There is but one mission for John Marshall and the unit he coordinates in 2010: Stop the run!

So, where do you go when you’re in search of personnel to improve a near decade of run defense deficiency?

The fire sale in Cleveland, that’s where.

While the former first round pick hasn’t ever lived up to the potential displayed in his 11-sack rookie season, he does bring an added dimension to the Oakland defense. Wimbley spent his college years playing defensive end at Florida State and figures to see time both standing up as a strong side linebacker and getting down into a three point stance as an end. Not unlike the manner in which Marshall utilized Trevor Scott near the end of last season.

Wimbley’s arrival means little as far as the futures of Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison are concerned. More so to the point, the Wichita native will be expected to replace the team leading 7 sacks lost in the release of Greg Ellis.  

How does this move help to improve the run defense? Well, it doesn’t.

Until Al Davis grafts a few modern principles onto his throwback defense, the continued woes will persist regardless of the personnel. Wimbley is a good addition and his talents should blend well with the gameplan. However, this defense is still a Commodore 64 in an Xbox 360 era.

John Marshall has been dealt a strong hand. Too bad he’s being told how to play his cards.

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Sorry Al Davis. Looks like Dan Snyder beat you to the punch.

And by punch I mean Larry Johnson.

And by Larry Johnson I mean loser.

And by loser I mean the Kansas City Chiefs.

But I digress.

So much for that Sunday sit down between Al and LJ. Looks like the Raiders will have to find another free agent head case to replace the recently released Justin Fargas. Hey, is Onterrio Smith available?

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22 Coaches Putting the MAD in March Madness – A great photo collection of college hoops coaches ice grillin’ and mean muggin’.

Mackerel Jordan Consumes Michelle Beadle – When ESPN personalities become fish bait on live TV. Film at 11…or just click the link to watch now.

LeBron James: Potential Terrorist? – Is LeBron secretly a member of a sleeper cell quietly planning to terrorize the world with puppets? No, but there’s a good chance of the King being mistaken for a terrorist.

Julius Peppers Might Take some Plays Off – The Bible on why Bears fans should temper expectations for the upcoming season and cut Peppers a little slack.

Torii Hunter is Colorblind…Kind Of – Congrats, Torii Hunter! You’ve just joined the John Rocker club. What are you going to do next?

Oakland A’s Season Preview – Get your fill of preseason analysis on the Oakland A’s, Haiku style!

Five Other Guys with Bad Knees the Eagles Might Sign – A great list of the walking wounded who the Eagles might consider offering contracts to. Greg Oden, you should be expecting a call any day now.

Mengke Bateer is Kickn’ Ass in China – Without Mengke Bateer, there would be no Yao Ming. Without Jackie Chan, there would be no Mengke Bateer.

It seems like it was just yesterday that the Dallas Cowboys severed ties with Terrell Owens and rumors of his Oakland arrival flooded the blogosphere faster than cell phone pics of nude athletes.

One year later and once again T.O. is on the market meaning once again those same rumors have returned like a wrestler’s cauliflower ear.  

Is there really any need to even rehash the numerous reasons why this scenario makes about as much sense as a Jim Zorn fake field goal attempt?

One year ago it made no sense because Owens was not a good fit for a young locker room. One year later the Oakland locker room has gotten even younger. One year ago it didn’t make sense to add such a volatile element to an equation with an unknown variable at the quarterback position. One year later more is known about time travel than the future of JaMarcus Russell in the East Bay.

In short, not much has changed and cash is even harder to come by as evidenced by the recent roster moves.

Then again, Larry Johnson is scheduled to make a visit in Alameda. Being that the possibility of replacing a high character guy like Justin Fargas with a homophobic low life like LJ exists then there is plenty of kindling for the T.O. fire to burn.

Al Davis has yet to even dip a toe into the free agency pool. If he signs Owens and Johnson he’ll be doing a belly flop of Kirstie Alley proportions. Let’s hope Al takes the high road instead of the high dive.

