Ranking the Raiders’ new guys, from Akbar to Gibril

By Anthony Carroll  |   Monday, April 21, 2008  |  Comments( 16 )

Oakland Raiders
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If the 2008 offseason hasn’t already been hijacked by the attention-grabbing Oakland Raiders, 78-year-old team owner Al Davis will do all he can to make sure of that this weekend.

Chris Long in a silver and black No. 75 jersey would be quite the headline.

Up to this point in the offseason, however, Oakland has already added nine new faces to its roster, in addition to keeping some old faces -- Tommy Kelly, Justin Fargas and Nnamdi Asomugha, just to name a few.

With the NFL draft a few days ahead -- meaning another five new faces -- here’s how the first nine additions rank according to on-the-field importance.

9. Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, DE, signed from Miami: Gbaja-Biamila has spent 27 games with the Raiders in the past (from ‘03 to ‘04). That number may stay at 27. The 28-year-old will likely get cut before the season. If not, look for him on special teams.

8. William Joseph, DT, signed from New York Giants: Sure, Joseph could become the Derrick Burgess of the Raiders’ defensive tackle lineup. After all, he was a first-round pick in 2003. But the 308-pounder sat out all last season, and hasn’t put up the numbers anyone expected in the four years he was on the field. The 28-year-old has never recorded more than two sacks or 25 tackles in a single season.

7. John Wade, C, signed from Tampa Bay: The signing of the 33-year-old Wade indicates the likely departure of veteran center Jeremy Newberry. If and when Newberry officially leaves, this signing will certainly become more significant. Only the 28-year-old Jake Grove and second-year lineman Chris Morris could then be considered viable starters at the center spot, neither of whom Oakland can afford to have snapping the ball to an inexperienced JaMarcus Russell.

6. Kalimba Edwards, DE, signed from Detroit: The former second-rounder hasn’t worn any other jersey in the NFL outside of a Detroit Lions’ one. So if the six years spent in Detroit hasn’t rubbed off on him too much, Oakland may have found a steal here. The 265-pound end has played in 87 career games with 160 tackles and 26 sacks, with a career-high seven QB takedowns in 2005. Burgess is searching for a sidekick, and Edwards could become it.

5. Drew Carter, WR, signed from Carolina: After a painful half-year with Mike Williams taking over the slot duties in 2007, Oakland wanted to make sure a similar episode didn’t occur in ‘08. Williams had seven catches in six games with the Raiders last season, which isn’t so surprising, considering he had eight receptions in all of 2006. Carter, though, put up a career year with Carolina last season, grabbing 38 balls for 517 yards and four TDs. At 6-foot-3, he’ll be a nice outlet for Russell to look to next season.

4. DeAngelo Hall, CB, trade from Atlanta: If the Raiders hadn’t spent four first-day picks on defensive backs over the past four years, the addition of Hall would look better on paper. Still, bringing the 200-pounder to Oakland completes perhaps the best cornerback lineup in the NFL. Fabian Washington and Stanford Routt -- the team’s two backup CBs -- would start on many NFL rosters. Instead, Asomugha and Hall -- two Pro Bowlers -- will be the top guys in Oakland next year.

3. Kwame Harris, OT, signed from San Francisco: If Russell doesn’t want to spend his first full year as a starter on the run, he’d better hope for a reliable left tackle. With longtime Raider Barry Sims out the door, however, Oakland has a major hole to fill, and the 26-year-old Harris is the top option. At this point, in fact, he may be the only option. The former first-round pick has started in 44 games over the past five years, and the Raiders will likely need another 16 of those in 2008.

2. Javon Walker, WR, signed from Denver: With Jerry Porter’s departure and a very limited pool of free-agent wide receivers to work with this offseason, Oakland executed a major deal by locking Walker up long term. The 6-3 pass catcher will instantly become the Raiders’ No. 1 wide receiver, hopefully making both Russell’s and fellow WR Ronald Curry’s job a bit easier. The Raiders haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver on the roster since Randy Moss left; this time, Al Davis is hoping things turn out a little better, though.

1. Gibril Wilson, S, signed from N.Y. Giants: Oakland’s first signing of the offseason may turn out to be the best. The 26-year-old safety, who earned a Super Bowl ring with the Giants last season, will be as much of an asset to the team’s pass defense as to the run ‘D’. The 209-pounder, with 294 solo tackles in four years, has more than any other safety in that 64-game span. In total, Wilson has registered 360 career tackles, six sacks, 19 passes defensed and 11 interceptions. He’s also started in every game but one that he’s played in, and is coming off a career-high four-interception season in 2007. DeAngelo Hall will dominate in jersey sales, but it’ll be Wilson whose jersey shows up most on Sundays.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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CommentsComments: 16  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
09:02 AM
04/21/2008
Nice to finally have a great breakdown of our acquisitions. Thanks AC!!! The one thing I would have had different would be John...
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No.2
La Milicia Negra		09:20 AM
04/21/2008
AC... great read, and I agree with most of it...but btw, Chris Long has said if was picked by the raiders, he wouldn't wear...
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No.3
09:50 AM
04/21/2008
I think Wilsons' the best free agent signing by the Raiders.With Huff,Nnamdi and Hall, we'll have the best pass defense in the...
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