Caste Football Looks at the 2010 Oakland Raiders</font>
The powerhouse Raider teams in the 1970s had many great white players, back when the NFL was actually diverse. Since the NFL has become coal black, Al Davis can't seem to remember the Fred Biletnikoffs, Phil Villapianos, Ted Hendricks, Howie Longs, Pete Banaszaks, Ken Stablers, or Jim Plunketts of those teams. Judging by the talent level the Raiders have had for years now, I seriously doubt he remembers the Cliff Branches, Marcus Allens, or Jack Tatums either. Judging by the first game of the season, Raiders fans can look forward to another losing year. The Raiders of 2010 are around the league average of white players, with sixteen whites on the roster this year, with 5 of those players starting. After you take away the punter, kicker, and long snapper, that leaves 8 white backups on the roster.
Bruce Gradkowski is another one of those white quarterbacks who's been thrown around the league since he's been drafted. He has decent arm strength, and is fairly mobile, but since he didn't play perfect every start, and his name isn't Brees, Manning, or Brady, he was yanked from his starting jobs, which were for some bad teams, like the Bucs and Browns. The much maligned Kyle Boller, formerly of the Ravens, is the third string QB.
TE Zach Miller is far and away the Raiders' best reciever. Miller can actually catch a pass thrown to him, something the recievers on the team don't know how to do. He should see more targets with Jason Campbell at QB, due to Campbell's inabilty to throw a deep ball. Brandon Myers, out of Iowa, is the second string at tight end. Speedy WR Nick Miller somehow made the Raiders roster again this year, but his chances of actually seeing a pass thrown to him, or even getting playing time, are about as good as yours or mine. Should an injury occur to one of the Raiders' real recievers, Nick Miller would be about the fifth or sixth option to replace him.
Jared Veldheer, a rookie out of tiny Hillsdale college, is the starting center for the Raiders. He is a mammoth at 6-8, 315 pounds, and could be a great pick for Oakland. Veldheer has tremendous strength, and hopefully, should be a mainstay on the Raiders' line for years. Veteran Robert Gallery, an Iowa grad, is the starting left guard. Cooper Carlisle, now in his eleventh year out of Florida, holds down the starting right guard spot. The two white backups on the line are Daniel Loper, out of Texas Tech, and Colorado State product Erik Pears. Jon Condo is used strictly as a long snapper.
The Raiders defense is nearly barren of white players, but talented DE/OLB Trevor Scott still starts at DE for the Raiders. A steal out of Buffalo, Scott has accumulated 12 sacks in his first two seasons, despite only starting six games in that time, and tied for the rookie lead for sacks with 5 in 2008. Scott is a dynamic pass rusher who doesn't really get much name recognition anywhere, probably due to his lack of melanin.
Ricky Brown was a rare white success story in the NFL, going undrafted out of Boston College, and eventually starting a few games for the Raiders. The Raiders, however, could not let this go on for any longer, and drafted Rolando McClain in the first round of this year's draft to replace him immediately. Brown is now relagated to a backup role. Undrafted rookie Travis Goethel out of Arizona State made the team as a third string middle linebacker/white special teams demon.
12 of the team's 19 coaches are white.
NUMBER OF WHITE STARTERS: 5
NUMBER OF WHITE PLAYERS ON THE 53 MAN ROSTER: 16
GRADE: D-
