The Al Saunders Hoax
I invite you to first read this column, published two days ago. Then, read this article, published today by the same newspaper. Do you notice any discrepancies? One employs the certainty that Al Saunders is “likely” the next head coach of the Raiders to launch yet another cotton-candy literary attack on Al Davis. The other confirms that Al Saunders was never really in the running for the job. Well, we know one local columnist who, despite being long on prose, is rather short on information.
posted by Raider Take at 7:00 AM
23 Comments:
Wow--I was going to rant on another mail-it-in Ratto column then I read nyraider's post so I'll just go with the standard "what he said". Ratto comes across as a smug, "I have Al figured out" and "I'm smarter than you" dumbass. If Al and Ratto were at the no-limit table, Al would have a big pile of jing in front of him and Ray would be sitting there in just his man-thong and black socks.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
While everyone's bashing Ray Ratto, I figured....why not include Deadspin's rags on his mugshot?
Ray Ratto has no credibility. His articles are best used as a bird cage liner.
Not to get off the Rotto bashing track but did you see the below column in the St. Paul Pioneer Press regarding Culpepper . . .
Vikings may trade Culpepper BY CHARLEY WALTERSPioneer Press
It now seems that the Vikings will trade troubled quarterback Daunte Culpepper to the highest bidder, which could be Oakland or Baltimore, in early March. The Raiders have the No. 6 pick and the Ravens No. 13 in April's draft. Arizona and Miami also could be in the running. Raiders owner Al Davis has an affinity for reclamation projects.
Moving Culpepper for at least a first-round draft pick and a bona fide starter would solve the Vikings' quarterback conflict, allowing Brad Johnson, who would be 38, to start in coach Brad Childress' West Coast offense next season. The Vikings then would have to use a first-round pick to draft a QB to develop and sign a veteran backup, perhaps free agent Chris Weinke of the Carolina Panthers and St. Paul.
The potential words of Greg Papa
"Culpepper to Moss, touchdown RAAAIDERS!" would be music to my ears.
I love it how people become "reclamation projects" when they have a bad year, even though they threw for 39 TDs the year before. Culpepper went from being at the top of the world (and one of the top fantasy football players) in 2004 to having a horrible 1st half in 2005 that he didn't have a chance to rebound from due to injury.
If Al wants to bring Culpepper here I have no problem with that. HOWEVER, we shouldn't forget that Moss and Culpepper have a history together and not all of it's good...they've had a significant share of sideline and locker room disagreements.
So even though it would probably be a significant improvement over Collins, it might not be as good as it seems.
There's no way in the world I would trade the 6th pick in the draft for Culpepper. Culpepper has a history of playing bad in big games. The Raiders have got to stop giving away their future for broken down vets. Keep the pick, and grab AJ Hawk.
All of the options to upgrade our QB should be seriously considered. KFC has got to go. He is a total failure. Is there any scenario where you can see KFC leading us to the playoffs?
Trading our #6 pick plus a starter and possibly a later round draft pick in order to land a top tier QB like Culpepper is a no-brainer. How else would we land a premium, All-Pro QB? Culpepper is only 28 years old. His career QB Rating is 91.5, career completion percentage is 64.4%. TD/Int ratio = 135/86.
BTW, is anyone complaining about last year's trade of our late 1st round pick plus 2 starters (Nap Harris and P-Buck) for Moss?
As far as the Culpepper/Moss relationship, I think both realize how each makes the other better.
CJ: We traded our # 7 pick last yr for Randy Moss, but Moss is a hall of fame player, & most people thought the Raiders would contend for playoff's this yr. If this season taught us anything, it's that the team has many more problems then originally thought. Culpepper a top tier Qb ?? I'm not so sure. In my opinion, he is not worth a top 10 draft pick. Now if Minny gives us their # 1 pick in the deal, then ok. I do agree of course that KFC must go.
Raider00: I stand corrected on the Moss transaction. We gave up our 7th pick (not a late 1st round pick). We also gave up starting LB Nap Harris and a 7th round pick.
