With the passing of Oakland Raiders’ team owner Al Davis
last year we knew there would be changes for the organization starting in 2012.
Davis was a die-hard believer that speed kills and favored wide-open,
air-it-out type offenses. He’d roll over in his grave if he saw what kind of
conservative offense the Raiders will be running this year.
And running is the key word in that sentence because that is
where the Raiders true focus will lie. Raiders’ offensive coordinator Greg
Knapp has held the same position for the San Francisco 49ers, the Atlanta
Falcons, the Seattle Seahawks, and he’s also had a previous stint as an OC in
Oakland. During his two most successful stints which came with the Falcons and
the 49ers, his teams ran the ball very effectively.
49ers’ running back Garrison Hearst revived his career under
Knapp rushing for over 1,200 yards after a two-year hiatus from football due to
a slow-healing ankle fracture. Knapp was also responsible for Hearst’s backup
Kevan Barlow having the only 1,000-yard season of his career.
Then as offensive coordinator of the Falcons, Knapp was
responsible for running back Warrick Dunn having the best three seasons he had
as a pro. Are you starting to see a pattern?
Before Knapp arrived in Atlanta, Dunn had never rushed for
1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. Dunn produced three straight 1,000-yard
rushing seasons under Knapp.
The running backs weren’t the only ones who thrived during
Knapp’s tenures in Atlanta and San Francisco; quarterbacks Jeff Garcia and
Michael Vick also had productive seasons. Garcia had two of his most productive
seasons in Knapp’s offense and Vick had his best seasons in a Falcon’s uniform
under Knapp.
All of Garcia and Vick’s success was predicated off of the
run though. Knapp loves to run the ball but he still needs a quarterback that
can make defenses pay for loading up the box. This was his biggest problem in
his first stint with the Raiders.
Former Raiders’ running back Justin Fargas produced his only
1,000-yard season under Knapp. All three of the Raiders’ quarterbacks who
started that season failed to capitalize off of Fargas’s running though which
eventually led to Knapp’s ouster in Oakland.
Knapp was unable to get a running game going in Seattle
during his lone season there. He attempted to get the best out of a running
back committee that consisted of Julius Jones, Edgerrin James and Justin
Forsett but to no avail.
Knapp will be happy to have an explosive back like Darren
McFadden at his disposal this season though. McFadden is a dangerous runner who
will force teams to stack the box but he has been injury-prone which is why the
Raiders traded for Mike Goodson from the Carolina panthers to back him up.
With a strong rushing attack in place, Carson Palmer should
have a much better season than he had last year. A lot of what the Raiders will
do in the passing game this year will be set up by the run which will help
Palmer.
He has the arm and accuracy to make defenses pay for loading up against the run but he hasn’t been as reliable in the past when he's been
forced to carry a team with his arm. Play-action play-calling could help by
giving him a little more time to find open targets.
But if McFadden once again goes down to injury and Goodson
isn’t able to handle the workload then the Raiders may find themselves once
again reliant on Palmers’ decision-making which has proven not to be a very
good proposition in the past. Here’s hoping that won’t be the case in 2012.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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