Depth Chart Shenanigans
I have been keeping my watchful eye on the Raiders depth chart ever since the announcement of the 53 man roster. Lo and behold, there were a few very interesting and puzzling submissions today by the Raiders webmaster. As noted in my post on Saturday, the depth chart had the 2nd starting WR slate empty, Curry was not listed at all, and Gibson was starting over Huff. As of today, here is what the Raiders depth chart looks like (see link)The 2nd starting WR slate is no longer empty. It is Alvis Whitted. Huh? Alvis Whitted is “penciled” in as the book end starting receiver with Randy Moss. Curry now appears on the depth chart with the 2nd unit. Huff, as expected, is running with the 1st unit.
When I viewed Whitted slated with the 1st unit, my first thought was “What the hell is goin’ on in Alameda?” I like Alvis Whitted and admire his world class speed but he is not exactly the ideal complimentary possession receiver to pair up with Moss. After my visions of dual fly patterns subsided and the initial shock wore off, my next thought was that the Raiders organization is playing some tactical mind games with the Chargers before the MNF opener. Hey Marty, Alvis has left the building. Be prepared to have both your safeties play deep!
First and foremost, the Raiders webmaster is a loyal, paid employee sworn to uphold the secrecy of the shield. In all seriousness, someone (read Al Davis) told Mr. Webmaster to place Whitted’s name in the 1st receiver group. I suspect that Curry and Porter are still in the process of dueling it out on the practice field in a heated competition to earn the starter’s role. I also surmise that the victor of this battle will be told on Saturday or Sunday but the general public will left in the dark all the way up to the opening kickoff.
Some Raider fans might be annoyed by the cloud of secrecy that hangs over the Alameda facility. I view it as part of the intrigue of being a Raider fan. What impact will the depth chart shenanigans have on the game? None but it sure is fun to speculate about some of the inner workings and moves made by the front office. Of course if Whitted ends up starting on Monday night, all bets are off. Bombs away!
posted by Calico Jack at 8:23 PM
8 Comments:
Shenanigans, cloak and dagger, I love it, too! This just might be one last procedural kick in the pants to Jerry Porter.
Consider: I'll never forget Bill Callahan saying before the Squeelers game in '02 (right after the *Patsies had just lit Cower's bozos up on opening day before with a HUGE passing attack), "Pass on every down like the *Patriots did? Nah, that's not the way we do things in Oakland."
Then Rich Gannon proceeded to light 'em up for 43 completions on 64 attempts and we didn't run the ball at all on the Squeelers.
Subterfuge at its finest, baby!
Methinks with idiot of the week, LB Steve Foley, out of the Discharge line of defense, the depth chart nuttiness may be Art's way of softening 'em up for the power run game.
This is the old school Sid Gillman offense. Vertical strike and four yards and a cloud of dust.
Whitted and Moss sure look like the long bomb... so my guess is Shell runs the ball with his two TE formation till Schittenheimer cries, "No mas!"
I am so looking forward to beating the sh*t out of the dolts! I hope Art reminds his team how marty loves to pile on as he did to us last year.An opening day win would be so SWEET!
Raiders "the most trusted name in sports" - Al Davis :)
Personally, I think that Whitted will come in with the first unit on Monday night. But I think the first unit you see will be a two TE formation with one RB, and Moss and Whitted out wide.
This preseason the Raiders have shown a determination to throw to the TEs. With Jordan in the backfield, two TEs to receive or to block, and Moss and Whitted threatening mirror fly paterns, what's a bolt to do?
Blandarocked - You might be right about Whitted starting with the 1st unit. Maybe he has had such a stellar camp that Shell is rewarding him. I personally feel Whitted would be best suited in the following ways;
1) In 3 WR packages on the opposite side of the field of Moss running deep patterns to clear the middle of the field for the slot reciever and Tight End.
2) To ocassionally substitute in for Moss to give him a blow.
3) To ocassionally be used on reverse hand-offs for big play opportunities.
4) As a back-up PR & KR for Carr.
Johny Jock -
I went to your blog "Bad Games But Big Money" . . . unfortunately, your webpage is blank. I will re-visit your site in a couple of days and hopefully you have it up and running.
Good luck with blog,
Calico Jack
Nope. No shenanigans... They really did chose Whitted over Curry. Unbelievable.
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