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

[darrelgreenie]

Ryan, NJ

If both Marcus McNeil and Vincent Jackson holdout until week 10, what would be your guess for the final standings in the AFC West?

Gil Brandt, NFL.com

Hi Ryan, if that were to happen, I think you'd see the Oakland Raiders at the top of the AFC West. San Diego probably finishes second, followed by Kansas City and Denver.

There is also a clip on nfl.com where Charles Davis predicts Oakland to be the surprise team of the year.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d818fcedc/Surprise-surprise

not exactly groundbreaking but i found it interesting

obviously one of the major reasons for their success would be because of this guy stepping up..

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo162/aaron1677/jason_raider.jpg

First off, I want you to know that i respect Gil Brandt opinion more then everyone else in the NFL.

And, seen him speak/write in praise of Campbell before, but in the Q/A you posted he's refering to a specific question regarding what would happen IF McNeil and Jackson hold out until week 10.

I don't think he's picking the Raiders to win the AFC West UNLESS those 2 players are out of the picture.

I think that the Jason is a huge improvement over any QB theyhad last year.

But, in order for a QB to help a team win games they gotta have other pieces. Although their Oline is an upgrade from our line last year its still a question mark just like their WRs.

Even though i agree that Jason makes them a much better team i see a best case scenario for the Raiders as 7-9.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

this thread is so full of crazy its unreal. the raiders are dreadful, far worse than the skins last year. yeah they won 1 more game, they play in a lame division with another roll over team but in general they are just a mess. they have NO running game. those of you claiming bush and mcfadden are a good tandem need to put the pipe down. these guys have amassed absolutely NOTHING in their careers to this point and all things considered are mostly worthless. neither have amassed over 600 yards in a season, and mcfadden as the 4th overall pick is looking like a serious bust. on top of that the guy is injured constantly. so i have no clue how any of you can claim these guys are going to be productive, especially now with another weak QB and a poor oline in the mix.

couple this with a crop of no name speedy receivers and another most likely failed first round pick, AND with an oline thats made up of cast offs and previous raiders failures, you have the makings of a garbage offense. adding campbell helps next to nothing. he'll still have all the same problems, in a brand new offense for him, with sub par players at numerous positions, and a poor oline. the pity party will be even worse than it was here, and maybe thats rightfully so considering how weak oakland really is. but anyone thinking theyre not losing at the very least 9 games is insane.

oakland will still be bad, very very bad. and draft zach miller in the first round, he'll be an absolute stud next year once captain stare down realizes hes a possession machine.

[jflow78]

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.

Yeah, but they were in the same weak division last season.........AND the Skins beat the snot out of them last year 34-13 which shows that their Defense was HORID and their offense wasn't very good either. A couple patch ups here and there isn't going to make THAT big of a change, IMO.

I'm just saying, it's going to take a lot for them to "win the division". Even if they DO improve by 3 or 4 games I don't think it happens.

[TheLongshot]

Yeah, but they were in the same weak division last season.........AND the Skins beat the snot out of them last year 34-13 which shows that their Defense was HORID and their offense wasn't very good either. A couple patch ups here and there isn't going to make THAT big of a change, IMO.

Kinda misleading since going into the 4th quarter they were only behind by a point. It was close until their defense finally wore down from being on the field so much due to Russell being able to do nothing out there. It would have been a bit more interesting if Gradkowski hung around. I think Campbell is better than both.

As I said before, most of this potential success depends on the OL becoming a serviceable unit. A tall order, since they were one of the worst OLs last year. But, all it takes is the right couple of players to accomplish that. Did they get them? That's still unknown.

[Area51]

I wouldn’t dismiss the Raiders this soon. First of all, lets looks at their D.

In the secondary, they have a top 2 CB in…#21, & M.Huff, a top 10 talent who had started playing much better last year. Their LB crew is young, and has great potential (although I don’t agree w/them trading Kirk Morrison - who was a local kid/grew up a Raiders fan - & solid starting MLB. They got very little value in return for him).

With the addition of Richard Seymour, not only did he play great on the field, but he was/is the 'veteran leader’ which that team/defense needed. With a whole year on the team, expect the Raiders’ D to be one of the best in the league. Even if you take out the improvements/upgrades they made this offseason, they were capable of keeping high scoring offenses - like the Eagles - to single digit scores at times last season.

On offense, McFadden may or may not pan out, but they have Michael Bush, who is now 3 years removed from his broken leg. Their WRs are all young, with great upside, as well as their TE.

As for OL, I think they’ll be able to do an adequate job, especially since their HC (Tom Cable) is an OL guy.

The "X" factor is…Campbell. Campbell, IMO, got lucky in going to Oakland, because that is the one place where I can see him revive his career and have some success as a starting QB.

