The Impact Players: AFC West

This makes the AFC west look like its on pretty shaky ground. Considering that the best record in the division last year was 8-8, that makes sense.

A rookie 3-4 OLB? Gonna have a long year trying to set the edge in the running game, whether or not he can rush.

QB going from a top 5 WR corps to a bottom 5 corps. I like Cassel for the long haul, but its going to be tough sledding in year 2 as a starter for sure.

Many may argue with me, but I think Russel's development has already been ruined by poor coaching and bad habits. If he ever sees NFL success, it will be a comeback story. If he were to win 6 games this year, I'd be totally stunned.

Shawne Merriman: I'm Curious to see what he has to offer minus PEDs and coming off major surgery. Is there any chance he can have an explosive first step this year? I can see him returning to dominance, or becoming totally irrelevant with equal likelihood.

Chargers run away with this division by the middle of October....

Many people that have an opinion on J Russell have never seen him play more then a game or two, maybe if the Raiders are playing their team. Lets be honest as bad as the Raiders have been the past few years they have not been a priority for Network TV.

Me on the other hand have seen every snap that he has taken during a game from day one and have watched many of the games a few times. They talk about Russell being a leader. I say that you only know if you really have a QB not during the good times and wins but during the bad times and the losses.

I remember watching Walter when he started for the Raiders under much the same type of conditions Russell has had. When the TV would pan in on his face walking off the field you could feel defeat. I remember thinking if he made me a fan watching the game feel that way how must the players feel in the huddle with him.

Russell is calm and never lets a good game get him to high or a bad game get him to down. No matter how bad things are going he is calm, shows strength and fights on until the end and to me that is leadership and what all the great QB's in the NFL have showed.

Russell also got much better towards the end of last year than many want to give him credit for. Over his last 6 games when he started to get some help from the tackle and wide receiver positions. And most important, the coaches had the balls to start and pull the trigger and let him start to throw passes more he did ok.

As a matter of FACT, Russell outplayed many of the QB's in the NFL. Laugh but he had a higher QB rating, completion percentage, touchdown to pick percentage and win loss record as some pretty good OB's. And those QB's had been playing for much better teams and had players around them that helped them.

He played better than both the Flacco and Ryan kid compared to their last 6 games. He out played K Warner, E Manning, J Cutler, the Steeler QB and a bunch of others. That is compared to their last 6 games of the season. I only bring it up to show just how much he improved from his first 10 games and show he played pretty well for what he had.

Last you say this could be Russells last year and chance. You know nothing about the Raiders and Al Davis and you can take that from someone that called the Raiders drafting the Mitchell in the second round of the draft this year before it happened.

Russell came out as a JR and even today is the youngest QB in the NFL. He took very few snaps from under center in College as well. All Davis one knew that even as a number one that he would be a bit of a project and he also knew that he would need to put the players around Russell which the Raiders did not have at the time. As long as Russell shows groeth this year the Raiders will give him another year before they ever started to think of moving on.

Russell will suprise some people this year and that you can count on. This kid can and has made some throws in his 16 games started that very few QB's in NFL history could make, he just has to make more of them. As Al Davis and his Raiders watched the laughter when they picked Nnamdi late in round one. Both at the pick and as they gave him time to develope, it is Al Davis and the Raiders doing the laughing on that one now as Nnamdi has become the best corner in the NFL. Knowing what I do about Russell, they will have the last laugh with him as well as he develops into not just a good QB but a great QB, Russell will be just fine.

Love how Raiders' fans are "experts' because they watch all the games on CBS...

Then I am an expert on the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL as well... oh yeah, and the PGA Tour.

Look, I hope your boy Russell can win more than 5 games this year, but you also have to be realistic... the Raiders have no shot to win that division.

Another novel length post from a Raiders' fan begging us to believe that Russell is great...

five seasons in a row with 11 losses? Those are the facts, and until they change, I can hear all of the Raider nonsense in the world but I can't really value those opinions until they win...

I love how people just count out the Raiders. Yes, they've been bad. They've been very bad for the past 6 years. But beginning two season ago this team has begun to make some of the moves necessary to turn it around.

