The Reggie McKenzie Years Year 1, 2012
This post is part of a series that reviews Reggie McKenzie's first year as the Oakland Raiders' General Manager.
Here's the hub post for the entire Reggie McKenzie series : link
Here's the Overview post for the Year 1: 2012 series : link
The Cornerbacks Part I
The Beginning
Al Davis started his NFL Career on Legendary Head Coach Sid Gilman's (Los Angeles/San Diego) Chargers staff. He was the WRs coach and one of his pupils was future HOF WR Lance Alworth; in fact, Davis' first major coup was convincing Lance Alworth to sign with the budding AFL instead of the more established NFL! Interestingly, the Chargers did not draft Alworth; instead, Davis and the Chargers had received the rights to Alworth from a trade with the team that did draft him, the Oakland Raiders. While Davis only coached Alworth for one season, that must have made an impact on him; when Alworth was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he chose Al Davis to present him.
Al Davis' Raiders would gain fame for their passing game, particularly their commitment to the Vertical Passing Game. The Raiders featured an impressive and excitign passing attack over the years that highlighted the WRs of that time, including Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff. Al Davis would make his presence felt with the WRs over the years.
Tim Brown on getting coached by Al Davis on the sidelines : Audio only
But in his heart of hearts, Davis was a defensive man.
In their heyday, the Raiders have had dominant players on the frontline. "The quarterback must go down and he must go down hard" became one of many Raiders' rallying cries over the years and certainly Davis loved having a vicious pass rush. But his lifelong passion would be for the Defensive backfield and in particular the cornerbacks.
In the 1970s, the Raiders' Back 4, "The Soul Patrol" showcased the CBs. The corners played physical, isolated one-on-one coverage, leaving the safeties free to roam and to enforce their will on other areas of the field.
Davis' ideal corners were big, tall, long, rangy, physical, often confident and brash, and fast. It's a rare combination and difficult to find, but when it all came together, it was a fantastic force. Al Davis, Ron Wolf, and the Raiders made it a priority to find these types of players.
In the modern era, the typical approach is to confuse the opposition by mixing coverages and using complicated schemes; many would call Davis' old scheme as outdated and unworkable and further proof that the game had passed Davis by.
But not all NFL minds would dismiss it so easily. In a case of "that which is Old is New again," Pete Carroll would take some inspiration from the decidedly Old School Raiders' approach and figure out how to make it viable in the modern age :
From Dan Pompei on Carroll's approach :
Back in the early 80s, when Carroll was the defensive coordinator for North Carolina State, he was watching a joint practice between the 49ers and Oakland Raiders. Donning the silver and black were 6'2" Michael Haynes and 6'0" Lester Hayes, who were being coached to bump and run by Willie Brown, a former Raiders cornerback who stood at 6'1".
"I was a DB coach at the time, so I was watching them and taking a bunch of notes," Carroll said. "I adopted the style he was coaching when I went back to NC State."
Carroll has favored big, fast corners, over smaller, nimble ones with flexible hips ever since.
and in Richard Sherman's MMQB in 2014 :
"[Pete Carroll is] The same coach who shows us clips of Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes playing press-man [from] 30 years ago..."
In 2014, Carroll's scheme and roster of talent would win the Superbowl, perhaps giving a touch of vindication to ghost of Al Davis.
Raiders' fans should look upon Pete Carroll as a kindred spirit and it's easy to imagine that Davis would have loved him. Davis did have more than a passing relationship with Carroll when he looked to hire Sarkisian (and ended up with Kiffin) from Carroll's USC staff in 2007. If he were alive in 2014, Davis might call upon Pete Carroll to chew his ear off deep into the night, like he used to do with Jimmy Johnson :
"I struck up a friendship with Al Davis when I first came into the league. Al would call me late at night and nobody calls me at night. He wanted to talk about the players I recruited or played against. I would get insight from him about the league and just about everything. My wife Rhonda would always look over and say ‘Al?’ And I’d say yeah. And she’d say okay goodnight because she knew it would be an hour phone call. He was so knowledgeable about every aspect of the game and just a very smart man. He touched everybody in this league."
If he were alive in 2014, he might have roamed the pre-game sidelines and sought out Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, or Kam Chancellor to tell them, "You know you want to be a Raider" as he used to do with players like Derrick Thomas.
Though on the other hand, it may have been a little bit heartbreaking to see a former division rival playing "Raider Football" far better than had the Raiders.
CWood and Aso
Al Davis LOVED his CBs.