The problem with JC with the Redskins was the way he was coached. From Gibbs to Zorn, they always emphasized on "ball control" & "low turnovers/fewest mistakes." If Campbell forgets all that, and is encouraged to take more risks/throw the deeb ball (without having to worry about the coaches going crazy if he threw an INT), I can see him succeed.

Give Campbell more freedom to throw the ball (beyond 5 yards), add in two WRs that run 4.30 40’s & are over 6’1'' tall, (and the safety valve in Miller), encourage him to take chances/play 'loose'…and he might just be a decent QB for them.

All this and the fact that Al Davis has 'backed off' a considerable amount this past offseason, which automatically gives Cable more control & respect as the REAL HC (& leader of their team) by the players, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them win the AFC West, or at least competing for the crown until the end of the season.

+The issues of all the other teams

SD -

-Still have their Franchise LT, top WR, and best Defensive player all holding out.

-Traded their starting CB, who was also a great KR & their only DB that has proven in the past to be able to make incredible "game-changing" INTs/Defensive TDs.

-A Rookie RB, who while LOOKS very promising, he has had a tough time staying healthy during his college career…how will he last in the NFL?

-Possible MAJOR locker room issues with Jackson, Merriman and McNeil.

KC-

-A QB who still is a major "?"

-New OC/DC.

-2-of-3 most recent TOP 5 first round picks have been disappointing so far (Glenn Dorsey…why did he have so much hype again?)

-Their defense, while having some promising young players at some positions, has HISTORICALLY sucked (Miles Austin is still waiting to be tackled)

*Den*

*Their Head Coach is ****ing nuts.

**Their Head Coach is seriously ****ing nuts!

***Have I mentioned their Head Coach, who is seriously ****ing nuts!?

*quick list of "WTF is McDaniels thinking" moves

-trade away franchise QB, then draft a QB in the first round after one year (who has a lot of doubters and "?" as to whether he can even play QB in the NFL), & trade for ANOTHER former 1st round pick QB (Brady Quinn), just to make things interesting...

-trade away quite possibly the best WR in the game, only to turn around and draft a WR in the first round (who has injury issues, btw)…& to say the reason they drafted him is because the rookie WR reminds him of the WR that he just recently traded away…lol

-hire a great D.Coordinator, have a top 10 D, then turnaround and fire him over the offseason…ok…

-Mess with your current starting QB, send him mixed signals, for what reason...only have him doubt himself?

——

So yeah, the AFC West is a cluster****, and the Raiders’ winning that division doesn’t seem so impossible.

[Skins_Win_Again]

this thread is so full of crazy its unreal. the raiders are dreadful, far worse than the skins last year. yeah they won 1 more game, they play in a lame division with another roll over team but in general they are just a mess. they have NO running game. those of you claiming bush and mcfadden are a good tandem need to put the pipe down. these guys have amassed absolutely NOTHING in their careers to this point and all things considered are mostly worthless. neither have amassed over 600 yards in a season, and mcfadden as the 4th overall pick is looking like a serious bust. on top of that the guy is injured constantly. so i have no clue how any of you can claim these guys are going to be productive, especially now with another weak QB and a poor oline in the mix.

couple this with a crop of no name speedy receivers and another most likely failed first round pick, AND with an oline thats made up of cast offs and previous raiders failures, you have the makings of a garbage offense. adding campbell helps next to nothing. he'll still have all the same problems, in a brand new offense for him, with sub par players at numerous positions, and a poor oline. the pity party will be even worse than it was here, and maybe thats rightfully so considering how weak oakland really is. but anyone thinking theyre not losing at the very least 9 games is insane.

oakland will still be bad, very very bad. and draft zach miller in the first round, he'll be an absolute stud next year once captain stare down realizes hes a possession machine.

yes their o-line is sub par. but worse then ours? unlikely. our o-line was the worst ive ever seen. at the reciever position murphy is looking to be a young talent for them who i could see being pretty productive. i mean look at what he accomplished last year with jamarcus at qb. and their runningback group isn't as bad as you make it out to be. mcfadden does good on outside run plays but is awful on inside ones. problem fixed seeing as how bush weighs in at 240.

the most important factor on offense to consider is campbell. if you think hes bad watch a highlight of jamarcus. campbell looks like a HOF in comparison.

Also, their schedule is easy so really even if they were worse then the skins last year talent wise, much much better coaching and an easy schedule will lead to many more wins.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

yes their o-line is sub par. but worse then ours? unlikely. our o-line was the worst ive ever seen. at the reciever position murphy is looking to be a young talent for them who i could see being pretty productive. i mean look at what he accomplished last year with jamarcus at qb. and their runningback group isn't as bad as you make it out to be. mcfadden does good on outside run plays but is awful on inside ones. problem fixed seeing as how bush weighs in at 240.

the most important factor on offense to consider is campbell. if you think hes bad watch a highlight of jamarcus. campbell looks like a HOF in comparison.

