longer than may be necessary than giving him the quick hook.

And in Campbell's case it does make sense. He started the last 7 games of 2006 and showed enough promise and potential to go ahead and throw him in the deep end of the pool the next season and see if he could swim. He started off the 2007 season looking like he could at the very least tread water (3-1 record, road win against the Eagles on national TV, incredibly efficient game against the Lions)...things started falling apart after that, though, and then he got injured.

Apparently in 2008 the Skins didn't want to invest starter time in an ancient Todd Collins and wanted to see if Campbell could take another step up in his 2nd year as starter from Day One...and during those first 8 games he definitely looked like he had taken the required steps to becoming a good QB (6-2 record, zero INTs, tons of praise in the media on his improvement, etc)...but then once again things started falling apart for him.

I think after the 1st half of the 2008 season Zorn truly felt he could win with Campbell and didn't see a need for a QB competition because of it. He put all his chips on the table with JC as his QB and...well, you saw what happened there lol ...

He did just enough to keep from losing his job here, a 4-12 team.

I'm not sure it's fair or accurate claiming a "4-12 team" sums up Campbell's production while he was the Skins' QB. Not to mention that there was a ****load of reasons for the Skins' lousy record last year, and pretty much all non-Skins fans have no problem whatsoever laying the blame in a lot of significant areas besides QB production.

[redskindan07]

Oakland should show some improvement but I don't see them winning the division anytime soon

[Skins_Win_Again]

College success in a system is worth less than Confederate dollars in the NFL. He also had two of the best College RB's of all-time.

i just meant he'd understand the terminology better and the general idea of how things worked.

[addicted]

i can't understand how you could put the chiefs above the raiders. you're pathetic you can't even approach the issue logically. just because you hate campbell all football logic goes out the window.

I see much more talent on the Chiefs then the sorry ass Raiders. With or without Campbell. Every offensive skill position minus maybe TE the advantage goes to the Chiefs. I'd rather have the skilled offensive players on the Chiefs then the Raiders:

Chiefs: Matt Cassell, Dwayne Bowe, Chris Champbers, Jamaal Charles

Raiders: Jason Campbell, Darren McFadden, Chaz Schilens, Darrius Heyward-Bey

The Chiefs have a better Defense then the Raiders do. Now MR. Illogical tell me why you think the Chiefs are worse then the Raiders?

[Skins_Win_Again]

I see much more talent on the Chiefs then the sorry ass Raiders. With or without Campbell. Every offensive skill position minus maybe TE the advantage goes to the Chiefs. I'd rather have the skilled offensive players on the Chiefs then the Raiders:

Chiefs: Matt Cassell, Dwayne Bowe, Chris Champbers, Jamaal Charles

Raiders: Jason Campbell, Darren McFadden, Chaz Schilens, Darrius Heyward-Bey

The Chiefs have a better Defense then the Raiders do. Now MR. Illogical tell me why you think the Chiefs are worse then the Raiders?

because i'd take campbell over cassell, i'd take the raiders rb combo of bush and mcfadden and they have a better tight end. the only offensive weapon the chiefs have which is better are the receivers. and defensively, the raiders are better. thats why.

[Big Blue Joe]

The Chiefs have a better Defense then the Raiders do.

Based on what?

[TheLongshot]

I see much more talent on the Chiefs then the sorry ass Raiders. With or without Campbell. Every offensive skill position minus maybe TE the advantage goes to the Chiefs. I'd rather have the skilled offensive players on the Chiefs then the Raiders:

Chiefs: Matt Cassell, Dwayne Bowe, Chris Champbers, Jamaal Charles

Raiders: Jason Campbell, Darren McFadden, Chaz Schilens, Darrius Heyward-Bey

The Chiefs have a better Defense then the Raiders do. Now MR. Illogical tell me why you think the Chiefs are worse then the Raiders?

Right now, the QBs are a push. Charles is certainly better than McFadden right now, but considering that RB tandems are all the rage, that might not be as big of a deal. Chris Chambers? Really? I see him as a role player at this point in his career. Bowe also struggled last year.

As for defense, I'm not sure how you can say that with a straight face. The Chiefs were near the bottom of the league in nearly every category. The Raiders weren't much better, but at least they could hang their hat on pass defense. Tho, I can say that the Chiefs do have an edge in picking off passes.

[Hitman21ST]

The Raiders weren't much better, but at least they could hang their hat on pass defense. Tho, I can say that the Chiefs do have an edge in picking off passes.

But the Raiders have the edge in rushing the passer and in linebackers.

[addicted]

because i'd take campbell over cassell, i'd take the raiders rb combo of bush and mcfadden and they have a better tight end. the only offensive weapon the chiefs have which is better are the receivers. and defensively, the raiders are better. thats why.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong...

Cassell with Charlie Weis will stomp the crap out of Campbell. Wrong. Cassell is for real, Campbell is a mirage. No question Cassell is better

Charles is way better then Bush and McFadden. Two 3's don't make a 1. Charles is for real and holds it down better then those two garbage players. Forget about selling the idea that a tandum is better then a star with those two. If you were speaking about Carolinas backfield then I'd agree because Stewart and Williams are both beasts. However Bush and McFadden aren't anything as good as Carolinas backfield and neither of those two men would even push for playing time over Charles. Forget that noise

The Raiders only have a better TE then the Chiefs on offense. But I said that anyway. You can swing from the black holes nuts if you want but the Chiefs will have a better record then they do this year. I'll bet on that

[Mahons21]

lol well hue's offense is the one which campbell ran so effectively at auburn. I thik he'll have better success in an offense that fits him better.