In my humble opinion, Culpepper is without question an upper tier QB. In 2004 he put up these eye popping stats; 4717 yds passing, 69.2 comp. percentage, 39/11 TD to Int ratio, 110.9 QB rating. Just look at his career numbers (see my earlier post)that he has compiled over the last 5+ seasons as a starter. If you have been voted All-Pro multiple times doesn't that rate as an upper tier QB? Also, don't forget, Culpepper is in the prime of his career being only 28 years old. He isn't some washed up vet in the last phase of his career. He should arguably have 5+ solid, productive years ahead of him.
You have to ask youself, is A.J. Hawk going to have the same impact on our teams fortune as Culpepper?
All NFL teams destiny is tied to having a top level HC and QB. Just look at the 4 remaining teams in the playoffs; Holmgren/Hasselbeck, Fox/Delhomme, Shannahan/Plummer, Cowher/Rothlisberger.
The Raiders need to hire a HC who can inspire and lead our troops into battle and a QB who will execute the game plan and maximize the performance of all our skill players.
Good points CJ, but let me say this. First off. I don't think any of the Qb's you mentioned are great. Plummer, Big Ben, Delhomme, & Hasselbeck, are just very good at playing within a certain system. You mention Culpeppers numbers, but remember, you can make a case for anyone based on stats. Didn't KFC make it to a Super Bowl, and he even beat Culpeppper, & Moss to get there. Yet, all Raiders fans know first hand, that KFC is awful. I would bet that minny fans wouldn't miss Culpepper one bit, and they know him best. Plus, I don't know if Culpepper has 5 good yrs left. He's coming off a very serious knee injury, and running is one of his big threats. Yes, I'd like to see AJ Hawk roaming the Raiders defense. We all saw Tiki Barber's 90 yard TD run, & Plax Burress' 70 yard TD catch in the last game. We still need alot of help on defense, which, by the way, is what really has these 4 remaining teams still standing.
I would agree R00 that the 4 remaining QBs aren't "great" but certainly qualify as being above average. I would be very pleased if the Raiders could identify and sign an above average QB with game management skills like the above 4. The point I was trying to make (but seemed to make poorly) in regards to Culpepper and his stats is that he has achieved a certain level of performance which should not be discounted. I also made these points in regards to the potential available QBs that the Raiders should seriously consider. Who on the market has remotely comparable stats or levels of performance? Culpepper is coming off a major knee injury but I don't see that from preventing him from being able to perform at his previous levels or having 5+ solid years left in him. His knee injury was suffered 2 months before Carson Palmer suffered a much more servere knee injury. Is there any doubt whether or not Palmer will be back for the 2006 season? Knee injuries are not as difficult to recover from today because of the breakthroughs in medical technology, rehabilitation, etc. If the Raiders did consider trading for Culpepper it wouldn't be done without medical clearance. Of all the potential QBs on the market, who would you choose as your signal caller? Would you choose KFC and A.J. Hawk roaming the sidelines over Culpepper behind center with LB Mr.X from the 2nd or 3rd round? To me the Raiders most pressing need is to upgrade the most important position on the field, the QB position. If we can find a competent, efficient game manager type QB in the market, great. Under no circumstances whatsoever should KFC come back as our #1 QB.
Well, I'm not saying Culpepper has no value whatsoever. I just don't want to give up that # 6 overall pick for him. At least we agree that KFC should go, and the sooner the better. I still say though, if the Raiders D is going to give up 90 yrd TD runs, & 70 yrd TD catches, it's going to be another long yr. no matter who the Qb is. I'd rather build up that defense to the hilt, and I don't see how to do it when trading such high picks.
On Ratto: And I thought Glenn Dickey was the biggest horse's a$$ at the SF Chronicle. Ratto has had some mildly entertaining columns in the past, but this past year and a half he's been mostly ruthless and totally one-sided in his Raider columns.
On Culpepper: No way I'd give away a top 10 pick on a mostly unproven, 250+ pound QB who's coming off major knee surgery. I only mention his weight because of the stress on his knee. I really do like Daunte, just don't think he's worth such a high pick with the question marks.
On KFC: I'd only want to see him back as a second stringer and at the league minimum in salary. Regardless of the OL's poor play, he did nothing to show he'd be any better with Shell-Upshaw-Dalby-Beuhler-Vella in front of him. Bad clock management, zero leadership, bad accuracy, can't read defenses, no pocket awareness, and no guts (how many times did he throw the ball away at the first sign of trouble). He had two years AND he had Rich Gannon, the master at all those things to learn from. I honestly think Walter, if he was thrown in there, would have done at least as well.
