We won't know for two years whether or not the Raiders gave up too much to get Richard Seymour, but the Raiders will begin this season with a cover at home vs. the Chargers.
Whether you agree or disagree with Al Davis’s decision to send the Oakland Raiders’ first round pick in 2011 to the New England Patriots in exchange for DT Richard Seymour, the message it sent was pretty clear: This team needs to start winning right now.
You don’t trade a first round pick in 2011 to address your biggest need in the present if you believe the present is hopeless or that first round pick is going to be a high one. You make a move like this to give your team a chance to compete right now.
The Raiders on paper look to have overpaid. If they don’t turn the organization around in a hurry, it will be a very high draft pick that they gave up; and if Seymour shows signs of decline and/or decides not to resign with the Raiders, it wouldn’t make sense how much they gave up for him.
But Oakland has a lot of good pieces in place. On offense they’ve got a promising young quarterback in Jamarcus Russell (who they will learn a lot about this year), a great running back stable in Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden and Michael Bush, a young wide receiving core led by Chaz Schilens and Darrius Heyward-Bey, and an emerging star at tight end in Zach Miller.
On defense they have an athletic secondary led by one of the best cover-corners in the game today in Nnamdi Asomugha. They have a strong linebacking core led by Kirk Morrison, who has never failed to hit more than 115 tackles in any of his four seasons. On the defensive line they have potential in guys like Tommy Kelly and Trevor Scott, but no leadership to help these guys get to the next level.
Until the Seymour trade, that is.
Richard Seymour can single-handedly make the entire defense better. He will undoubtedly make Kelly and Scott better, as he will command more of the offensive line’s attention and open up holes for the other guys. With the defensive line performing better, the LB core won’t have to be used only to cover up the defensive line’s mistakes, freeing them up for more coverage and blitz packages.
And again, the win-now message he brings may be the most valuable of all. The Oakland Raiders have become accustomed to losing over the last few years. This trade provided a slap in the face for the guys that have been around; “We went out and got you one of the best defensive tackles in the game. No more excuses. Just win baby.”
When Seymour didn’t report to the Raiders for five days, it was looking like this might prove to be yet another disaster for Oakland. It was also threatening to be a big distraction for tonight’s game against the Chargers. But Richard Seymour finally came around and reported. Whether or not you believe the things he is saying, I’m just glad to see him playing nice and saying the right things. He says he’s happy to be a Raider, and if you want to know where he’ll be Monday night: “I’ll be the guy on top of the quarterback.”
Even before Seymour’s decision to report to the Raiders, I liked Oakland +10 for tonight’s game. If you remember back to last year, the Raiders opened the season at home for Monday Night Football against the Denver Broncos. People went into the game talking about how this was a good young team that might finally turn things around.
After an embarrassing 41-14 loss, it was back to the usual; the Oakland Raiders suck and always will, what a disgraceful franchise, etc.
All the hope and excitement that surrounded the season opener was completely sucked out of the stadium last year. Many of the players from last year’s team are back, and I can assure you, they will be hell-bent on making sure a repeat of last year doesn’t happen again. Seymour’s decision to show up only adds more fuel to the fire.
The San Diego Chargers are the better football team, and will very likely go on to with the AFC West. But tonight they face a Raiders team that should come out possessed; and might just have an upset in them.
The Pick: Raiders +10 (-110), Raiders ML +435