Also, their schedule is easy so really even if they were worse then the skins last year talent wise, much much better coaching and an easy schedule will lead to many more wins.

lol, i love the "our oline was the worst ive ever seen" comments. the hyperbole is nuts. our oline sucked, but it was far from historically bad. our oline looked worse than it truly was because we had a bad QB behind center, and im sure the raiders suffer from that syndrome as well, but they have only added a player that will continue that line.

mcfadden is fast, thats it. yeah he can get to the edge, too bad hes just never proved he can do it consistently or in large chunks. and bush is just a bruiser, nothing to get excited about. they easily have the worst RB tandem in that division. and murphy and DHB and JLH are all just meh receivers unproven receivers. theyre never going to excel with campbell back there, just like our guys didnt.

and for the last time, looking good next to jamarcus the hutt is not an endorsement, that just means hes not the worst ever. trying to use russell to elevate another players worth is embarrassing to the other player.

[TheLongshot]

lol, i love the "our oline was the worst ive ever seen" comments. the hyperbole is nuts. our oline sucked, but it was far from historically bad. our oline looked worse than it truly was because we had a bad QB behind center, and im sure the raiders suffer from that syndrome as well, but they have only added a player that will continue that line.

Sure, that's why we've replaced 3 starters on the line, the line was perfectly fine. :doh:

The Raiders have actually added 3 players to the line: a guard to back up the injury-prone Gallery and two tackles in the draft. (Actually, Bruce Campbell has been working at Guard in minicamp. I'm guessing that they expect him to be a reserve in his first year, while Veldheer holds down RT.)

[Mahons21]

Sure, that's why we've replaced 3 starters on the line, the line was perfectly fine. :doh:

-BLC see said "our line sucked," how you interpreted that as our line was fine is beyond me.

He claimed our line wasn't one of the worst ever in the history of the NFL as some suggest, and he's spot on. In addition last season the skins line ranked 27th in pass protection, while the Raiders ranked 31st, but ya they're going to be able to give Campbell the 5 seconds he needs because they added a couple rookie guards as depth...

The Raiders have actually added 3 players to the line: a guard to back up the injury-prone Gallery and two tackles in the draft. (Actually, Bruce Campbell has been working at Guard in minicamp. I'm guessing that they expect him to be a reserve in his first year, while Veldheer holds down RT.)

-So if their awful starters go down they'll have a couple rookie guards that could possibly step up? Look out...

[jflow78]

Kinda misleading since going into the 4th quarter they were only behind by a point. It was close until their defense finally wore down from being on the field so much due to Russell being able to do nothing out there.

They were actually down by 4 points going into the 4th, but it doesn't really matter. They were down by 7 at half time and at that point in the season our team was known for having leads and losing them in the 4th quarter the previous 3 weeks. So you would have thought they could have won the game. And, they actually had the ball for 4 minutes longer than us, so our defense should have been more tired than they, especially since, going into the 4th, they also had the lead in time of possession by about 10 minutes. It's not like we ran down the clock on them either, we only ran 27 times and threw 28. Bottom line is their defense is one of the worst in the league to have given up 295 yards to our ridiculously bad offense. It was our highest scoring game of the season in a season where we scored 20 or more only 5 times. They killed themselves in penalties (108 yards) which says bad coaching to go with everything else.

Heck, their offense was even worse, 31st in the league, one of only two not to score 200 points total (St Louis was the other, Tampa Bay beat Oakland for 30th by almost 50 points, and for total yards they were worse than the Rams). We beat the Rams by 1 point, we beat the Raiders by 21. Their defense was 26th in the league in yards given up, and 23rd in points given up. All this, in a WEAK division.

A couple additions doesn't suddenly make their team division leaders. NO WAY. At most they win 6 games (St Louis, KC twice, Denver once, Seattle, and either Tennessee or Jacksonville, not both).

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Sure, that's why we've replaced 3 starters on the line, the line was perfectly fine. :doh:

The Raiders have actually added 3 players to the line: a guard to back up the injury-prone Gallery and two tackles in the draft. (Actually, Bruce Campbell has been working at Guard in minicamp. I'm guessing that they expect him to be a reserve in his first year, while Veldheer holds down RT.)

lol, so let me get this straight. me saying "yes our oline sucked" somehow translates to "the line was perfectly fine".

man, drew brees sucks.

[Big Blue Joe]

A couple additions doesn't suddenly make their team division leaders. NO WAY. At most they win 6 games (St Louis, KC twice, Denver once, Seattle, and either Tennessee or Jacksonville, not both).

I don't get it. They won 5 games last year with Jamarcus Russell starting the majority of their games. How is 6 wins this season with better QB play and a better defense the best-case scenario?

