Raider ‘O’ takes a deceivingly major hit with Carter injury

By Anthony Carroll  |   Monday, August 25, 2008  |  Comments( 21 )

Oakland Raiders
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The Oakland Raiders lost more than a preseason game Saturday.

The silver and black, which fell to the Arizona Cardinals at home 24-0, lost two offensive players who were planning on seeing plenty of time on the field during the regular season. And all in the matter of two quick minutes.

Fullback Oren O’Neal fell on the opening kickoff of the game with a severe left knee injury, one that head coach Lane Kiffin can’t rebut as being a possible career-ender.

“It could be,” Kiffin told the Mercury News. “I never want to say that, but it’s as bad as it can get, as far as issues with the knee.”

Oakland will have to rely on veteran blocker Justin Griffith this season for full-time fullback duties. Griffith is the only other fullback on the roster besides O’Neal, at least until the Raiders opt to bring one in as a free agent.

Less than two minutes later, wideout Drew Carter also injured his left knee. On just his second grab of the ‘08 preseason, a quick 7-yarder, Carter saw his entire regular season slip from his grasp. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder tore his anterior cruciate ligament and, like O’Neal, is guaranteed to miss the entire upcoming season.

Carter is no stranger to devastating injuries. After battling knee and ankle injuries his entire college career at Ohio State, the 26-year-old (whose birthday is in 11 days) sat out his entire rookie season with another ACL tear and several more games over the next two years with ankle problems.

“He’s had so many things like this happen to him,” Kiffin said of Carter. “He’s had a lot of tough breaks injury-wise. He was on a one-year contract, so this was very tough for him.”

The loss will be equally as tough for the Raider offense, which will have to cope with losing an experienced receiver who brought plenty to the table.

They’re now left with just a handful of young pass catchers -- none of whom have very impressive résumés -- all competing for the No. 3 spot. In fact, there’s only one wideout with an NFL résumé who has appeared for the Raiders this preseason.

That one player is second-year receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins, whose support from the fans in Oakland is slowly diminishing with each fielded punt. The ex-UTEP standout had just six grabs for 47 yards as a rookie -- only two more receptions than fumbles.

All of the other pass catchers on the Raiders’ roster outside of starters Ronald Curry and Javon Walker -- Arman Shields, Chaz Schilens, Drisan James, Johnathan Holland and Todd Watkins -- have no regular-season experience in the NFL. Second-year wideout Chris McFoy had one grab in Week 16 last year, but he has no touches this preseason.

The Raiders will have to rely heavily on one of these unknowns to step up in a big way by the start of the regular season. As of now, that would seem to be Higgins by default, with camp standout Todd Watkins as perhaps a second option. Neither, though, is as reassuring as Carter was when he was healthy.

With No. 1 wideout Javon Walker still struggling to remain consistent, too, the instability at the receiver position for Oakland could present a major problem for the silver and black as well as starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell in 2008.

Now, it almost seems three good running backs isn’t enough.

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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