The 2009 Oakland Raiders depth chart: Defense

By Os Davis  |   Thursday, March 26, 2009  |  Comments( 7 )

Oakland Raiders
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Even when things are moving at the turtle-slow pace of the NFL offseason, sometimes you still need a scorecard to keep track. One week ago, RealFootball365.com posted a depth chart for the Oakland Raiders' 2009 offense. In the meantime, Samson Satele has been brought over from the Miami Dolphins, Cornell Green has been arrested on assault charges (paving the way for Jason Fabini, eh?), and even the Internet chatter on the Raiders’ pick at No. 7 overall in the draft has been shifting.

Nevertheless, today a fearless plunge into the near-future for a glimpse at yourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr 2009 Raiders (defense)!

DE: Jay Richardson, Derrick Burgess; Trevor Scott, Greyson Gunheim, TBD.

While Richardson (51 tackles including 37 unassisted and three sacks in 2008) and Scott (last year’s sixth-round draft pick bagged five sacks) appear to be approaching stardom, poor Burgess has been on a downswing since the calf injury in 2007 and on a general downward progression since his Pro Bowl season of 2005. Gunheim was almost entirely a special teamer in 2008 but may see more time with the ‘D’ next season. And filling a fifth roster spot with a warm body at DE is already an improvement over Kalimba Edwards.

DT: Tommy Kelly, B.J. Raji/Ron Brace; Gerard Warren, Terdell Sands.

Some within the Raider Nation are craving for Al Davis & Co. to take a defensive tackle high up in the draft while eschewing the big-name wide receiver(s) probably still available at No. 7. So, the thinking goes, why not beefy B.J. Raji out of Boston College? Or even better: Use the first round to go receiver or O-line and go DT in Round 2, possibly stealing Ron Brace, Raji's BC teammate? Together with Kelly, either is a scary combination. Warren and Sands are perhaps best left on the roster, but on the bench.

LB: Thomas Howard, Ricky Brown; Jon Alston, TBD, TBD.

It’s all upside for the Raiders here with a trio of four-year men. Howard’s numbers made a change for a strange in 2008, as his tackles were up slightly (97 for the season, against 95 the year previous), but he managed just one interception after snagging six picks in 2007. Brown has gone from undrafted free agent in 2006 to working his way into games because of injuries to full-on starter – and please note, Raji/Brace adherents, Brown’s also from Boston College. Alston will probably work his way up off special teams next season after starting six games on defense for the Raiders in 2008.

The front office is faced with having to fill a couple of roster holes here with the passing of Marquis Cooper, but these three make a nice solid foundation on which to build.

MLB: Kirk Morrison; Isaiah Ekejiuba.

Well, this position’s pretty well set.

CB: Nnamdi Asomugha, Chris Johnson; Justin Miller, Stanford Routt, John Bowie, Jason Horton.

Just goes to show that name players aren’t all they’re cracked up to be; if you’d told the average citizen of Raider Nation in preseason 2008 that ditching DeAngelo Hall before 2009 and signing Chris Johnson would represent an improvement, well, there would have been some serious scoffing.

Taking a look at this bunch, though, reveals a top 10 passing defense that improved by subtraction. All right, so maybe a four-year, $11.3 million deal for Johnson is a tad excessive, but fans have to love the sweet contract given Asomugha to keep the Raiders’ proven stud in Oakland. Miller made for an excellently pleasant surprise in 2008, so the only serious question here is: After missing all of 2008 on IR, can Bowie come back?

FS: Hiram Eugene; Tyvon Branch.

Things are stretched a tad thin at free safety for Oakland in 2009. Eugene cheered the Raider Nation at the position when the Huff-at-FS experiment failed. Branch figures to again work mostly on special teams.

SS Michael Huff, Darrick Brown; um, draft pick, maybe?

In direct contrast to Raider strengths at CB and MLB is the dire situation at strong safety. I mean, whoa. Going out on a limb here, but let’s guess that Tom Cable will move Huff back to his more accustomed position (and concomitantly relearn how to tackle in the open field). Here might also be penciled in Brown, either a versatile guy or simply one without a specialty: Starting on the practice squad last season, Brown is today listed as a corner in some places online, a safety at others, and a general DB on the team’s official Web site.

It’s tempting to prescribe a draft pick to fill this need, but the team already has so many draft needs, doesn't it? Whoever thought the departure of Rashad Baker would hurt so much?
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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