Since Mike Haynes retired following the 1989 season, the Raiders have had some good CBs on the team. 5'10" Terry McDaniel was a 5x Pro Bowler and 4x All Pro. Lionel Washington, Albert Lewis, and Eric Allen would also give some quality seasons to the Raiders. But none were really quite of the Raiders' mold.
In 1998, the Raiders had the #4 overall pick and they selected the Heisman Award winning Cornerback from Michigan. In his inaugural season with the Raiders, he looked like a rookie on the field for all of about one half; from then on, his on-field play was that of a seasoned veteran.
The Next Great Raiders' Cornerback had arrived.
He would spend the next 5 years as one of the top overall corners in the game and a key member of Gruden's Raiders that challenged for the AFC title in 2000 and 2001 until finally breaking thru in 2002. He'll often be remembered as the blitzer who forced the fumble that resulted in the Tuck Rule.
In 2003, following the Superbowl loss to Tampa Bay, Al Davis used the Raiders' first round pick (#31 overall) on another tall CB, this one a former safety and a bit of a project player. Some would decry Nnamdi Asomugha as "too big for a corner, too slight for a safety." Others would claim that there were some teams interested in Asomugha in the 2nd round, but most people just did not know who he was (nor could they pronounce his name).
Al Davis has never been afraid of taking a project player a little bit early and then waiting on his development.
Davis had visions of teaming Nnamdi Asomugha's 6'2" 210 lbs long frame on one side with Woodson's 6'1" 210 lbs body on the other side to continue the legacy of the Raiders' shutdown backfield.
Willie Brown and Skip Thomas, Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes, and now Charles Woodson and Nnamdi Asomugha.
It would take Asomugha a couple of years to develop; from 2003-2004 he was used sparingly as he grew into the role. Then in 2005, Asomugha was ready to take the starting job and the vision became a reality : 29 year old Woodson paired up with 24 year old Asomugha.
Al Davis loved Heisman Trophy winners; with Woodson he got one. Al Davis loved outsmarting the room; in Nnamdi he got one. And most of all, Davis loved having big shutdown corners as the core of the defense. It's not enough to tell everyone "I know it can work" until you make it work. Al Davis was ready to make it work; he was going to show the modern NFL world that his dream would still work and then he would shove it into the faces of all the doubters.
The dream would be short-lived.
In Week 6, Woodson broke his leg, ending his season.
In general, most fans do not know the name of a player's agent, unless it's Leigh Steinberg. But in 2004, the Poston Brothers (Carl and Kevin) had made a name for themselves by being extremely vocal and contentious. Unlike other agents who demanded top dollar for their clients, the Poston Brothers often made it difficult for teams to even negotiate. This would often lead to frustrations not only by the teams but by the players. Orlando Pace, Lavarr Arrington, Ty Law, Julian Peterson, Ian Gold were some of the high profile clients.
In 2004, as Woodson's rookie contract was expiring, the Poston Brothers began their machinations. Unable to reach an agreement, the Raiders placed the franchise tag on Woodson.
In 2005, Al Davis placed the franchise tag on Woodson. In this case, it was a non-exclusive franchise tag meaning that should another team sign him, the Raiders would receive 2 1st round picks. It was also the 2nd consecutive franchise tag application so Woodson's salary would be 120% of the previous one. The Raiders' cap situation was difficult and it seemed that this move was an attempt to buy additional time to negotiate a long-term deal. If things had gone well, Woodson may have been a life-long Raider. But in a swift and calculated move, Woodson signed the franchise tender before entering into any further negotiations. This immediately hit the Raiders' cap with $10.5M.
Perhaps worse was that it "outsmarted" Davis' plan and if there's one thing Davis hated, it was being shown up. Any chance of Woodson remaining a Raider likely ended at that point.
At the same time, there were increasing talk about Woodson's immaturity and his enjoyment of the Oakland nightlife. Reportedly, he was not very active in preparation, in particular watching tape. Some of his reported habits led to a nickname of "CWeed" among some of the fans.
Woodson's (1st) career with the Raiders ended in Week 6 when he broke his leg.
In 2006, Woodson became an unrestricted free agent. At the time, some of the reputation of work ethic followed--as well as concerns about his injuries--and he did not get the kind of a attention nor the bidding war that he and his agents expected. Still, it worked out well for him, perhaps it worked out perfectly for him. He signed with Green Bay, apparently matured quite a bit, won a Superbowl, and firmly established his potential Hall of Fame career.
For the Raiders and the Raiders fans, though, it created an emptiness, a black hole, if you will.
Submitted January 11, 2015 at 08:17PM by GipsySafety http://ift.tt/1DzdQP2
No comments:
Post a Comment