I took a couple of week sabbatical to catch up on life but the world of football keeps churning.  I wanted to weigh in on some of the recent actions, etc, taken by the Raiders in the meantime.

Transactions:
-Signing of Matt Leinart – those who follow this site consistently know that I felt that Pryor was unlikely to be ready for the primary backup spot.  If he is, that's icing on the cake.  If not, Leinart can be a functional backup.  

Leinart has not met his top 10 draft status but hasn't been as bad as many believe.  He was beat out by Kurt Warner, who played at a very high level in his time in AZ and moved to Houston as a backup.  The Houston coaching staff was very confident in him last season when starter Matt Schaub was injured but he, also, was injured, suffering a shoulder injury almost immediately in his first game. 

However, the Raiders new offensive coaching staff has familiarity with him and he will be familiar with the protection schemes of the Raiders.  He also is comfortable with Palmer having been behind him when they were both at USC.

The Raiders first minicamp, for rookies only, starts tomorrow.  This got me wondering how many positions look likely taken by veterans and how many would be based upon competition in training camp.

The lists below were generated based on salary, previous production, my own opinions of play and, sometimes, just a gut feeling.  They are in no way scientific.

I only included 3rd and 4th round draft picks in the extremely likely because it's no lock that all of the 6 draft picks will make the roster, but it is extremely likely that the 3rd and 4th round selections will.

Also, it's almost certainly a given that some of the players on this list will get injured in camp which will open up some positions, potentially.  There are always surprise cuts each year, as well.

Take a look and let me know what you think - either in the comments or on Twitter

Today, TFDS' featured interview is with newly signed Raiders punter Marquette King.  King is from Fort Valley State University, a historically black Division II college located in Fort Valley GA.  King is listed as 6'1, 192 lbs. 
He has long been regarded as one of the best punters in Division II and has drawn comparisons to current Raiders punter Shane Lechler for his ability to boom accurate punts that were both high and long, obviously a very desirable trait.

King has been able to punt 75 yards down the field with the ball in the air and also has recorded 5.6 second hang times, both very impressive numbers.

You can follow him on Twitter @MarquetteKing

Interview:
Q: What is your home town/state?

King: My Hometown is Macon, Ga



Q: Did you root for a particular NFL team growing up? Who? Why?

King: Not really, I just had favorite players that I would hope do well in games.

Today's interview is with former Penn State cornerback Chaz Powell, signed to a contract as an undrafted free agent shortly after the draft ended.  Powell measured in at the combine at 6' even and 203 lbs.  He came in Penn State having played on both sides of the ball in high school and amassing impressive statistics on both sides including a team high 1,190 rushing yds with 16 TDs, an additional 400 receiving yds, 3 Ints with one returned for a TD.  He had 16 blocked field goals and punts.

He was redshirted in 2007 as a Freshman at PSU.  He was put in as a WR for both 2008 and 2009 and then moved to CB in 2010.  He played on special teams and started some games at CB.  He was the teams kickoff specialist.

In 2011 he continued to play both on defense and special teams.  He had 27 kickoff returns, averaging 27.1 yards per return with one TD.  He played in all 13 games and logged two INTs (fellow Penn State and current Raider Nate Stupar also had 2 INTs, I see), 41 total tackles and 9 passes defended.

For the Raiders he would provide depth at defensive back and compete to be a returner on Special Teams.

You can follow him on Twitter @CPowell02

Interview:

Q: What is your home town/state?

Powell: I'm from New Freedom, PA, which is a small town about 5 minutes from the
Maryland line.

In an effort to understand what the Raiders offense will look like, I looked at game film from the Seahawks in 2009, the last time that Raiders OC Greg Knapp served in that capacity before the Raiders.  You can read that article here.

The last two seasons 2010 and 2011, Knapp served as the QB coach for the Houston Texans, which has had one of the most dynamic offenses in that time, relying on the skills of offensive trio Arian Foster, Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson.

The Raiders, like the Texans, will be playing with an offensive line that uses a Zone Blocking System (ZBS), in which each player on the line has a certain area that is their responsibility and, in most rushing players, they attempt to move the opposing players in a certain direction with the intention that the defense moving laterally will create cutback lanes that a patient RB can exploit.

Oakland Raiders defensive 2011 stats:
Yds/G: 387.6(29th)      Rushing Yds/G: 136.1(27th)   Passing Yds/G: 251.4 (27th) 
T/Points: 433 (29th)    Interceptions: 18 (12th)          Sacks: 39 (15th)
F/Fumbles: 13 (30th)  Penalties: 120 (4th)                  Pen/Yds: 982 (4th)
(League Rank)

2011 Oakland Raiders stat leaders:
Tackles: Tyvon Branch(120)  Sacks: Tommy Kelly(7.5)  Interceptions:Matt Giordano(5)
F/Fumbles:Tommy Kelly(2)  Pass/def: Stanford Routt (19). 

 2011 Top Performers:                          2011 Worst Performers:
Richard Seymour                                      RCBs-Lito Sheppard and Chris Johnson
Tyvon Branch                                           Rolando McClain
Tommy Kelly                                            Michael Huff


The Oakland Raiders defense in 2011 was horrible - we all know it - and while we like to shift all the blame on Chuck Bresnahan, it was up to the players as well to get the job done.  With the new coaching staff brought in by head coach Dennis Allen and GM Reggie McKenzie, I think the Raiders defense will be heavily improved and one of the reasons I think it will be is the addition of defensive coordinator Jason Tarver.

In our ongoing attempts to get to know the new players on the Raiders organization, we spoke to newly signed WR Thomas Mayo.  Mayo comes from California University of Pennsylvania.  He is listed at just under 6'2" and 200 lbs.  In 2011, as a senior, he accumulated 79 total receptions for 1359 yards and 16 TDs with an average of 104.5 yards per game which are impressive statistics.

You can follow him on Twitter @ThomasMayo1

Interview:
Q: What is your home town/state?

Mayo: Reston, Va