With two awe inspiring videos this training camp, Marquette King has once again put his name through NFL circles as the man who is tapped by the Raiders organization to replace one of the best punters in history in Shane Lechler. Blessed with a big boot that can send 87 yard punts into the sky, King is special because he doesn’t look like a punter. Instead he looks like an athlete.

Built more like an NFL defensive back, King uses that athleticism to punish the football, releasing booming kicks at will. Anything short distance is almost too easy for King, who comes from Fort Valley State University and is one of only two current African American punters in the NFL.

Aug. 17, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oakland Raiders punter (2) Marquette King against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason game at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 31-27. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Yet his color and trailblazing potential as a black punter aside, King is an unique and gifted player for the position that is often filled with guys who don’t look like football players. King has the skill of a punter with the power of a football player, which is largely why he is such an intriguing prospect and someone who can revolutionize a position that has rarely seen guys who are both world class athletes and gifted kickers.

Unlike Sebastian Janikowski or Lechler, King started out as a wide receiver in high school in the small town of Macon. Georgia before moving on to play football at the HBCU school in FVSU where he started from the nothing, taking something he figured out he was good at while screwing around punting balls before practice all the way to the NFL.

In his senior year at FVSU, King was the leader in the SIAC in punting. During the 2011 season, King led the Conference in punting with a 43 yard average, with 21 punts landing inside the 20-yard-line. Sixteen of those punts were for 50 yards or more. He was named his team’s most valuable player, showing the special talent that he is.

Those HBCU roots have given King a chip on his shoulder, something he says gives him an extra edge.  In a feature with the Raiders website King mentioned that his experiences prepared him for coming into the league as an undrafted free agent because he knew how to work hard and be humble, knowing how to make something out of nothing and being in an atmosphere where everyone was trying to start from the bottom of the ladder. “Playing at Fort Valley State, there was a lot of adversity,” said King. “We didn’t have the same things that Division I colleges had. We basically had to make something out of nothing so we used what we had. I kind of had fun making something out of nothing because when you actually get what you need out here and when you go against somebody that’s always had what they needed to prepare, by the time you get it, after what you’ve been through, it’s easy, very easy compared to what they do.”

Last year King was Shane Lechler’s understudy, something that he and everyone in Raider Nation is counting on making him the next elite punter in Raiders history. King said working with Lechler showed him how important consistency is to being a high level punter. “He taught me a little that can do a lot,” said King. “Basically, you have to force yourself and have the discipline to go out there and do everything that you’ve been taught consistently and repeatedly.”

That consistency is going to be the key as Chris Kluwe and King battle for the Raiders starting job during camp. King’s upside clearly makes him a fan favorite, but the veteran Kluwe being brought in shows that Dennis Allen may not be 100% confident that his blue chip punting prospect is ready for the big time yet.

Still, King did perform quite well against the Cowboys during last year’s preseason game as you can see from the above video. The kid has immense talent and brings something new to the game, something that he embraces and wants to bring to a position that often can be dismissed by football fans as a specialty position for guys who aren’t actually football players. “When I watch the NFL, I just feel like I can try to bring my own style to the game,” King explained. “Being able to be athletic, if coach needs me to run a fake punt or make a tackle in the game, be more aggressive. Coming from an HBCU, I learned a lot. It taught me to be myself. Just bring my own style to the game really. I go out there with a towel, sleeves, look good, play good, and bring my own flavor to the game and let other people know that kickers and punters are athletic and we’re football players too. We put pads on like everybody else.”

Those words were followed by another bold statement.

“Turn up. Get your popcorn ready.”

If everything goes right during training camp, there will be a lot more popcorn moments for Marquette King in 2013. And not just on YouTube.

McFargas

The writing is on the wall; Darren McFadden needs to be traded. DMC was one of the most talented running backs drafted by the Oakland Raiders since Marcus Allen. McFadden came with all the accolades any running back could ever achieve at the college level. Awards, after awards line McFadden’s trophy wall from college but the NFL wall is empty.

The Oakland Raiders have definitely not helped McFadden career at all to be fair. DMC has had maybe 5 different coaches/offensive coordinators/schemes in his 5 year career. Who the hell could be productive with that type confusion from the franchise who employs you. If you change the dollar menu at any McDonald’s franchise, the drive through lady may be able to overcome it, but she isn’t going to rush for 1,000 yards.

McFadden hasn’t helped himself much either to make matters worse for his pro career. Baffling injuries have hampered him his whole career. The toe injury in 2009 was anonymity. A toe injury causes you to lose 14 weeks on the field. Ronnie Lott would have cut that toe off at half time and played the second half. Then again, Lott was never paid $60 million dollars with $26 million guaranteed. (If he was, he would have cut his whole foot off.)

Career wise, DMC has had only one year worth bragging about in 2010. That year he had over 1,000 yards rushing and over 500 yards receiving with 10 touchdowns. That’s about it. The rest of his career stats look like Justin Fargas career stats. Fargas hit the 1,000 yard mark once in his career also. Last year DMC flirted with 1,000 combined yards but was put on the shelf for yet another injury.

I know Raider family, I’m being hard on the dude, but DMC is healthy right now and let’s face it; we are not a Super Bowl team this season. A healthy Darren McFadden has good market value in the NFL and we should trade him while he is still upright. I would love to see DMC run for 2,000 yards with 20 touchdowns but I can’t see it. The argument about DMC being a draft “bust” will soon be something the fans may began to speak of.  We all know the guy is one step away from a home run every time he holds the ball, but holding the ball on the side line doesn’t help anybody. We are rebuilding this franchise from the bottom up Raider Nation. We need draft picks, we need intelligent veterans with a good moral compass, and we need to get back that blue collar state of mind which embodies Oakland, California pro football.