They put together one of the leagues better rushing attacks and have the personal to ram the ball down anyone's throat with three starting caliber RBs, an actually decent offensive line and a blocking scheme which now includes two great run blocking FBs.

They have gotten several pieces in the passing game with solid #2 and #3 WRs in JLH and Schillens, a great TE and drafted DHB, someone who may be able to take the #1 position truely but was going to be a 1st rounder either way. He has the speed to stretch the field, is a great kid and comes from a pro style offense which gives him experience against double coverage, knowledge of NFL routes and the hidden ability to block.

They drafted a QB #1 overall who may not be shaking the league but is showing steady improvement and has better 1st year of full starting numbers than pro-bowlers such as Eli, Rivers and Farve to name a few. Oh and he did this despite three play callers and a HC change.

On top of it all the have a solid defense who is actually pretty good when the offense plays well.

Finally they showed some heart last season winning three of their last 6. In their final two games they snapped Houston's 5 game winning streak and knocked the Bucs out of the playoffs.

If you want to hate on the Riaders go for it. But all in all they have been a bad team and its likely they wont be pushing into the playoffs, but with the youth they have and the talent they have shown thinking they are going to be worse on 09 than they were in the chaotic 08 season is stupid. They will improve on their 5 win season from last year, maybe not by much but by a game or two at least.

Winning 3 of 6 is showing heart? Winning 6 or 7 games is noteworthy improvement?

Only for the Raiders and Lions.

The rest of the NFL likes to measure success by three metrics: making the playoffs, winning your division, then contending for a title. If your fan base gets excited at the prospect of winning 1 or 2 more games a year, and winning 3 of 6 down the stretch, you are aspiring to mediocrity. You are on the road to becoming the Bills, Texans, Bengals, Jets, 49ers, and Browns. The teams that are just good enough to get people to buy tickets, but can never get over the hump because they don't have any way to beat playoff caliber football teams.

First off I said at least a game or two, I am not saying that that is all I want them to do, or all that they could do. Given that 8-8 won the division last season, we haven't won more than 5 in six years, and a steady improvement with the youth on this team would set the Raiders up for some long term success I would be satisfied with a 7-9 season. Its more than we have won in several years and it would turn us in the right direction.

Would I be happy 7-9, no? Happy would be 9-7 with some serious development from our young guys. At 7-9 I am excited for what is coming but sad we are still a -.500 team. But realistically they aren't going to be rocking the NFL for at least another season, the passing game just isn't ready we have the players they just need time, so coming from six seasons of double digit losses I would take 7-9 out of the youngest team in the league. (Or at least it was at some point this offseason, we just signed a few vest so I am not sure anymore)

Jack. If you knew anything about football you would know that the Raiders are in a building mode and while the 08 Fins and Falcons are great stories that is not the typical way for a team to get back on top. In 06 we won 2, following this is when the rebuild started. In 07 we won 4, 08 we got 5 despite the coaching turmoil. Going into 09 and winning 7 or 8 would be a very big step.

In addition to Ayers and Dumervil, the Broncos have guys like D. Reid and erstwhile passrushing busts Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder competing at OLB. Also, with Andra Davis as the TED linebacker, expect holes to open for DJ Williams to apply pressure from the other ILB position.

Jarvis Moss -- our number one pick in '07 -- is underweight for DE in a 4-3 (as is Dumervil), but he could develop into a nice edge rusher at OLB. Still, all of these guys are "hybrids," so it's a crap shoot. One of the reasons we didn't take Orakpo is that he would have been yet another undersized DE that we'd be trying to covert into an OLB. Ayers is bigger and better against the run -- and can move between DE and OLB depending on the defense.

In sets with Ayers and Reid as OLB, what you're seeing is essentially a 5-2 -- with Ayers at about 277-280 the lightest of the bunch up front.

Will it work? Here's hoping.

Parker, actually the Falcons and Dolphins model is precisely the typical way that teams get back on top. There is at least one "Worst to First" story every single year.