His best year was actually his senior year, when he won SEC player of the year etc... That year he ran a WCO, and everyone on the Campbell train was riding it hard 2 years ago saying how great he would do in the WCO with Zorn... We saw how that turned out.

[addicted]

Right now, the QBs are a push. Charles is certainly better than McFadden right now, but considering that RB tandems are all the rage, that might not be as big of a deal. Chris Chambers? Really? I see him as a role player at this point in his career. Bowe also struggled last year.

Man what the hell? Seriously what the hell? You did not just disrespect the Chiefs WR's did you? What do the Raiders have for WR's that can even be spoken about? Don't disrepect Bowe and Chambers when you speak about a comparison to the Raiders WR's. That's a bunch of crap. I didn't say they were great and compare them to great WR's, we were comparing the Chiefs to the Raiders. And if your saying Oakland has better WR's then the Chiefs your a fool. Otherwise your analysis was on point except Charles is a beast and those two busted asses the Raiders got aren't nothing compared to him

As for defense, I'm not sure how you can say that with a straight face. The Chiefs were near the bottom of the league in nearly every category. The Raiders weren't much better, but at least they could hang their hat on pass defense. Tho, I can say that the Chiefs do have an edge in picking off passes.

You said it yourself. One was ranked 4 places in front of the other and both of them were at the bottom of the barrel. One led in sacks, the other in INT's. Either way I can say this with a straight face, your face might get all twisted but to me 4 spots aint that much of a difference when your ranked 26th and 30th. Seems about even to me.

[TheLongshot]

Man what the hell? Seriously what the hell? You did not just disrespect the Chiefs WR's did you? What do the Raiders have for WR's that can even be spoken about? Don't disrepect Bowe and Chambers when you speak about a comparison to the Raiders WR's. That's a bunch of crap. I didn't say they were great and compare them to great WR's, we were comparing the Chiefs to the Raiders. And if your saying Oakland has better WR's then the Chiefs your a fool. Otherwise your analysis was on point except Charles is a beast and those two busted asses the Raiders got aren't nothing compared to him

Nowhere did I say that the Raiders were better at WR right now, tho I think they have more upside than what the Chiefs have. Bowe is the best they got, and Chambers hasn't been an impact player in years. Who else to they have besides them? Then there is TE, where Pope isn't going to make people forget about Gonzalez.

At least with the Raiders you can talk about the potential with Murphy, Schilens and Heyward-Bey. There isn't much doubt that Olsen is a stud.

You said it yourself. One was ranked 4 places in front of the other and both of them were at the bottom of the barrel. One led in sacks, the other in INT's. Either way I can say this with a straight face, your face might get all twisted but to me 4 spots aint that much of a difference when your ranked 26th and 30th. Seems about even to me.

And the Raiders were 7th in pass defense. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are starting over on both sides of the ball with new coordinators.

[Big Blue Joe]

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong...

Cassell with Charlie Weis will stomp the crap out of Campbell. Wrong. Cassell is for real, Campbell is a mirage. No question Cassell is better

What are you basing this on? Cassell was awful last year. He hasn't even looked mediocre without Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

[jflow78]

So the Raiders have a good/upgraded defense, no offensive line, one WR threat, one runningback, a coach on the hot seat, a crazy owner who can't be patient enough with a decision to stick with it, and JC at QB.................wasn't that the Skins last season?

......and they're learning a new offense......that can't be good. I really don't understand how anyone thinks they're going to be great this season. Didn't we try to sign/trade lots of players in the offseason, improve our defense, had JC at QB, and a head coach who not many would have considered for a HC job and we went 4-12. I'm just saying I think they're going to stink this year just like we did last year.

Oh, and besides, it's Gil Brandt and he says that Dallas is going to the SB EVERY YEAR. Somehow he's lost his credibility.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

So the Raiders have a good/upgraded defense, no offensive line, one WR threat, one runningback, a coach on the hot seat, a crazy owner who can't be patient enough with a decision to stick with it, and JC at QB.................wasn't that the Skins last season?

Yet they still won more games than the Skins, and this is with JaMarcus stinkin' Russell starting 9 games ...

A few other things that probably will effect their season:

The Raiders have a much, MUCH better offensive coordinator than the Skins of 2009 had...

And the Raiders have a much, much, MUCH easier division to compete in.

[Skins_Win_Again]

Yet they still won more games than the Skins, and this is with JaMarcus stinkin' Russell starting 9 games ...

A few other things that probably will effect their season:

The Raiders have a much, MUCH better offensive coordinator than the Skins of 2009 had...

And the Raiders have a much, much, MUCH easier division to compete in.

Thats the reason why i could see them achieving 8-8.

[addicted]

What are you basing this on? Cassell was awful last year. He hasn't even looked mediocre without Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

Meh I think Weis knows the kid and offensive systems better then the last bozo they had in there but honestly I don't care about the Chiefs so I surrender, Jason Campbell and the Raiders are better then the Chiefs....

Seriously I don't think that's true at all and believe the Chiefs surprise people this year not the Raiders. There's nothing about the Raiders I like except the CB who's name is so strange I can't write it. The rest of that team sucks. There fans suck. There owner looks like the walking dead. And they now have my least favorite NFL player leading them. **** that team. I will however surrender for now and let the Campbell lovefest continue

[Hooper]

Their defense will have to be great, because it is simply too hard to score with JC under center. He'll move the chains and he won't turn the ball over... but he won't attack defenses enough to score more than 16 points a game.