Raider Nation for life!

Greg Simon

JBB Staff Writer

@simonizr

Follow us on Facebook! 

Jun 11, 2013; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders cornerback Tyvon Branch (33) and defensive backs Brandon Ross (29), Phillip Adams (28) and Charles Woodson (2) participate in drills at minicamp at the Raiders Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Minicamp is a weird time for the NFL fan. Real live action football is still 86 days away, hell even training camp is still six weeks away. Mix in the fact of no contact and no pads and it is harder and harder to see how the annual June event has became such a big deal around the league other than by the sheer popularity of football and the growth of the 24/7/365 NFL media schedule. As Mike Tomlin famously said “It is just football in shorts.”

But the reality now is that Minicamp IS a big deal around the league as new players and often new coaches get familiar with what they will be running in the fall in June at these camps with the distractions of contact and preseason games looming out of the picture, these June sessions allow everyone to get familiar with their playbooks as well as their teammates.

This rings especially true for the 2013 Oakland Raiders as a new coach, new offensive coordinator, and a brand new roster that GM Reggie McKenzie has extensively overhauled in hopes of finally creating a group of character guys that will bring positivity into the Raiders, the month and a half of rookie camp, OTAs and the three day minicamp has been especially important for the team.

The new faces that have been brought in and the sheer change in faces and familiarity is what needs to be put into perspective when evaluating the Raiders camp. Those thoughts were not kept in mind by most of the media on Day One. As a new offense led by new quarterbacks, a new head coach, a new offensive coordinator and new wide receivers could not seem to gel on Monday, the media took the opportunity to dub the performance of Matt Flynn and Terrelle Pryor “as the worst camp performance they have ever seen.”

Most clearly ignored the added challenge of an entire team trying to gel together, but that is the way it goes with the team under the microscope as the media flocks to camp and picks apart each and every potential storyline to deliver to the fans. That is how the game works and we here at JBB are as guilty of that as any, but it is the way it is and it contributes to what you saw on Monday as everyone panicked after a bad first day of practice and some poor throws from Flynn and Pryor.

Still despite that momentary panic attack that Monday caused, the Raiders Minicamp could be deemed a success as the following two days showed tons of promise. The secondary looks good and Charles Woodson appears to be focused on being the veteran leader who turns things around for Raiders Nation in his return to the Silver and Black. Pryor and Flynn bounced back and fourth string quarterback Matt McGloin emerged as a quarterback with some promise, creating a name for himself with the added minicamp crowd taking notice to his very visible talents.

Those final two days were capped off by Dennis Allen’s extremely positive close to camp at his final press conference on Day Three. Allen was nothing but good spirits in his final talk with the media, going well into the NFL’s Coaches Cliche Manual in talking about his high expectations for this team and that its work ethic in practice is going to lead to surprising people come the time an opponent is on the other side of the ball.

Whether it was genuine or not, the Raiders camp closed with positive thoughts and excitement which is what everyone needed. With minicamp closed today on Thursday, everyone is already counting down the days to training camp at the end of July, and that is a sign that is as good as any that this Raiders team is a team that might just be better than we hoped for after the roster was blown up during the offseason.

Still it is minicamp and everything should be taken with a grain of salt. The start of an NFL preseason after the draft is much like the beginning of a new relationship. At first you are stoked and focused on all of the athttp://justblogbaby.com/wp-admin/post-new.phptributes of your newfound companion. Perhaps her busty chest or huge backside is all you can focus on at first as you talk her up to your boys, but give it a few months and you will start to notice her annoying habit of laughing at everything or that her mom has the personality of Art Shell as you start to really get to know her. That is the difference between minicamp and the preseason, the new relationship goggles are very much in place.

Now the focus is on making sure that those faults don’t happen come the end of July as Dennis Allen has stressed that his players stay focused and out of trouble as they prepare to be in even better shape come training camp. “We spoke to ‘em a little bit this morning about [what's expected of them].” Said Allen. “We all understand that we put a lot of work into this, and this is the time of year that we’ve got to mind our P’s and Q’s and do the right things and get back to training camp in shape, come back to training camp mentally and physically ready to go.

Still, Allen doesn’t think he will have to keep too much tabs on a group that he thinks is filled with good players who are all on the same wavelength. “We can have contact but I think it’s important this time of year, we’re gonna keep tabs a little bit and make sure we know where everybody is but at the end of the day, they gotta get away a little bit too. Get refreshed and get ready for training camp because it’ll be a grind once we get there” said Allen in his final media availability.

Jun 11, 2013; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson (2) at minicamp at the Raiders Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Adding Woodson will be a huge help to maintaining that focus and creating that individual hunger that is needed to drive the players to elevate their games and conditioning to another level on their own with the six week break. “I work,” said Charles Woodson of his plans for the next six weeks. “I work and prepare myself to be ready when training camp comes so I can hit the ground running. I’ll go home and I’ll be home with my family but a large part of it will be conditioning myself to the point where if we had to play a game July 27, I could play July 27 and not have to come off the field. That’s what I’ll do the next couple of weeks.”

That type of attitude is exactly what the Raiders need during this break from each other in preparation of training camp. Time on their own can not be spent at the strip joints and partying for six straight weeks forgetting about football. The time is there to recharge the batteries, but if a Raiders team that will still be projected to miss the postseason across the board is going to prove the doubters wrong, they will now need to find inward inspiration as everyone goes their separate ways.

Minicamp is over and spirits are high, but if they are going to stay that way at training camp, the work can’t end right now.