Raiders Offensive Woes

Moss in the Media
Many different sources are reporting that Randy Moss was uspet after being taken out of yesterday's game without having the chance to make any plays. Reports say he threw his helmet and voiced his displeasure to coach Shell. A lot of people are veiwing this as a bad thing. I am happy to see that some of our players are concerned about winning and making plays, even in the preseason. I also think the media is blowing it out of context like they generally do with anything Moss related but having a player get fired up shows his passion for the game and for winning.

The Offensive Line
The struggles of our offense thus far in the preseason are largely due to the inability of our offensive line to pass protect. I have felt all offseason that our offensive line was going to be a great strength of this year's team but they haven't done anything to earn that trust yet. I am still optimistic that they will work out the problems yet this preseason but what options are available to us if they don't?
Here is a list of some of the Offensive Tackles that don't have a team:

Player	Experience
Ethan Brooks	9 years
Orlando Brown	11 years
Marc Colombo	5 years
Todd Fordham	10 years
Makoa Freitas	3 years
Adam Haayer	5 years
Brad Hopkins	14 years
Tony Pashos	4 years
Victor Riley	9 years
Jacob Rogers	2 years
Matt Willig	15 years

The best options from the list above are Orlando Brown and Brad Hopkins. Orlando Brown was cut from the Ravens after having problems dealing with eye injuries for the past few years. He was a pretty decent Tackle before his injury problems and might be decent option as a temporary quick fix for our offensive line if our current tackles don't improve before the regular season rolls around. Brad Hopkins is a pretty quality guy that retired this offseason. He played his entire career with one team so a return isn't likely. Jacob Rogers may not be a bad person too take a look at. He was drafted by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2004 draft. He hasn't lived up to his potential yet but maybe a change of scenery would help him out.

Of course there are other options. Lincoln Kennedy was looking to make a return to the NFL. He hasn't cut it for the teams that he tried out for but bringing him in may not be a bad idea. He would put some more pressure on our starters during the preseason even if he didn't make the cut. There is also the possibility of a trade. Jerry Porter wants out and if we have a more pressing need at another position, it may not be a bad idea to trade him.

Let's hope our current starters pick it up so we don't have to look at these other options. If we did end up bringing someone in they would most likley struggle with the silent count in the beginning as well. I think our current guys will improve as they master the silent count, if they don't I think Shell will scrap the silent count until next year.