You have to feel bad for Chaz Schilens.
A Raider fan favourite for what he can do when he actually is on the field, the big, fast, dynamic wideout may yet again be sidelined with an injury.
With considerable size, speed, great hands, and a productive career at San Diego State, the only knock on Schilens coming out of college was that he was injury prone. It was enough of a concern that a player with his measurables and tangible production at a top tier Division I school dropped to the seventh round in the 2008 draft.
Midway through the season, with Schilens snagging 15 catches for 226 yards and two touchdowns in limited action, Schilens looked like a future star in the making.
He showed why the Raiders considered him their number one receiver going into the 2009 season with a productive first quarter against the Dallas Cowboys in preseason, snaring four passes.
But shortly thereafter, Schilens broke his left foot in training camp and missed the first eight games of the 2009 season. With JaMarcus Russell at quarterback, this was a devastating blow to an already anemic passing game.
Showing how valuable he is to the team, Schilens came back in the Raiders ninth game and went on to collect 29 catches over eight games for 365 yards and 2 TDs, and 17 first downs. Although Louis Murphy had emerged as a downfield threat, Chaz was the biggest weapon for possession and in the red zone.
But he was never fully recovered from his foot injury, and the Raider Nation was disappointed to hear that he had another surgery on the foot in the offseason to repair some lingering damage.
By all indications the foot was fine, but Schilens had missed signifcant practice time recently without much of an explanation. The Raider Nation assumed it was Coach Tom Cable playing it safe, knowing how important Schilens is to the Raiders' passing game and how much new quarterback Jason ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
