Off Season moves impact on
ex-Buckeyes in the AFC West
By Bill Smith
Denver
Peterson, Kenny DE 6y
Peterson
faces a very much up hill battle just to get a roster spot. Last year he was on the regular roster and
participated in the last 7 games. The Bronco
DL has been a disaster for several years.
If you need proof, just look at the former Browns that they brought in
and then cut. Peterson is not currently
listed on the 3 deep depth chart. To win
a spot, he will have to beat out second year DE Tim Crowder who started one
game last year, or Paul Carrington, the third year player from Central Florida.
Kansas City-No
former Buckeyes. Is that why they
struggle?
Oakland
Carter, Drew WR 5y
Carter
signed a 1 year 2 million dollar contract.
He has looked very good but there is a lot of pressure on him because of
the competition at the position. One of
last year's starters, Jerry Porter is gone.
Porter signed a big deal with Jacksonville. Despite his 10 seasons of experience, Tim
Dwight is not going to be much of a threat.
Johnnie Lee Higgins did start 2 games last year but only registered 6
catches.
As I
reported on Tuesday, Raider head coach Lane Kiffin has been most impressed with
exBuckeye WR Drew Carter so far this year.
Carter was signed to a 1 year contract by the Raiders as a UFA. Most observers say that Carter has been the
most consistent and impressive WR in camp.
Kiffin had this to say about Carter's performance. "I don't mention him sometimes because I
expect him to do what he's doing, but he's doing it every day, and I love the
work ethic that he brings," Kiffin said. "He's just one of those guys
that's going to do everything he can to get out on that field and he's never
going to complain about anything. He's going to play as hard as he can. He's
going to block as hard as he can. He's going to go after every ball like it's a
game. He ends up on the ground 10 times a day because he's practicing like it's
a game."
The Raiders
have worked hard to provide help to first year starter JaMarcus Russell. While the position is full of competitors
including former Bronco Javon Walker and two draft choices Arman Shields from Richmond and Chaz Schilens a speedster from San Diego State.
Carter has a real shot to be a starter.
Richardson, Jay DE 2y
Another former
Buckeye that has caught Kiffin's eye this spring is DL Jay Richardson. Richardson has been focusing his work on
improving his pass rush during the team's mandatory minicamp. While he contributed last year and became a
starter, Richardson struggled putting
pressure on the passer. Kiffin said
"I think Jay's developing a pass rush. That's what he lacked last
year. He played the run very well for us
and has continued to improve on that. The pass rushing and the third-down part
of it, we didn't leave him out very much because of that last year. We're
giving him a shot to take that. Again, we're not going to rotate just to
rotate. If we can find a guy that does both, we'll leave that guy in there the
whole time. Jay knows that's where he needs to improve to play more."
It
important that Richardson
play well in practice and in the preseason.
The Raiders picked up Trevor Scott a draft choice from Buffalo
and veteran DE Greg Spires who started 8
games last year for Tampa
but had only 2 sacks. The Raiders did
lose 2 D-lineman as UFA's
Tyler Brayton and Chris Clemons.
San Diego
Wilhelm, Matt ILB 6y
Wilhelm
started 14 games in the regular season last year and 2 of the 3 playoff
games. He is expected to be the starter
in 2008. There were no moves by the
Chargers that will have any effect on him.
Shane Olivea OT
Olivea
had been a starter since he was drafted by the Chargers back in 2004. He was benched after the 10th game
and was released after the season. He
has yet to sign with a new team.
Bill Smith is a
former coach of several semi-pro teams and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com. He has
also published several novels on http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm and
edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com