u/HouseRules789

For all the people who think the Raiders receiving core is weak, I’m not buying it.

Can we use a true #1? Of course. So can half the league. JSN was an absolute game changer in Seattle last year, as was Puka with the Rams and um… that was about it.

The etroit Lions and allas Cowboys each had a pair of receivers with over 1000 yards and neither team made the playoffs. Trey McBride had the second most catches and second most receiving touchdowns in the league and his team won three games.

Am I hoping we lose just enough games this year to draft Jeremiah Smith next year? HELL NO! I hope we win the Super Bowl, but if we don’t win the Super Bowl, I would be ok if we lose just enough games this year to draft Jeremiah Smith next year.

But even without Jeremiah or Justin Jefferson or Tyreek or Diggs or Deebo or whatever other nonsense the twitter “Insiders” keep vomiting, the group we have right now is pretty damn good.

Start with Brock Bowers. Obviously the Raiders need to keep him on the field, he started only eight games last year, but his numbers were still as good as the best tight end in the league.

Take McBride. In 17 games, he had 169 targets with 126 catches, 1239 yards and 11 touchdowns in what was considered a historic season. Bowers had almost exactly half as many targets and pretty much half as many receptions, yards and only four fewer touchdowns.

From there, we’ve got Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor, Jack Bech and Michael Mayer. Sure, none of those guys may get drafted in my fantasy league, but they could all feast in this offense.

I’m well aware that Tucker is not Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but Klint Kubiak is not Chip Kelly either. Tucker put up nearly 700 receiving yards and five touchdowns last year WITH GENO SMITH AS HIS QB! Are you telling me 1000 yards and seven TDs for Tucker is not possible?

Courtland Sutton, the Broncos #1 receiver who got a $92 million extension this off-season, had 1017 yards and seven TDs last year.

The wildcard in this is Malik Benson. I know, I know, I know, it’s JUST training camp. Last year, Dont’e Thornton was the pre-season darling and he did pretty much nothing during the year.

There is a better chance Benson becomes Larry the Cable Guy before he becomes Larry Fitzgerald, but you can’t tell me it’s not possible. Puka, Amon-Ra and Diggs were all top 20 receivers last year and they were all drafted after pick 100.

From the little we’ve seen and the lot we’ve heard, it sounds like Benson is (at the very least) WAY better than many of the other 194 players who were drafted ahead of him.

And when it comes to the Raiders, I’ll take a win any way I can get it.

I don’t care how much we gave Tyler Linderbaum, he is underpaid. He is like that post that keeps the entire house standing.

The Ashton Jeanty run on 3rd and 1 and the Mike Washington run on 4th on 1, both getting us a first down, got me very excited.

And Mike Washington… WOW.   Is it too early to retire his number?

I felt before, during and after the game that Kirk Cousins should be our starter.

I love that Fernando is mobile, but every time he scrambles I throw up a little in my mouth.

The Raiders may not have a number one receiver, and we really don’t, but if Michael Mayer and Jack Bech and Tre Tucker can be legit targets, Brock Bowers is going to COOK this year.

Did you notice that Jeanty wasn't standing up straight pre-snap?

New year, same shit.   Penalties, penalties, penalties.  Defense missed a bunch of tackles and no pressure from the defensive line.

I love JPJ, but he may not be long for this world.

I don’t really care if Jermod McCoy gets a second contract, I still can’t believe the Raiders got him in the FOURTH round.

Quay Walker is going to be a fan favorite and Nakobe Dean is not going to be far behind.

I’m all in on Spytek and I love what he has done with our secondary.  That has a chance to be a real strength for a long time.

“If we are able to freaking figure it out, I think we can go win the championship together.”

That’s Paolo Banchero talking about his relationship with Franz Wagner on the “Internal Reps” podcast.

“He’s like one of the best players if not the best player I’ve ever had the chance to play with.”

Paolo that he and Franz are going to work out together in LA this summer.

“He’s able to move like a guard, he’s one of the best defenders in the league in my opinion, he’s just a superstar player.”

“I still believe Kirk gets the opener, but it’s not etched in stone. Fernando has a real chance to win the job.”

That’s California Post writer Vinny Bonsignore’s assessment of the situation as of yesterday.

Many Raiders fans are really concerned and dare I say upset that Fernando may not be the starting quarterback in week 1.

Not only do I think that patience is the right plan, but history shows that starting early, even as a highly drafted rookie, doesn’t necessarily equal success.

37 quarterbacks have been selected with the first overall pick in the history of the NFL Draft. Since 2000, Peyton Manning, and Matthew Stafford are the only ones to go first overall, start week one of year one AND win the Super Bowl.

Eli Manning is the only other QB in the last 25 years to go first overall and win a Super Bowl, but he didn’t get his first start until week 11 of year 1.

In the last ten Super Bowls, a total of 12 quarterbacks have started.  Several guys have appeared in more than one game. Seven of the 12 were first round picks, but only Stafford and Sam Darnold started in week one of their rookie season and won the Super Bowl.   

And Darnold did it with his fifth team.

Joe Burrow and Jared Goff were drafted first overall, but they both lost their only Super Bowl game. Burrow started week one of his rookie season and has missed 23% of his games since then. Goff didn’t start until week 11 of his rookie season and has missed just two games due to injury in the last ten years.

And then there are those other two guys.

Tom Brady played in 10 Super Bowls, winning seven of them. He didn’t start until the third week of his SECOND season.

Patrick Mahomes has played in five Super Bowls, winning three of them. He didn’t start until the 17th week of his first season.

Fernando will certainly get in there at some point, likely some point this season, but what he does after that is WAY more important getting him in there now.

“I still believe Kirk gets the opener, but it’s not etched in stone. Fernando has a real chance to win the job.”

