The Oakland Raiders have been one of the most active teams this offseason and with training camps getting ready to start this week, the team is ready and players are arriving in Napa for workouts with head coach Dennis Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie as they try to rebound from a 4-12 season.
Training camps are the first real start to the NFL season and with the preseason coming sooner than many think, players like Matt Flynn, Darren McFadden, Nick Roach, Tyler Wilson, DJ Hayden and Charles Woodson will need to be ready to play hard and learn all the new things that the coaching staff wants to improve this year. The team made a number of new additions and cut various players from the roster and now they have the chance to make some noise in the AFC West against the Broncos.
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The Raiders have fallen on hard times and they appear to finally be back on track, but it remains to be seen what the collective talent is on the roster and both McKenzie and Allen are hoping it's better than 4-12. Here is the training camp roster, stars next to the names mean likely starters.
Quarterbacks: Matt Flynn, Terrelle Pryor, Tyler Wilson, Matt McGloin
Running backs: Darren McFadden, *Marcel Reece (FB), Rashad Jennings, Latavius Murray, Jeremy Stewart, Deonte' Williams, Jon Hoese (FB), Jamize Olawale (RB-FB)
Wide receivers: Denarius Moore, *Rod Streater, Jacoby Ford, Juron Criner, Josh Cribbs, Brice Butler, Conner Vernon, Sam McGuffie, Andre Holmes, Tray Session, Isaiah Williams, Greg Jenkins
Tight End: David Ausberry or Richard Gordon, Mychal Rivera, Nick Kasa, Brian Leonhardt
Offensive line: Center: Stefen Wisniewski, Alex Parsons, Andrew Robiskie, Guard: Tony Bergstrom, *Mike Brisiel, Lucas Nix, Lamar Mady, Jason Foster, Tackle: Jared Veldheer, *Khalif Barnes, Menelik Watson, Alex Barron, Willie Smith, John Wetzel
Linebacker: Sio Moore, *Nick Roach, *Kevin Burnett, Miles Burris, Kaluka Maiava, Travis Goethel, Kaelen Burnett, Keenan Clayton, Billy Boyko, Eric Harper
Corner: *Mike Jenkins, *Tracy Porter, D.J. Hayden, Joselio Hanson, Phillip Adams, Chimdi Chekwa, Coye Francies, Chance Casey, Taiwan Jones, Cory Nelms, Mitchell White
Safety: Charles Woodson, *Tyvon Branch, Usama Young, Reggie Smith, Brandian Ross, Shelton Johnson
Special teams: Chris Kluwe, Marquette King, Sebastian Janikowski, Eddy Carmona
The team shed a number of contracts and Reggie McKenzie brought in some solid veterans, but after having a terrible salary cap situation, the team is setting up for 2014 and 2013 could end up being a "bridge" season as they work out their next moves. Darren McFadden will be one of the key players involved in all of it, as he is entering a contract season and will be expected to stay on the field for the first time in his career. He has never played in more than 13 games and over the past two seasons he has played in seven and 12 games respectively. His best season came in 2010 when he had over 1,000 yards rushing and McKenzie will be hoping for that again before giving him a contract extension.
The special teams should be solid with Sebastian Janikowski and new punter Chris Kluwe as well as Cribbs, while the defense should be much improved as well. McKenzie brought in a brand new secondary with Mike Jenkins, Tracy Porter and Charles Woodson and he also added DJ Hayden with the team's first round pick in the draft. Flynn is a weakness until he can prove he can play and fans may want to see what Tyler Wilson has if he struggles.
The defense will need to do better in rushing the passer, although the linebackers will be improved with Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett coming as free agents after the team lost Philip Wheeler. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Michael Huff, Tommy Kelly, Richard Seymour, Rolando McClain and many others are gone and while some of them played a big role on the team, others like McClain were a poison and now the defense can work on getting better overall.
