Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

A few days ago a member of the Bay Area News Group sat down and interviewed Dennis Allen on a handful of topics including McFadden’s health, Terrell Pryor’s status and most importantly the Raiders possibilities for running a 3-4. After the draft one of the questions that I had was why the Raiders passed on a few nose tackle prospects. Although they got good mid-round talent, a lot of people were surprised that they didn’t fill the nose tackle position in the draft. This was a position that most people thought they needed to draft in order to run the 3-4 defense. Dennis Allen is not among those people.

When asked if Allen had a nose tackle for a 3-4 defense, the Raiders coach simply smiled and said yeah. The guy? Tommy Kelly. Although he is a tad bit tall for a true nose tackle and also underweight, Dennis Allen is confident that he has the talent to take over the position when the Raiders switch to a 3-4. To start to look like more of a nose tackle Tommy Kelly should pack on a few pounds this summer in order to be more of a run stopper and gap filler. I’m not saying the man’s not big already (he’s huge) but he needs to widen out a little more.

With Richard Seymour playing most of his career as a defensive end in a 3-4 scheme, the coaches have to be excited to give him a chance to resume his original role in the NFL. With the talented Shaughnessy expected to move to defensive end on the other side of the line that leaves Kelly, the only true defensive tackle to take the position of nose guard.

Don’t get too set on the Raiders playing a 3-4 though. Allen told the reporter that he plans on having a bag full of defensive schemes to throw at any offense. This will make it hard for teams to prepare for the Raiders defense and will give the Oakland more situational options. If Kelly can step up and be an effective nose tackle the Raiders should have a really successful 3-4, and a more well rounded defense.

Sack fumble to seal the deal vs San Diego - which is German for "a Whale's Vagina". (Photo: YardBarker.com)

Last season, the Raiders defense was stagnant and about as solid as a Kleenex.  With many (allegedly) elite players at nearly all skill positions, they underperformed in just about every category possible.  Nnamdi Asomugha is the best corner in the leauge, along with the highly touted first rounder Michael Huff; Richard Seymour was supposed to fix the run defense; a linebacking core consisting of the talented Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison who were highly respected – so what went wrong?

Man coverage with Nnamdi on one side and Chris Johnson on the other left an obvious gameplan for opposing quarterbacks – avoid 21′s side and look for 37.  Seymour never got any momentum in stuffing the run or chasing the quarterback.  While Howard and Morrison both had solid seasons, they both lacked gap integrity in the running game and Morrison lacked size at MLB at a fluffy 235 pounds.  Tyvon Branch had a very solid year in the run defense, but was found out of position frequently in the passing game.  Huff was inconsistent after having three interceptions early in the year.  Another year was down the drain, and Al Davis had seen enough.  I guess since he pulled the plug on the JaMarcus Russell experiment, he might as well revamp this shoddy defense as well.

Enter 2010

Addressing all of the problems through trades and free agency wasn’t possible, and everyone knew that.  The Raiders needed one of the most un-Raider thing of all time – a solid draft.  With the last few years later picks starting to pan out (sack master Matt Shaughnessy and the versatile Trevor Scott), the Raiders had some youth and veteran leadership (Asomugha, Seymour) to build around.  So Davis casts away the fan-favorite Kirk Morrison after drafting Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston.  They bring in veteran Kamerion Wimbley from Cleveland and Quentin Groves from Jacksonville and voila – an entire new linebacking corps of blood thirsty people ready to prove they can play in the NFL.  Both Groves and Wimbley weren’t held very highly by their previous teams mainly due to lack of production.
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