The New Raiders, Part 2
Hello again RaiderNation, it is time for part two of my article on the new Raiders. I had intended for this to be a two part article, but as I began writing this, I realized the article would be way too long so this will be a series of articles instead. In this article, I will talk a little about the offensive coordinator position. Again, I am hearing a lot of doom and gloom out there. But let me assure you all, the sky is not falling, and no matter what happens, we will weather the storm.
So lets talk about our new Offensive Coordinator, Greg Knapp. I know what many of you are going to say, he had the same job here in 2007 and 2008, and we were flat out horrible offensively. But keep in mind what was happening here at the time. Lame (no, that is not a typo) Kiffin was our Head Coach at the time, Jamarcus Russel was our Rookie QB, and are other QB’s included Josh McKown, Marques Tuiasosopo and Andrew Walter. Our incredibly talented wide receivers (note attempt at sarcasm here) included Ronald Curry, Tim Dwight, Johnnie Lee Higgins, John Madsen, Chris McFoy, Jerry Porter, Travis Taylor, Mike Williams, Jonathan Holland, Ashley Lelie, Chaz Schilens, Javon Walker, and Todd Watkins over the course of those two years. Not exactly a lineup that would strike fear in many (or any) opponents. On top of all of this, we had one of the worst offensive lines in football. If the QB tried to take more than a three step drop, they were going down. Am I saying that Knapp should not take any of the blame, no I am not. But what I am saying is this; I doubt any offensive coordinator could have done too much with those rosters we had in 2007 and 2008.
So lets look at how his offenses did elsewhere. In his first stint coaching in the NFL (I am ignoring his time as quality control coach), he served as QB coach for the 49ers from 1998-2000. In 1998, the 49ers went 12-4, beat the Packers in the Wild Card round 30-27, and then lost the Divisional round to Atlanta, 20-18. That year the 49ers were 1st in the NFL in rushing, and 2nd in passing. Sure, they had Steve Young, Jerry Rice, T.O., and Garrison Hearst, but that just proves my point. If Knapp would have had that kind of talent when he was here before, things would have been different.
In 1999, with Steve Young injured, they turned to Jeff Garcia. They ended up 4-12, and were 21st in passing, but 5th in rushing. In 2000, their record improved slightly to 6-10, but Garcia jumped from 21st in passing to 5th. While their passing game improved, the running game dropped to 15th with the loss of Garrison Hearst.
In 2001, he was promoted to Offensive Coordinator for the 49ers. In his first year as OC, the 49ers finished with a 12-4 record, but lost to the Packers in the Wild Card round. They were 14th in passing, but 2nd in rushing. In 2002, the finished 10-6, beat the Giants in the Wild Card round, but lost to Tampa Bay in the Divisional round. They finished 14th in passing, and 6th in rushing.
In 2003, with yet another new QB (Tim Rattay)they dropped to 7-9, and missed the play-offs. They finished 10th in passing, and 5th in rushing.
In 2004, he became the Offensive Coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, and served in that capacity until he came to the Raiders in 2007. In 2004, the Falcons finished the season 11-5, had a first round bye, beat the Rams 47-17 in the divisional round, but lost to the Eagles in the Conference championship. They lead the league in rushing that year, and they finished 30th in passing, but keep in mind that Michael Vick did a lot more running than he did passing.
In 2005, they finished 8-8, and missed the playoffs. They lead the league in rushing again, and moved up 3 spots to 27th in passing (but 12th in overall offense). In 2006, they finished 7-9, missed the playoffs again, but lead the league in rushing again, although they dropped back down to 30th in passing.
We all know what happened in 2007-2008, so I will not waste your time talking about that time. It is part of a dark time in Raider history that most of us would just as soon not think about.
In 2009, he was hired as Offensive Coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. They finished a dismal 5-11 that year, and were 15th in both passing and rushing.
He then took the QB Coach position for the Houston Texans and held that position until he was hired a few days ago by the Raiders. In 2010, the Texans finished 6-10, but was 4th in passing. This past year, they finished 10-6, and finished 18th in passing despite losing Matt Schaub, and second string QB Matt Lienhart.
So what can we take from all of this RaiderNation? For the most part, when Knapp had good talent to work with, they made the playoffs more often than not. Keep in mind that the Raiders extended the contract of Al Saunders through the 2013 season in the role of Senior Offensive Assistant. Saunders knows our players strengths and weaknesses. I look for him and Knapp to work together and develop a hybrid offense that will utilize the talent of our current players. Personally, I hope to see more screen passes to McFadden, Reece and Bush. I really felt like that was something Hue Jackson abandoned toward the end of the season last year.
At any rate, I don’t see this hire as a bad hire as many do. I look to see our offense even more potent than last year. If we can get the defensive side of the ball fixed, we are playoff bound.
Keep your eyes and ears open for part three of this series, which will talk about our new defensive coordinator, Jason Tarver.
Peace out RaiderNation!!
Old Timer
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