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

I don't get it. They won 5 games last year with Jamarcus Russell starting the majority of their games. How is 6 wins this season with better QB play and a better defense the best-case scenario?

again, with 12 seconds of research youd know how wrong this is. jamarcus started 2 of their wins, gradkowski started 2 of their wins, and charlie frye started 1 win.

russell started 9 games, and was pulled in 1 of those 9 and never started again.

[Big Blue Joe]

again, with 12 seconds of research youd know how wrong this is. jamarcus started 2 of their wins, gradkowski started 2 of their wins, and charlie frye started 1 win.

russell started 9 games, and was pulled in 1 of those 9 and never started again.

Um, so which part of my post was inaccurate?

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Um, so which part of my post was inaccurate?

they won 5 games with russell starting the majority of them is just an inaccurate statement, considering he was responsible for 2 wins which is less than half of their total. your post made it sound like jamarcus won 5 games, so campbell being a big upgrade could clearly win more, yet russell only won 2 games.

and lets get real, campbell won 4 out of 16 starts, russell won 2 out 9 starts. campbell might get them to 7-9.

[Hooper]

The Raiders big problem was scoring points last year.

So what did they do?

They added a QB who no matter the coach, scheme, or players around him has struggled to put points on the board.

That said, they should win more games than last. Getting rid of Russell was a big step forward.

[jflow78]

......and lets get real, campbell won 4 out of 16 starts, russell won 2 out 9 starts. campbell might get them to 7-9.

The Raiders big problem was scoring points last year.

So what did they do?

They added a QB who no matter the coach, scheme, or players around him has struggled to put points on the board.....

DING! and DING!

I was never anti-JC and I'll cheer for the guy and hope Oakland can do better and win their division and blah blah blah, but that doesn't mean he's going to take a team that was statistically worse than us in EVERY category except wins (by one) and in a significantly weaker division and make them division champs over the Chargers who have been one of the stronger regular season teams in the AFC (2nd last season at 13-3) and 4th in points scored in the league, and 11th in the league in points against, while the Raiders were very close to the bottom of the league in ALL these categories. I'm sorry but JC isn't a franchise lifting QB, and adding a couple people to a defense doesn't make better than the Chargers.

Trust me, I'd LOVE to eat these words because I HATE Norv Turner and would love for the San Diego to turn into a year in year out bottom feeder as a result of his coaching and AJ Smith's ginormous ego. So, if they win the division, I'll fess up and say, "Oh well, looks like IDK ****", but I really don't think it's going to happen.

[pjfootballer]

im planning on calling you out once they go 8-8

Oooh, an 8-8 callout. By the way, Brandt predicted they'd win the division. Hard to win the divison at 8-8. It's been done, but highly unlikely. Also, SD is fine at WR with Malcolm Floyd to fill in.

[illone]

Love how the Skins suck with Campbell and all of sudden he is gonna turn the Raiders around?

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Love how the Skins suck with Campbell and all of sudden he is gonna turn the Raiders around?

lol, he couldnt cut it here in 4 years, but he'll do fine in oakland where everybody fails. duh!

[Enter Apotheosis]

Give Campbell more freedom to throw the ball (beyond 5 yards)

Zorn and Gibbs didn't go out of their way to restrict Campbell to short range passes. Campbell simply lacked the anticipation and vision to find his targets downfield.

[TheLongshot]

lol, so let me get this straight. me saying "yes our oline sucked" somehow translates to "the line was perfectly fine".

man, drew brees sucks.

Except for that part where you walked it back to bash your favorite player.

Both teams' O-lines sucked last year. Who was worse is a pointless argument which says nothing about either team.

[shuler74]

I can see them in the playoffs ...team is not as bad as some think you never know in the NFL

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Except for that part where you walked it back to bash your favorite player.

Both teams' O-lines sucked last year. Who was worse is a pointless argument which says nothing about either team.

our oline sucked. its suckitutde was helped out by jason campbells suckitutde. we have since fixed both areas with probowlers, high draft picks, and future hall of famers.

the raiders have added some late round draft picks and a poor quarterback. they will continue to suck.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

they won 5 games with russell starting the majority of them is just an inaccurate statement, considering he was responsible for 2 wins which is less than half of their total. your post made it sound like jamarcus won 5 games, so campbell being a big upgrade could clearly win more, yet russell only won 2 games.

and lets get real, campbell won 4 out of 16 starts, russell won 2 out 9 starts. campbell might get them to 7-9.

You completely misread his post.

He didn't say Russell started the majority of the Raiders' wins...he said the Raiders had 5 wins with Russell starting the majority of the games. What that means is that essentially the Raiders threw away any real chance of winning in 9 games last year...and they won 5 games. Tossing Russell off the team should result in a best-case scenario of FAR more than merely one extra win.