Raiders Offensive Coordinator Tom Walsh

[ajmplaya69 0]

Less load for Jordan and Courtney Anderson catching 60 balls? Also Gabriel is the number 2 now.

 

http://www.ibabuzz.com/raidersblog/?p=69

 

Walsh speaks, touchdowns result

July 30th, 2006

 

By Jerry McDonald

 

NAPA _ Maybe it was just a coincidence, but on the same day Tom Walsh was finally allowed to speak to the media, the Oakland Raiders offense broke loose in practice.

 

OK, it was for certain a coincidence. And to say the Raiders offense broke loose would probably be overstating the case.

 

But Walsh answered questions and the Raiders converted a few big plays in the passing game, so all was right with the world.

 

He may have been away from the NFL since 1994, but Walsh, whose coaching pedigree is all about power football, is good with at misdirection with the media.

 

Walsh didn’t answer a lot of questions directly, but divulged enough of his Sid Gillman roots to demonsrate why Al Davis had no problem signing off Shell’s pick for offensive coordinator.

 

Lo and behold, there were hints of that offense in Sunday’s lone practice.

 

It’s virtually impossible for an untrained eye to determine who is beating who in the running game because there is no actual tackling, but an extremely shaky Oakland passing game was suddenly transformed into something resembling a vertical offense.

 

The biggest play came on a 40-plus-yard scoring strike from Aaron Brooks to Alvis Whitted which so delighted Randy Moss he mocked the defense which has been torturing his offense in a profane but entertaining manner.

 

“Hey, that (bleep) was easy, `O,’ Moss yelled back to his offensive mates as he trotted through the defense on his way back to another huddle. “That (bleep-bleep, bleep) was easy!'’

 

OK, it loses something in sensorship, but Richard Pryor would have loved it.

 

Moss seemed to having a grand time, swearing at himself for a drop over the middle, latching on to one sideline go-route for big yardage and giving Brooks credit for both throws, “Nice throw, AB.'’

 

It may have provided a lift to the offense that their No. 1 offense was intact for at least a few snaps. Robert Gallery was activated off the Physically Unable to Perform List and ran with the first team at left tackle before giving way to Chad Slaughter. LaMont Jordan, out for two days with a bruised right quadriceps, got some work at running back before being replaced by Justin Fargas and Rod Smart.

 

That first team offense with a two-receiver set is not including Jerry Porter at the moment. Doug Gabriel is on the field with Moss, although Porter was in on three-wide receiver sets.

 

Whitted also got considerable slot work. When practice ended and the Raiders ran sprints in three separate groups across the width of the field, Porter finished last in his group on all four sprints.

 

Backup quarterback Andrew Walter didn’t want to call it a breakthrough day for the offense, he would concede, “We’re getting there.'’

 

While an ESPN story reported Porter was upset with Walsh’s hiring, Moss had no problem bringing him into the fold Sunday.

 

As the Raiders were running their sprints, Moss shouted, “You should be running with the offense, Tom Walsh!'’

 

While going through a post-practice stretch, a low, booming voice over the fence began shouting, “Raaaaaidders!'’

 

Moss yelled, “Homeboy doing all that yelling, what’s happening?'’

 

There was no reply.

 

“Oh, so now you’re quiet,'’ Moss said.

 

It was just one practice, but for a change, the offense was finally getting a chance to do a little talking.

 

Even the offensive coordiantor.

 

Bits and pieces from Friday’s lone practice:

 

– Shane Lechler cut loose with a series of cloud-scraping punts, some of which carried more than 70 yards.

 

“I had a good day,'’ Lechler said. “I had one (lousy) one, but I hit more good than bad.'’

 

— Fullback Zack Crockett (back) rejoined Gallery and Jordan, but FS Stuart Schweigert suffered a groin strain of undetermined severity and left practice.

 

With Schweigert out, rookie Michael Huff got plenty of work with the first unit, paired most often with Jarrod Cooper.

 

— Al Davis, in Detroit last week as part of a committee to help select the next commissioner, made his first appearance at practice. Shell chuckled when asked if Davis had been following the action closely on film.

 

“Now you think about that question,'’ Shell said. “He knows the players on this team. He watches every single snap, studies every single play. Takes a while to watch the tape, takes three hours. but he watches every single player and he can evaluate every one of those players. That’s what he’s done all those years..

 

– Tight ends continue to be popular targets. If Courtney Anderson remains healthy, he should catch at least 60 passes.

 

“Basically, we’re running the Raider offense the way it’s been run when you go back to the 60s, 70s and the 80s,'’ Walsh said. “Whether it was a Raymond Chester, or Dave Casper or Todd Christensen, or Ethan Horton or Mike Dyal or Bob Moore, you can go back as far as you want in the annals. That’s just the same offense, really.'’

 

— Jordan can count on getting a series off now and then, giving way to Justin Fargas or another running back. Walsh had some issues with the way former coach Jon Gruden worked rookie running back Carnell Williams.

 

“You go through your stats and look at you roster, who’s going to go out there and play 65 plays a game for 16 weeks? You can’t handle it,'’ Walsh said. “I had to laugh, I did some Auburn games when Carnell was down there, when he was in the Southeastern Conference, (the Bucs) run him 35 times or whatever, I’m thinking this poor guy’s not going to make it through Week 3 . . . You just can’t do that. You can’t put a load on a guy, and expect him to be a hammer.'’

 

— Walsh sidestepped the question of who will call the plays, saying it’s a process and a lot of people have a hand on it.

 

It’s an old Raider tradition, which reached the height of absurdity when Mike White, Joe Bugel and Jim Fassel would each contibute plays into a mish-mash of an offense that fell apart in 1995. The Raiders would never identify a play-caller when Ray Perkins was offensive coordinator in 1997.

 

But fear not. Shell gave Walsh up.

 

“Tom will call the plays,'’ Shell said.

 

A straight answer. See how easy that is?

[Striker99 0]

Cry me a river

 

Build a bridge

 

Get over it

[t.j 35]

Less load for Jordan and Courtney Anderson catching 60 balls?

 

As a Raider fan, I hope it's less load for Jordan mostly in the passing game. His hands are terrible. If they want to spell Jordan on outside runs and use Fargas for that instead, I am ok too. Fargas is garbage but he's a more effective outside runniner than Jordan. I'd rather keep Lamont fresh to pound it between the tackles.

[ElvisMcCoy 0]

This also begs the question, "Is this the year Randy Moss steps it up and gets back to form?"

[Nate Burleson's Burly Son 0]

This also begs the question, "Is this the year Randy Moss steps it up and gets back to form?"

Shhhhhh!