Hi, welcome to the Oakland Raiders page here on Fanhuddle.com. We have a lot of stuff to go over so let’s get started.

I was recently fortunate to have a sit down chat with Jeff Shull. Jeff is a writer on fanhuddle.com; he covers the Houston Rockets. Jeff also has a weekly radio show that airs Sundays at 11:00 p.m. where he and Casey Anderson break down the week in Houston NFL and NBA action. You can check out his show at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Jeff-Shull. The call in phone number is (347) 850-8782.

I talked with Jeff for about an hour. We discussed this week ends upcoming game between the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Texans. We talked about the Texans running game, or lack thereof.  We discussed Al Davis’ involvement in the franchise. We discussed Oakland’s offensive struggles, and what they could so to fix it. We also hit on the Texans-Raiders game from 2008 a little bit.

The following is a transcript of the interview.

Jeff: What’s up?

B.A.:  How’s it going?

Jeff: Pretty good, shall we start?

B.A.: Yes, you want to go first or shall I?

Jeff: I got one general question that addresses both teams. The Houston Texans have allowed a 100 yard rusher in each of the first three weeks, and the Raiders are supposed to have a pretty good rushing attack, so something’s got to give…what will?

B.A.: Well if the Raiders can’t get the passing game going, then it may end up being a Houston victory in that department. A lot of the folks I talk to think that Michael Bush should be getting a majority of the carries, and McFadden should be used to spell him.

Jeff: I would have to agree with that to a certain extent…I remember when the Raiders drafted Michael Bush I thought they were getting a very good player, they surprised me with the McFadden pick.

B.A.: Yes, they surprised me with that pick too. I expected them to try and trade up and go after Chris Long, Howie Long’s son. At the time they were only two spots down on the draft Board.

Ok, I have a question for you.

Jeff: Shoot.

B.A.: Houston has some pretty good receivers on their squad, but they were nearly non-existent against the Raiders in the late ‘08 game at Oakland. How do they turn that around and get some production against a pair of pretty good corners in Nnamdi Asomugha, and Chris Johnson?

Jeff: Honestly, the key to the passing game is getting Owen Daniels working the middle of the field to take some of the pressure off of Andre Johnson. If I remember correctly the Raiders did a great job of containing him, holding him to two catches. They also need to figure out how to open up the lanes for Steve Slaton, his season has been anything but exciting so far after a great rookie season.

Which may prove difficult against the Raiders, who until last week, were doing a good job in rush defense.

B.A.: In the last game Owen Daniels had 7 catches for 111 yards and failed to reach the end zone, do you see the same type of thing happening against Tyvon Branch, assuming Michael Huff (ribs) and Hirum Eugene (calf) can’t go, and the Raiders have to settle for rookie Mike Mitchell at Free Safety?

Jeff: If the same amount of attention is placed on slowing down Andre Johnson, then Matt Schaub will not hesitate to get the ball to Daniels. I’m not sure he does as well as he did in last year’s game, but I would not be surprised if he got 100 yards.

I’ve got one for you.

B.A.: I’m all ears.

Jeff: With the documented struggles of the Texan defense, a team that has only one sack in three games, does JaMarcus Russell finally break through, with the type of performance the Raiders want to see from him?

B.A.: I really expected him to play well in the KC game, and he just frankly, didn’t turn the corner. Last year against the Texans, he had a great game, but he wasn’t throwing to two rookie wide receivers, so I am holding out hope that it is a result of bad chemistry. I hope once Chaz Schilens gets back healthy, some of those sophomore woes will go away for the big guy. Right now, teams are able to blanket tight end Zach Miller, because of the absence of a wide receiver threat, and Darren McFadden isn’t helping by dropping those short passes either.

Jeff: In the first three games, the Texans failed to even pressure the QB, let alone sack him…if you give any QB in the NFL 4-5 seconds it’s never a good thing.

B.A.:  The Raiders haven’t given up many sacks to begin with; six so far.

So, I just have to ask, what is going on with the West Virginia product in the Texans backfield, Steve Slaton?

Jeff: I am just as clueless as everyone else. Heading into this season Steve Slaton was supposed to be a more complete back. He put on 15 pounds so he would be more of a goal line threat, but that seems to have inhibited his ability to make the right cuts. The offensive line is not helping either by not giving him the best running lanes.

One of his strengths last year was being patient and finding the cutback lanes and turning on the speed for big runs.

B.A.: Do you think there is a good one, two punch there with Slaton and Chris Brown?

Jeff: Absolutely not, Chris Brown needs to go and the Texans need to find a replacement. Watching him run is as pathetic as I’ve ever seen. He is slow, indecisive, and lacks vision.

I wanted the Texans to draft Rashad Jennings (Jacksonville Jaguars RB), but they felt like a RB was not as much of a dire need.

B.A.: Do you think there is a guy on the roster that could step in and be that second man in the Texans backfield this year?

