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I’m not trying to jinx Darren McFadden, the Oakland Raiders as a whole or Greg Knapp’s offense but we need to talk about this openly.

Since Knapp’s return to Oakland all we’ve heard about his how he’s installing his version of the West Coast offense that helped turn Arian Foster into an elite level playmaker. We keep being reminded of how much McFadden will be featured and how Carson Palmer will have to adjust to rolling out and throwing on the run.

What we don’t want to give much thought to is what happens if McFadden’s injury issues appear again. Then what will happen to Knapp’s McFadden-dependent offense? We’d all love to believe that Taiwan Jones can step in and explode on the scene but that’s not very realistic, at least not at this point.

Simply put Knapp needs to have a Plan B in place and ready to go should he suddenly find himself McFadden-less. Hoping Run DMC will be around for all 16 games isn’t foolish but expecting it to happen would be shortsighted. It hasn’t happened yet.

Knapp’s game plan will have to include a contingency plan that places more responsibility on Carson Palmer while also being creative enough to get the other weapons involved in different ways. This can’t be an attack from one front even with a healthy McFadden.

That’s where Al Saunders’ continued involvement in the offense will be very crucial. During his one year at the helm of Oakland’s offense Saunders helped to craft a scheme that had McFadden on track to be an MVP candidate.

Here’s hoping Knapp can pickup where Saunders left off before McFadden got hurt and Hue Jackson got the boot. But no matter how much he can get out of McFadden it won’t matter if he finds himself without McFadden and without a plan in place to replace all that lost production.

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Reggie McKenzie got the Raiders GM gig by promising something Mark Davis thought the franchise badly needed – change.

The firing of Hue Jackson was a warning shot. The surprise release of Stanford Routt was only the prelude to what is coming next.

Currently McKenzie is in Indianapolis with one eye on the field and the other on the scouting department. More than likely once the Raiders are done with their evaluation process McKenzie will go about assembling his own scouting department. But that too is just another appetizer for the main meal.

McKenzie’s house cleaning is wide sweeping and will leave no corner of the franchise unchecked. As the new sheriff in town told Jerry McDonald yesterday, more changes are coming.

“We’re looking at some things. A lot of agents are in town, so we’re looking to sit down with some of these guys and work some things out. Without being specific, there are things we’ve got to get done and we’re in the process of doing that now. So yes, we can expect some things to happen.’’

In other words, McKenzie will be giving the agents he speaks with two options for their clients – take a pay cut or take a hike. The out-of-whack contract demolition process is in full swing what with the Raiders well over the salary cap and free agency on the way.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve heard plenty of names floated out there that could become casualties in the on-going salary dump. Tommy Kelly, Kamerion Wimbley, Aaron Curry and Michael Huff have all been mentioned. While that is just speculation and nothing more there is something else at work other than the numbers game.

You’ll notice every name mentioned is that of a defensive player. One of McKenzie’s first orders of business was to evaluate his roster. By hiring a defensive minded head coach in Dennis Allen and then parting ways with the team’s top corner it is clear that the biggest changes are occurring on one side of the ball.

You’ll also notice that the only coaches that were retained in the process were offensive what with Al Saunders, Kelly Skipper and Steve Wisniewski remaining on board.

The writing is on the wall and it is very obvious where the focus has shifted to in the East Bay. No longer is offense a top priority. Just about every man that plays defense for the silver and black not named Richard Seymour should feel unsafe about returning next season. Don’t be too surprised if that extends to free agents like Tyvon Branch too.

There is no doubt that Branch is part of the solution and not the problem. However his problem is that he’s a free agent due a raise. McKenzie could value Branch but might not have the coin to get into a bidding war. Plus you can’t underestimate McKenzie’s clear desire to construct a team in his image.

All the changes made thus far have been done so in order to give McKenzie a roster and coaching staff he’s personally selected. With an underperforming and overpaid defense currently on the books there is every reason to think drastic moves are on the way. The Raiders need draft picks. The Raiders need cap space. Plenty of cost cutting is coming even if that means spending more in the short term to save cash in the long run. That’s just the cost of undoing Al Davis’ business.

The Oakland Raiders have added six more assistants to the 2012 coaching staff including two who are in their second stints with the Silver and Black—quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore, tight ends coach Mark Hutson, defensive backs coach Clayton Lopez, defensive backs coach Johnnie Lynn and defensive line coach Terrell Williams.

Clayton Lopez was rumored to be on his way to the Bay after coaching DBs in St. Louis last season. As you can see his hiring was also confirmed. That both Clayton and Johnnie Lynn hold the same title either says there is no official defensive backs coach or that Dennis Allen, a former DB, might be a little more involved with that unit. But that is just speculation on my part.

What is fact is that many of Allen’s assistants are making their NFL debuts as coaches. Whether or not that will have any impact on the team’s performance remains to be seen.

Another fact is that the times are changing. Reggie McKenzie has canceled the scholarship program in the East Bay with Hue Jackson, most of his staff and Stanford Routt being the first casualties. More moves are sure to follow in due time.

The lone holdovers from Jackson’s staff are Al Saunders, Kelly Skipper and Steve Wisniewski. There is some speculation that Allen will add more assistants to the staff down the road but for now this is your new coaching staff of the Oakland Raiders.