Our options for QB are either
1) start Walters (unlikely)
2) keep KFC (worst case scenario)
3) sign a QB in free agency (very limited QB market)
4) trade for a QB (packaging draft picks and/or a starter)
I wouldn't mind us signing a QB like Volek, Garrard, or Brad Johnson in free agency and keep our picks. If that route isn't available, I would rather aggressively persue a trade than keep the status quo.
Here is the key phrase from Mr. Ray Rat's pseudo-article:
"This seems like a small thing, (e.g., someone calling Al Davis "Al" instead of "Mr. Davis"), true. In fact, it is downright infinitesimal. But hey, this Raiders coaching watch tends to burn a lot of time without much actual news."
Here Mr. Rat obviously admits that he has no news to report. Instead of properly blaming himself for not taking the time to do any research or legwork, Mr. Rat instead manufactures a piece based entirely on whether someone has the cojones to call Al Davis "Al".
It is apparent Mr. Rat was listening to his favorite Paul Simon song, You Can Call Me Al, while sitting at his computer, and so stealing a line from Simon because he can't think of anything original, Mr. Rat manufactured this piece entirely worthy of wrapping day-old tuna in.
I call Al Davis "Uncle Al", 'cause that's what we do in my family with folks who are part of the family in spirit, but not by biology.
And I am happy to see RaiderTake has cojones to call Ray what he is, a lazy fraud.
After his excellent gameplan completely dismantled Denver's D [there is alot of piling on Plummer for the Denver loss but last time I looked he didn't line up on D--the Steelers could have scored 50 but shut it down in the third quarter], I hope Al has Ken Wisenhunt on his short list.
Yes, LK, Stick 'Em and others, after watching closely yesterday, I'm a believer in Whisenhunt...Roethlisberger, in my opinion, is an incredible QB, and thus would make a lot of coaches look brilliant. But Whisenhunt clearly has a lot of imagination and instinct and guts, three things that have been sorely lacking of late.
It would be quite a burn on all these "Al Davis is lagging, the Raiders are doomed" folks if Al snatched up the offensive architect of the AFC champs (and potential Super Bowl champs) as opposed to, say, the 49ers offensive coordinator (Packers).
The question is, with his stock flying high, does Whisenhunt want to come to Oakland or bide his time for a situation that might offer more money and control?
If Al likes him, he'll make him an offer he can't refuse....
While Culpepper would be an upgrade, I don't think there's anyway MN gets a #1 for him--not from Oakland anyway--he's coming of a horrible year and reconstructive surgery. If he's traded it's likely to be a conditional deal, meaning a cheap pick in 06 and one in 07 that rises or falls depending on 06 performance
Hate to be dominating the board fellas, but I just read this interesting take 'Raiders have something up their sleeves' on PFT so here it is--enjoy!http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
Saw that one too, LK.
Love the "Count Chocula has a surprise buried at the bottom of the cereal box."
Optimism is hard to come by these days with all the mediots calling Al a stumbling old buffon.
Glad to see PFT with the good vibes, and I do agree that the Saunders, Lofton, Cameron interviews are just Al picking the brains of the AFC West...something better must be up the sleeve of one white jump suit...
The fact that the decision has been slow in coming makes me wonder if Whisenhunt...or another coach still in the playoffs...is what Al's looking for, or perhaps at least wants to interview before making a decision.
My money's still on Martz though.
On the Culpepper trade: One of the easiest things for a mediot to do is recycle what happened last year. Oh, the Vikings traded their biggest star (Moss) to the Raiders for their first round pick... let's do that story again.
That said, I saw Culpepper play in college. The guy lofted a 70-yard pass that was so amazing...the home crowd just went bananas!
The unreal part is Culpepper played for the visiting team (Central Fla.).
My big gripe about Dante is he tends to fumble a lot...real small hands or something. Just ask Marcus what happens when you fumble once too often.
Overall, I'd love to see Culpepper in Silver'n'Black, as long as he doesn't bring Meathead with him, but this sounds like one of those manufactured rumors.
Post a Comment
<< Home