Jeff: If anyone on the roster can, it’s Andre Hall, who averaged over 4.6 yards per carry in his short time in Denver with limited attempts…but at this point I don’t think anyone behind Steve Slaton is capable of giving the Texans what they need.

Also one thing worth mentioning, full back Vonta Leach has been out or playing hurt, which has drastically hurt the running game.

B.A.: So Brian Cushing, the rookie out of USC, is leading the Texans in tackles with 26, and right behind him is DeMeco Ryans, with 23. With such a good young set of linebackers, what do you think is missing from the Texans defense right now and what could/should they do to fix it?

Jeff: I talked about this on my radio program Sunday, and that is definitely help in the secondary. In particular, they need a ball hawking safety that will punish receivers coming across the middle and are that run stopper when called upon, similar to what Brian Dawkins is doing in Denver. Taylor Mays from USC comes to mind, and they may be able to get him at a bargain. From what I understand, his draft stock has dropped a bit from last season. Plus, with the way the Texans are playing, a top 15 pick is not out of the question in 2010.

B.A.: Are you already looking that forward to next year?

Jeff: Well, there is just not a player out there that is on the market, if there was a solution that could help them now, then there is no doubt they would pounce on it.

B.A.: I don’t feel like Oakland’s season is lost, although it is starting to look bad. I just don’t want another ten loss year. What do you think the Raiders could do to get JaMarcus Russell more comfortable, just looking at it from a third party perspective?

Jeff: It seems like the offensive line is not the problem, unless they are just getting lucky by him getting rid of the ball early and reducing their sack total. He seems to have all the weapons, but (Darrius) Heyward-Bey was the wrong pick in my opinion. They need someone who is going to be a precise route runner and make his life easier on big downs. They also need to get the running game going; that backfield is full of potential.

His arm strength is unbelievable, and they should be taking better advantage of it. I agree, the Raiders’ season is not lost, aside from a defensive meltdown (vs. San Diego) late they would be 2-1. Denver is a much better team than people think and they gave the Chargers all they could handle. 8-8 is not out of the question for the Raiders.

B.A.: I agree, and I don’t think his accuracy is the problem either, he says he is looking up field and having to wait for guys to get where they are supposed to be. On that Play action from their own end zone against Denver, DHB tripped over that invisible object in the middle of the field, or else that ball would’ve been right on point. Instead it’s an interception.

Tough times  are going on for Russell right now in Oakland. The media is really coming down hard on him. They all want to act like it’s his third year, but putting it wisely, it’s really only his sophomore season.

Jeff: John Gruden made a great point yesterday: Fantasy stats are much different from Film stats. When you watch film you notice interceptions are not always the fault of the QB, which was the case in both interceptions Jake Delhomme threw yesterday.

B.A.: So going back to the Texans need for a safety, they just signed Kansas City Chiefs free agent Benard Pollard, he is 6′1″ 224 pounds. In my opinion, a guy who showed a lot of promise in KC, and the fans are not exactly sure why he is not a Chief anymore. Do you think he could be that ball hawking, hard hitter that the Texans need?

Jeff: He was certainly impressive in Kansas City with back to back 90 tackle season, but he only forced 4 fumbles and had 3 interceptions in 2 full seasons as the starter. If he can start forcing more turnovers for the Texans than he will have been a great pick up for them, but for now I think he was just a product of having to make tackles when opposing RBs would get by the bad Chief defense.

He would definitely improve the run defense…but I don’t see him improving the coverage that much.

B.A.: All signs point to the coverage not needing to be improved much for this game though.

Jeff: I can’t argue with that.

B.A.: So Darren McFadden is averaging 3.6 yards per carry with a touchdown this season, and has fumbled four times (once as a receiver). Michael Bush is averaging 4.1 yards per carry, has 0 fumbles and one touchdown.

From an outsiders view, does it appear to you that the Raiders might be starting money, or higher draft picks over talent? 

Jeff: Well, going off of the production from last season, they both averaged 4.4 yards per carry and McFadden was a better threat from the backfield in the passing game, so it is hard to fault them for playing DMAC more at this point. If he continues to struggle, Tom Cable seems like the type of coach who won’t care about the checks a player is receiving, and (he will) start giving Michael Bush the bulk of the carries.

B.A.: A lot of fans think that it is the result of Al Davis pulling the owner card; do you think that is ridiculous, or is it a possibility? Keep in mind, there is also controversy regarding DHB starting over Johnnie Lee Higgins, and Javon Walker, as well as the JaMarcus Russell QB controversy.

Jeff: I think it is a possibility; Al Davis is a very involved owner. But I’m not sure it is very likely, he is a smart owner and may realize that the game has passed him by and he should finally turn the reigns over to a head coach who will preach fundamentals and discipline his players to not make careless mistakes, someone like Tom Cable; formerly an offensive line coach.

B.A.: Just so you know, I agree with you.

So it looks like we are headed for a pretty competitive contest this weekend in Houston, thanks for taking the time out to chat.

Jeff: Yea, it was fun, and I was glad to do it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 16:52 and is filed under News Headlines, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.