Wishful Thinking: My Hopes and Fears for the 2011 Oakland Raiders Roster

Let me start by saying that my worst fear of all is that there will be no football in 2011. 

With that proclamation out of the way, I would like to give you all some insight into what moves I would like for us to make in free agency, versus my worst fears for each position.

 

Quarterback

Wish: Jason Campbell.  I watched this year as Jason had his ups and his downs.  I was a firm believer in dearly departed Tom Cable's statement that we were "a quarterback away from the playoffs."

Campbell gives us that quarterback.  Although his delivery and decision-making seems to be a bit slow at times, his innate ability to fool the cameras with play-action makes him a viable option at QB. 

That play-action obviously works best when we have a consistent running game, but that is on par with the team concept.

Fear:  Alex Smith or Matt Leinart.  These guys both had the skill sets to get them drafted in the first round of their respective draft.  The problem is, it never panned out. 

Smith is a lost cause in my eyes, and taking him for anything other than a decent backup would be a mistake by any team (except the Vikings or Panthers, maybe?). 

Leinart is another story.  I was a strong proponent for drafting Leinart when we took Michael Huff, and was more than a bit upset to see us pass him over.  I think he still has some upside, and could become a starter in this league at some point. 

I am not prepared to watch another QB go through growing pains though, at least not until we have a winning season.

 

Running Back

Wish:  Darren McFadden.  Anyone who watched NFL football this year knows that McFadden finally pulled his weight this season.  He missed a couple of games and was dinged up in others, and still went over 1,000 yards on the s...

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