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The staff over at NoLogoNeeded.com is conducting a mock draft among NFL blogs. They were kind enough to ask yours truly to represent the Raiders in their draft. I did my best to utilize the logic (or lack thereof) of Al Davis and apply it to the available prospects at the #8 spot in the first round.

Taking the Davis approach I went with the workout warrior of the combine, Maryland offensive tackle Bruce Campbell.

With Cornell Green suckering signing a 3-year contract in Buffalo and Khalif Barnes in town on another one year contract, the position of right tackle needs a long term solution. The jury is still out on Mario Henderson who struggled in his first full season protecting the blind side. All in all, the tackle positions are a major question mark going forward.

If not the offensive line, the defensive line needs some serious consideration as well. Now that Greg Ellis has been shown the exit, expectations are raised for second year end Matt Shaugnessy who displayed promise during his rookie campaign.

No matter what, the Raiders must make fixing the trenches a priority this off-season.

While Campbell is considered a reach at #8, he has the physical tools that Davis covets.

For more on my reasoning behind the selection you can read the full entry here.

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Javon Walker will collect $2.6-million in 2010 for doing absolutely nothing. Not that it’s any different than how he collected all those Al Davis endorsed checks over the course of last the last two years.

Today the Raiders finally swallowed their stubborn pride and severed ties with the $55-million mistake.

How Javon spent the '09 season. (Photo: YardBarker.com)

In recent California history, there have been three epic cash failures.

3) IndyMac Bank

2) Andruw Jones

1) Javon Walker

Here is a timeline detailing Walker’s days as an Oakland Raider.

March 6^th, 2008 – Raiders sign free agent Javon Walker to a 6-year contract valued at $55-million ($16-million guaranteed). Bernie Madoff praises Walker as the NFL’s Ponzi scheme king.

June 16^th, 2008 – Walker is found unconscious at 7:19am on a Las Vegas street. Reports surface stating that Javon was seen at a Vegas night club two nights earlier where he sprayed the crowd with 15 some odd bottles of Dom P. Al Davis declares the incident a national tragedy. He later urges Vegas club promoters to begin immediate sensitivity training for their patrons who clearly failed to understand that Walker’s intentions were to impress skanks and not to promote violence.   

August 2^nd, 2008 – Reports circulate claming that Walker was talked out of retirement by Al Davis. Davis denies the claim and then sends senior executive John Herrera back in time to assault every journalist who reported the story. Unfortunately Herrera was mistakenly sent into the future where he proceeded to accost San Jose Mercury writer Tim Kawakami. The incident creates a parallel reality in which Darrius Heyward-Bey becomes the greatest receiver in NFL history.

October 19^th, 2008 – Walker scores the only touchdown of his Raider career in a 16-13 overtime win against the New York Jets. The touchdown helps little Timmy Okerman of Hemet, California, to a dramatic win in fantasy football. That same evening, on his death bed, Timmy thanked Walker for fulfilling his dying wish just prior to slipping into a diabetic coma. Walker establishes a fund for the continued research on the effects of abusing Mountain Dew Code Red. Slowly but surely, Mountain Dew begins to scale back distribution of Code Red.

November 9^th, 2008 – Javon catches what would be his final pass as an Oakland Raider in a 17-6 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Herrera returns to the present where he attempts to warn Davis not to sign Walker but arrives too late. However, Herrera strongly advises Davis to draft Heyward-Bey to replace Walker.

November 14^th, 2008 – Walker undergoes season ending ankle surgery. He finishes his first season in Oakland with 15 catches for 196 yards and 1 TD. Andrew Walter is saddened by the news and decides to dedicate the rest of the season to honoring Javon by refusing to take the field again until Walker returns. Walter is later released to make room on the roster for Darrius Heyward-Bey. 

May 8^th, 2009 – Javon is unable to participate in off-season OTAs due to his recovery from a secret knee surgery. Walker becomes incredibly cryptic when discussing the surgery which we later discover took place in Israel (true story).

