Five things to watch for in Napa, California

By Anthony Carroll  |   Monday, July 24, 2006  |  Comments( 9 )

Oakland Raiders
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The site is the Napa Valley Marriott in Napa Valley, CA.

The commencement date is July 24, 2005.

The anticipation, however, is indescribable.

The Oakland Raiders will be entering into training camp with a new head coach, a new quarterback, and a new attitude. In his second coaching stint with Oakland, Art Shell will walk into the team's Napa training complex with an old-school philosophy and a new school of players. With that being said, let's take a look at five things to watch closely at the training camp of the Silver and Black.

5. The red-headed kid

A simple photograph of third-rounder Paul McQuistan was enough to sway fans in Oakland. The 23-year-old rookie, who entered Oakland's minicamp with a long, fiery mullet, had a very strong month of May. Exiting July, the 6-6, 315-pound guard is without the mullet, but with a starting job. McQuistan ousted 31-year-old Brad Badger from the right guard slot in the team's recent mini-camp, impressing Shell, a Hall of Fame lineman, in the process. Leading up to the preseason, it should be interesting to see how the small-school graduate adapts to life in the NFL. Thus far, though, the Weber State guard has done nothing but impress onlookers, with and without the mullet.

4. Return of 99

Warren Sapp, Oakland's most-proven plug up front, will return to the field full-time for the first time since Week 10 of last season. In a November 20 meeting at Washington, Sapp's 11th NFL season was cut short prematurely. The 300-pounder suffered a torn rotator cuff to his right shoulder, promptly sending him to the injured reserve list for the final six weeks of the season. Up until that point, the 33-year-old defensive tackle's production was up greatly from the year before, posting 32 tackles and five sacks before falling. With 365-pound Ted Washington and 295-pound Ed Jasper out the door, Oakland is not only 660 pounds lighter, but two tackles down. For the Silver and Black, Sapp's recovery is training camp story that must end in a fairy-tale's fashion.

3. Brooks, Walter "competition"

Coach Shell has once again delicately explicated the quarterback situation in Oakland. "Right now, Aaron Brooks is the guy," he stated. "He's starting at the No. 1 spot, going in. But still, there's nothing etched in stone. We're still going to take a look at what we have, and by the time that we come out of training camp, and get ready for the first regular season game, we want to make sure we got the right guy in place. Right now, Aaron is going into camp as the guy. You've got to have somebody start out, so he's the guy who's starting out." Brooks will be entering into his eighth NFL season with over 19,000 passing yards and 120 touchdowns under his belt. At this point in his career, the ex-Saint will likely exit the team's training camp as a starter. Nevertheless, the performances of both Brooks and second-year man Andrew Walter are two reports to keep a close eye to, as they affect both the immediate and future offenses in Oakland.

2. The No. 1 man

Michael Huff, Oakland's seventh overall draft pick, is currently "not penciled in" as a starting safety, according to Shell. "Right now you've got Schweigert, Gibson, Huff, [and] Cooper," he said. "You've got all these guys working. But I don't say anybody is a starter. We're going to work them all. We'll come out of at the end of training camp with the starter." Based on the pool of applicants involved, Huff will likely surface as a starter before training camp comes to a halt. Stuart Schweigert, in his third season, should have little problem maintaining a tight grip on the free safety position, leaving Huff, Derrick Gibson, and Jarrod Cooper as the remaining options for strong safety. The 27-year-old Gibson has done little to prove he so much as deserves a roster spot, while special teams ace Jarrod Cooper has little safety appeal. With nearly a month to showcase his athletic capacity, Huff should have little trouble solidifying a permanent starting slot, arising as one of the team's most intriguing camp stories in the process.

1. The 'backers

Over the past few NFL seasons, nothing has transformed more times than Oakland's linebacking corps. With Tyler Brayton and Grant Irons out of the picture and a pair of talented rookies in, the face of the corps has changed drastically this offseason. Last year, San Diego State grad Kirk Morrison was a bright spot on the defensive side of the ball, posting 116 total tackles in his debut season. Meanwhile, Danny Clark, an eight-year veteran of the NFL, posted his second straight 100-tackle season with Oakland, attacking from the middle linebacker slot. Recently, Shell indicated that Morrison would be making a shift over into Clark's 2005 spot, from outside linebacker to middle linebacker. Where that leaves Clark, however, is a bit of a mystery, as Shell also stated that oft-injured Sam Williams and 240-pound rookie Thomas Howard are penciled in as the early starters on the outside of Morrison.

"Danny Clark is an integral part of this football team. He is still part of this team," stated Shell when asked about Clark's imminent future. "We are looking at players. Like I said before, nothing is etched in stone. We are taking a look at the players and see where we end up. We don't know where we'll end up right now for sure; we have a long ways to go through training camp, but hopefully we will have the best football players on this team when we open up the season."

Perhaps the most significant portion of Shell's words, however, is that "nothing is etched in stone." Expect Clark to push fiercely back into the starting lineup, as he has already proven over the past two seasons to be a consistent competitor. At this point in the offseason, naming the starting trio of regular season linebackers is a nearly impossible feat, positioning the linebacking battle at the head of the training camp watch list.

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Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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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: 9  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Christafur		05:02 AM
07/24/2006
One more thing we should look for is Coach Ryan? Our defense can be the best, but if he's going to repeat last years performance?...
No.2
Gator Monroe		02:24 PM
07/24/2006
Just Prior to hall of fame game a Vet Free Agent will be picked up and quietly don the Silver & Black and go on to the Pro Bowl...
No.3
Stevemo		04:19 PM
07/24/2006
We better become a blitzing team, cause that are of the defense has been piss poor the last couple years, and I thought this Ryan...
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