Originally published on Silver & Black Report on April 23, 2014

The NFL released the schedule of all 256 games on Wednesday, including the Raiders’ difficult schedule.

On paper, the Raiders have the toughest schedule in the league – facing opponents with a .578 winning percentage last season. The Raiders will face every team from the AFC East and NFC West, as well as the teams taht finished in last place in the AFC South and AFC North.

The Raiders hold one “primetime” game at the moment, a Thursday-night bout against the Kansas City Chiefs at home on Nov. 20.

Below is the Raiders 2014 regular-season schedule. Opponents in BOLD represent home games.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on April 21, 2014

The Raiders have traded third-year quarterback Terrelle Pryor on Monday to the Seattle Seahawks, ending his roller coaster of a tenure in the Silver & Black.

The young quarterback reportedly told the organization he wanted out of Oakland and it appears he got his wish today.

Pryor, Al Davis’ last draft pick before his passing, worked hard last offseason to earn the starting quarterback position over Matt Flynn but proved too inconsistent during the season and lost the job to undrafted rookie Matt McGloin. In all, Pryor started nine games for the Raiders last season, finishing with 57.4 percent completion for 1,798 passing yards, seven touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He did add a Raiders quarterback record 576 rushing yards.

Pryor spent three seasons with the Raiders and accumulated 1,953 passing yards, nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions with 627 rushing yards.

Pryor displayed his impressive athleticism throughout the season, including an NFL quarterback record-setting 93-yard touchdown run against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the problem wasn’t his athleticism, it was his inconsistency and inability to throw the ball from the pocket.

The Raiders appear to have not believed Pryor would be a suitable backup to prospected starter Matt Schaub and didn’t want him to be a participant in offseason workouts. Pryor is in the last year of his four-year, rookie contract.

It looked as if Reggie McKenzie was going to be unable to find a trading partner before his deadline of Tuesday and Pryor would have been released. Finding some sort of compensation for Pryor, though likely small, is certainly a good move for McKenzie.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on April 19, 2014

The National Football League released the Raiders finalized preseason schedule on Friday.

The Raiders will host the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks at home for the preseason, while heading out on the road to take on the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.

Date (s)                    Opponent                    Time (PT)                        TV

Aug. 7-11         at Minnesota Vikings          5:00 p.m.                     KTVU/KICU

Aug. 14-18         DETROIT LIONS               7:00 p.m.                     KTVU/KICU

Aug. 22             at Green Bay Packers         5:00 p.m.                     CBS/KPIX channel 5

Aug. 28            SEATTLE SEAHAWKS       7:00 p.m.                     KTVU/KICU

The Raiders week-three matchup against the Packers will be the Raiders only nationally-televised preseason game and will be on CBS.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on April 4, 2014


Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie announced Friday that the team has signed punter Daniel Zychlinski.

Zychlinski was a five-year senior at Stanford University and appeared in 41 games while punting 97 times for 4,096 yards (42.2-yard average).

The 6-foot-3, 208-pound punter’s best season came in 2012 when he punted 66 times for 2,846 yard for a school’s fifth-best 43.1-yard average.

Prior to attending Stanford, Scout.com ranked Zychlinski the No. 9 punter prospect coming out of high school.

With the young Marquette King seemingly locked into the starting punter role for the Raiders, Zychlinski will likely be an offseason leg to assist with the workouts through the offseason and be there in case King gets injured.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on April 3, 2014

The Raiders have announced their offseason schedule, which is to be held at team facilities in Alamed, Calif.

The Raiders will hold Organized Team Activities in Alameda May 27-28, May 30, June 2-3, June 5, and June 9-12. All of these OTA’s are voluntary though most players generally attend.

The Raiders mandatory mini-camp will be held in Alameda June 17-19.

High attendance will be key for a team that will be introducing so many new names and faces to a team, both on defense and offense.

The offense will need all the work it can get to get acclimated with newly acquired quarterback Matt Schaub, as well as running back Maurice Jones-Drew and wide receiver James Jones.

The offensive line is a piece of a team that has to work together and willpossibly see four new starters: Donald Penn, Kevin Boothe, Austin Howard and Menelik Watson.

On defense, the Raiders have added cornerbacks Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers while revamping their defensive line with Lamarr Woodley, Justin Tuck and Antonio Smith.

The Raiders hope that these workouts can be a good start to getting on the same page and being more prepared when training camp begins in late July.

The team will also hold a rookie minicamp that is held after the draft. Dates for this event have not yet been announced by the team.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on April 1, 2014

Raider Nation tried to lure DeSean Jackson into coming back to the Bay Area and signing with the Raiders but the viral plan ultimately failed as it appears the speedy wide receiver is heading to the Redskins.

Adam Schefter        ✔ @AdamSchefter
Follow
And in a short time, expected to be official: DeSean Jackson will be a Redskin. Finishing touches now being put on deal.

Raider Nation started a viral trend of using #DJaxToOakland in their tweets upon Jackson’s release. The hashtag spread like a wildfire as even some Raiders players were using it in their tweets. It appears the Redskins had no intentions of letting Jackson walk out of Washington without a deal as they have apparently given him a large contract.

The Raiders still remain without a number one receiver and may use the draft to look at potential playmakers such as wide receiver prospect Sammy Watkins. The Raiders have not had a 1,000-yard receiver since Randy Moss in 2005. Rod Streater came close last year with 888 receiving 

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on April 1, 2014


The Raiders have released offensive guard Mike Brisiel just two years into his Raiders stint.

Brisiel was brought in as a zone-blocking guard that fit Greg Knapp’s offense but the Raiders switched back a power-blocking scheme and Brisiel suffered injury problems.

The Raiders signed Austin Howard this offseason, who is expected to take over Brisiel’s right guard position, leaving Brisiel the odd man out in the Raiders starting offensive line.

The release saves the Raiders just $1.38 million dollars in cap space, according to reports.

News has also surfaced that former Raiders return man and wide receiver Jacoby Ford has signed with the New York Jets. The 26-year-old speedster has caught 57 passes for 848 yards and three touchdowns in his NFL career while having nagging injury problems the last couple of years with Oakland. Ford played in 14 games for the Raiders last season, hauling in 13 receptions for 99 yards.

WR Jacoby Ford possesses dangerous speed but never developed into the wide receiver the Raiders hoped for.