That’s Vinny Bonsignore’s assessment of the situation as of yesterday.

Many fans are really concerned and dare I say upset that Fernando may not be the Raiders starting quarterback in week 1.

Not only do I think that patience is the right plan, but history shows that starting early, even as a highly drafted rookie, doesn’t necessarily equal success.

37 quarterbacks have been selected with the first overall pick in the history of the NFL Draft. Since 2000, Peyton Manning, and Matthew Stafford are the only ones to go first overall, start week one of year one AND win the Super Bowl.

Eli Manning is the only other QB in the last 25 years to go first overall and win a Super Bowl, but he didn’t get his first start until week 11 of year 1.

In the last ten Super Bowls, a total of 12 quarterbacks have started.  Several guys have appeared in more than one game. Seven of the 12 were first round picks, but only Stafford and Sam Darnold started in week one of their rookie season and won the Super Bowl.   

And Darnold did it with his fifth team.

Joe Burrow and Jared Goff were drafted first overall, but they both lost their only Super Bowl game. Burrow started week one of his rookie season and has missed 23% of his games since then. Goff didn’t start until week 11 of his rookie season and has missed just two games due to injury in the last ten years.

And then there are those other two guys.

Tom Brady played in 10 Super Bowls, winning seven of them. He didn’t start until the third week of his SECOND season.

Patrick Mahomes has played in five Super Bowls, winning three of them. He didn’t start until the 17th week of his first season.

Fernando will certainly get in there at some point, likely some point this season, but what he does after that is WAY more important getting him in there now.

For $40, you can get a beer, hot dog, pretzel and bag of chips at Allegiant Stadium at a Raiders game.

OR

You can get this mint condition Aidan O’Connell rookie card that my son’s friend just gave to him as a random present.

Apparently he saw it at a card show and couldn’t resist. That’s a good friend.

According to PSA, the company that grades these cards (for a price), there are only eight of these AOC cards with the perfect 10 score.

According to Sam Warren of The Athletic, the Raiders are giving DJ Glaze every opportunity to remain the starting right tackle this year.

Warren added that Glaze struggled against a motivated Maxx Crosby on day one of training camp, but had a much better day two.

It’s hard to ignore that Glaze was ranked as the 65th best tackle in the league last year. (Note: there are 64 starting tackle spots in the NFL.)

But it is equally impossible to ignore that the Raiders had three billionth worst offensive line coach on the planet last year.

Um... this is not a good start to the Madden movie.

SPOILER -- I'm still going to watch it, at least twice.

“It’s almost like, not embarrassing in a way, but it’s like we are so much better now than looking at certain things from last year.”

I very much appreciate Jeremy Chinn’s (almost) honesty, he said what needed to be said, but LAST YEAR WAS EMBARRASSING.

As for Coach Kubiak’s culture, Chinn says…

“One thing he’s encouraged us is to show our personalities out on the field. Bringing energy from that side of things. He’s put a lot of trust in us. As a group, we appreciate that.”

While everyone is blaming the Dodgers for everything wrong with baseball, @Klein25 lays out the evidence that the people who should be getting the blame is EVERYONE ELSE.

This mind-blowing graphic popped up in my twitter feed today.

Apparently the Raiders didn’t draft Mike Washington Jr. in the 4th round this year, they drafted Darren McFadden Jr.

Same college.

Same height.

Same weight.

Same 40 time.

McFadden, who was drafted fourth overall, was a hell of a running back for the Raiders. In 2010, he had 1157 rushing yards and 507 receiving yards with 10 touchdowns.

Washington, who was drafted in the fourth round, was a hell of a running back for the Razorbacks. Last year, he had 1070 rushing yards and 226 receiving yards with nine touchdowns.

With Summer League over, how would you rank these rookies?

• 15-Dailyn Swain, Bulls
• 16-Bennett Stirtz, Thunder
• 17-Emeka Okorie, Pistons
• 18-Christian Anderson, Hornets
• 19-Allen Graves, Raptors
• 25-Sergio de Larrea, Mavs
• 34-Meleek Thomas, Cavs

For me...

Gold - Meleek Thomas. Amazing in Vegas and looks like he could get minutes right away off the bench for the Cavs.

Silver - Allen Graves. Feels like a CMB clone AND he can shoot the three.

Bronze -- Sergio de Larrea. 6-6, sees the floor, can hit from deep and will (eventually) be lined up next to Cooper Flagg. Sign me up.

“Orlando Magic will finish higher than the Sixers.”

That’s Jason “White Chocolate” Williams making a bold prediction for the upcoming season.

Williams is so confident that he bet his left eyebrow on it.

He also said….

“There will never be a night where it’s a close game and VJ’s got 30.”

Williams bet his right eyebrow on that.

And…

“Sixers are better with Simons on the floor and Bron as opposed to VJ and Bron.”

Williams had no more eyebrows to bet on that one.

In case you were wondering, Williams also said he has stopped smoking weed.

Source: Hoopin’ N Hollerin’ Podcast

“I’m sure Jaylen Brown is thinking, (Tatum) sat out game 7, I was in there playing, I carried the team all year and I got no respect. I could understand that part of it.”

Bill Simmons’ dad finally broke his silence on the Celtics blockbuster trade (unless you were lucky enough to run into him on Beacon Street while he was walking his dogs where he would’ve told you how much he HATED it.).

Bill asked his dad to rank his faith in the four pro teams — the Celtics are 4th.

“If I was a Bulls fan, I would have no sperm left in my body.”

That’s Bill Simmons breaking down Caleb Wilson’s potential in a way I hadn’t heard anywhere else.

“This is like watching T-Mac again. He’s a little taller. Same kind of skinny inside, outside. But then adding this explosive Shawn Kemp side too.”