Richard Seymour

Sorry about the pun, everybody’s doing it – I wanted my turn….

Anyway, down to business. With any luck, Seymour will be in the Silver and Black this season, and we can get a better sense of where our run-defense is weakest. With Seymour on the line, the other players can be held more legitimately accountable, and can reap the rewards if success is achieved. After initial speculation, I asked our fearless leader at Drafttek to change the Raider’s primary need form DT to LB (once Khalif Barnes comes back, I’ve got faith in our OL, plus an OG or C would be a second rounder anyway).

Our LB corps is possibly the best in the business at defending against the pass. While last years numbers didn’t add up to the year before (interceptions, touchdown returns), the respect was still there. That said, Seymour was brought in, I believe, due to his 2-gap run-stuffing ability. Blame for the horrible run defense was tossed back and forth last year, with LB’s saying that the running back had a full head of steam at the second level, and D-linemen complaining at the lack of “stack and shed” ability from the LB’s. Having Seymour on the line, reduces the amount of complaints that can be lodged against the d-linemen, and the responsibility for shedding blocks and making plays is going to rest on the broad shoulders of the LB corps, and that’s where I feel our weakness continue to be exposed. It’s not that I didn’t feel that our d-line was free from blame, on the contrary I felt we needed (and would target) a big, Sam Adams style NT to play 2 gaps and tie up blockers. With both the play of DT Desmond Bryant, and the Seymour trade, I have downgraded that need, and instead focused on the LB corps. If Morrison and Brown (or Alston) can’t keep teams from running down our throats, look for that need to be top of the list come draft time.

But hey, it’s not all about me – tell me what you think. Is LB our top weakness? Do we need another WR? Will Seymour even show up? Always happy for fan interaction.

Take care,

Tim, YOUR Oakland Raiders Team Needs Analyst