January 3^rd, 2010 – The regular season comes to an end with Walker having been active for only three games. His stats: 0 catches, for 0 yards and 1 fumble. Bernie Madoff sends a letter to Walker offering him a job once Bernie’s 150-year jail sentence has concluded.

February 16^th, 2010 – Walker returns to Las Vegas with rapper Bow Wow who convinces Javon to refrain from making it rain with expensive Champaign.

March 8^th, 2010 – Javon Walker and veteran defensive end Greg Ellis are released by the Oakland Raiders. Walker vows to never rest until every can of Mountain Dew Code Red is removed from the shelves of convenient stores in the United States.

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Farewell to Fargas: The last Raider to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

The writing was on the wall and now it appears the Justin Fargas era has come to an end in Oakland.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Raiders have released Fargas. The move had been rumored earlier in the week and was all but expected in lieu of Darren McFadden’s arrival and the emergence of Michael Bush.

Injuries have limited Fargas in recent years. Still it is his locker room presence that will be missed most of all.

Next weekend Fargas, along with Zach Miller, will be given the Commitment to Excellence Award, the third year in a row he has been bestowed with the honor.   

There has been some speculation that the Raiders could bring him back at a reduced price. No matter the case the franchise is turning the page as the youth movement continues to sweep through the East Bay.

I’d like to thank Young Hugg for representing the Silver and Black with such class over the years. He played every snap with passion and a reckless abandon that coincided with his punishing running style. If the coaching staff told Justin Fargas to run through a brick wall, you felt bad for the bricks.

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More than 12 hours into the NFL free agency frenzy and not a peep out of the East Bay. In fact, since the wretched spending spree of 2008, the Raiders have taken a drastically different approach in handing out contracts.

Instead of passing out multi-million dollar meal tickets to total strangers, Al Davis has been rewarding his own.

$45-million to Nnamdi Asomugha, $16-million to Shane Lechler, $16-million to Sebastian Janikowski.  

The biggest splash the Raiders made in the free agency last year was inking Greg Ellis to a three-year deal.

This time around might not be much different.

Even without a salary cap, the Raiders have little wiggle room to pursue any of the big names seeking new places of employment. Of course, the Julius Peppers and Dunta Robinsons were off the market by the time Davis fired up his projector this morning. Not that Oakland was going to make a play anyway.

Give Davis some credit. While he might not have a keen eye for talent around the league, he seems to have a pretty good grasp on his own roster. (JaMarcus Russell not withstanding)

Last year Al wasted no time in ridding himself of his wayward signings from the ’08 crop. Gibril Wilson was given a shocking 6-year deal worth $39-million. The Bay Area native only made it through one year of that deal. Davis sent him packing and the Tuna came calling in Miami.

After one year in South Beach, Wilson was once again shown the exit as the Dolphins gave him his outright release today.

Al knew he had Tyvon Branch in his back pocket thus making Wilson expendable.

Maybe he knows Stanford Routt is ready to breakout next. At least one can only hope considering the high value Davis placed on the man poised to become the NFL’s highest paid nickel corner.

While there is, as of yet, no movement on the Raider front you can bet that things will pick up very soon. Sure, Davis knows he’s got some young talent blossoming but he also knows that there are certain voids that can only be filled via free agency and trades.

Or, Davis could view the uncapped year as a chance to trim a little fat off the payroll.

After handing out a good share of RFA tenders, Davis is positioning his pieces on the board.

The silence today is good news sign for Al’s wallet. But not as good for the wallets of the players given their tenders. Consider Thomas Howard among the latter.

As always, you should expect the unexpected. Just don’t expect anymore mega-millionaires to be made in the East Bay during free agency. After all, Al’s got to save that money for his newest toy to be purchased in April’s draft.

Update: David White reports that the Raiders have re-signed Khalif Barnes to a one-year deal.

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