"On the inevitability of Michael Vick as Oakland Raider"

You read enough headlines from the sports pages these days and it almost feels like it;s already happened: Michael Vick reinstated to the NFL, joins for the preseason, penciled in as starting QB, takes "Wildcat" formation to another level. All we need now is some snarky comment from Warren Sapp and 2010 pro bowl Vikings 4 Brett Favre jersey
Vick-to-Raiders is basically a done deal.While Vick has been living the Leavenworth life, his portrayal in the media has slowly and not so subtly gone from execrable monster to forgotten nonentity to guy who just ;deserves a second chance.; Suddenly, this once-seriously warped dude;s return to the NFL is not only a real possibility, it;s an odds-on favorite to happen: Some sportsbooks are offering 1/5 odds *for* a Vick comeback.With Vick;s return inevitable, then, the next logical leap for the speculators ; and at this point in the non-season, we;re all speculators ; would be to guess his destination. In top five list after top five list entitled along lines of ;Where will Michael Vick end up?; you read ;" target="_new">; again and again.Whether blogger X theorizes that Vick is likely to get with on the Detroit Lions (come on), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys (we dare you, Jerry) or the New England Patriots (eerily plausible), Oakland always gets a mention as a destination for the former jailbird.And even though head coach Tom Cable publicly stated ; well, OK, stated in the Contra-Costa Times ; that ;I;m not going to go there; when asked about a Vick acquisition, everyone knows who rules the roost with an iron claw in Raiders Land, and everyone knows that Vick in silver and black is all up to Al Davis.Question No. 3 for the Raider Nation, then, is one few fan bases will ultimately have to ask themselves: ;Do we really want to do this?;Well, do they?JaMarcus Russell is reportedly enthusiastic about just having Vick back in the league, quoted in the aforementioned (and aforelinked) Times articles that ;I can't wait to see him again. It was a good time to sit down and get his body healed. He's in tip-top shape and somebody will give him a chance."Vick is surely a personal hero of the Raiders; starting quarterback, and Russell might be beyond enthusiastic to play behind such a master. Plus points there, but aren;t these guys totally different styles of QB? Russell is nowhere near Vick in terms of mobility and is galaxies removed from him in improvisational ability; on the other hand, Russell has the potential to be one of the league;s best gunners with a rocket launcher for an arm. With Vick aboard, the sloppy Raider offensive line remains sloppy and gets lazier: the exact opposite of what Russell needs in order to develop something out of the man before 2013.Along with Vick, too, will presumably come the media circus, particularly as some bits of the media will be whipping other bits of the media into a frenzy. The obvious anti-Vick argument here says that no way do the Raiders need this sort of distraction this season. (Except ... distraction from what? Playing losing football?) An interesting tact for Davis and the Raiders to pull at that point might be to cut off media coverage of the team while it adapts to the incorporation of Vick. Why not? The more NFL stories you read, the more you believe in a great anti-Raiders mediawide conspiracy (or at least bias), so why should the franchise feed the jackals?Russell;s admiration of Vick;s skills aside, wouldn;t Vick;s presence make for a step backward in the development of the young offense? In the running game, 6 Super Bowl Champions jersey White jersey
Darren McFadden provides enough speed so that Vick isn;t needed to romp, while Darrius Heyward-Bey is designed to go deep and only deep ; Russell-level deep. Not only are the skill positions filled with players remarkably complementary to Russell;s skills (whoa, how did that happen?), but the former No. 1 overall pick should really learn to *lead* these guys, shouldn;t he?And besides, that stuff he did? Bad.Advice on a Michael Vick acquisition: Just say no, Uncle Al.
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标题: "What in Madden's name happened?" -
内容: OK, so maybe the selection of Darrius Heyward-Bey at No. 7 isn;t quite what fans (or any outside observer, really) were expecting in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft, but consider the pluses. Not only was Heyward-Bey probably the fastest wide receiver in the entire draft and did Michael Crabtree 4 Brett Favre White jersey
appear to be a serious attitude-wielding prima donna, but head coach Tom Cable argues that the pick ;gives us the ability to throw the ball deep."I;m sorry, I can;t do this. The Raiders' draft was puzzling, to say the least. Never mind that I was halfway home to creating a solid conspiracy theory that had John Madden masterminding Raider personnel moves behind the scenes since the day after Super Bowl XLIII. Never mind that on the eve of the draft I;d bet my friend Paul (a San Diego Chargers pusher) $10 per game that Oakland finished higher than San Diego in 2009. This bunch of selections makes it look as though Al Davis set his Madden ; the game, not the man ; to ;Auto Draft;; how else to explain the logic behind some of these picks?Heyward-Bey has been thoroughly trashed since about two seconds after the pick was announced; the nation was immediately given voice on the Maryland wide receiver by ESPN;s Cris Carter, who ranted thoroughly, stating, ;...He had games when he didn't even catch a ball. So how's that going to help JaMarcus (Russell)? If he can't catch a ball in an ACC game, he gets to the National Football League, now you know they have a reason to make him disappear. It's easy to take a receiver out of a game, and a receiver does not help a young quarterback that much,; et cetera. Not everyone is a Raider hater, right, ;Nation? Bad pick.Second-rounder Michael Mitchell is notable for two characteristics already in his young NFL career: the alliteration of his name and the veritable shock across football land at this pick. Seriously, what happened here? Did Davis & Co. panic at seeing Louis Delmas and Patrick Chung go off the board at Nos. 33 and 34? (And then ; gasp ; Alphonso Smith at No. 37!) Does Cable really dislike Michael Huff and Rashad Baker so much that he;s willing to take a fifth-round talent in the second? You could argue that because Mitchell came to Oakland along with fourth- and sixth-round selections for ;merely; a second-round pick, the Raiders made out decently here, but I wouldn;t. Bad pick.Then there;s Louis Murphy out of University of Florida, another speedster to play WR. The book on Murphy is pretty compelling stuff, and you can bet NFL scouts are making note of this receiver;s background as a QB with extensive experience in T formations. Just run the "Wildcat," baby! What;s worrisome about the Murphy choice, along with the Heyward-Bey addition and Cable;s stated intention not to sign any more free-agent receivers, is the amount of responsibility this guy will immediately have to assume.While the official profile ;link just above; has Murphy ;projected as a solid No. 3 wideout,; the guy caught just 75 passes in his college career, 73 in his final two seasons. Assuming Javon Walker is over, Murphy is guaranteed to have to catch more than 37 passes and one wonders if he;s up to the job. Risky pick.Hopes for the pass rush in 2009 have now been pinned in part on the excellently named duo of Stryker Sulak (who despite rumors, is not actually of Romulan descent) and Slade Norris, who ultimately came over in the Samson Satele deal. Both OLB Norris and DE Sulak are known for the play coming off the Steelers 6 Super Bowl Champions jersey
edge. If there is optimism to be had about the Raiders; 2009 draft, it is to be found here. These could be genius picks ; and, unless one is at least a viable part-time starter, possibly too-little, too-late picks ; but who can be optimistic after Oakland;s draft debacle?The moral of the story: Never bet before draft weekend.