Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Turns out there won’t be a Silver and Blackout in Hawaii after all. With the Baltimore Ravens and Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach headed to the Super Bowl a roster spot on the AFC squad has opened. Naturally Oakland’s own Marcel Reece was the AFC alternate at fullback so it became academic that he got the nod for a trip to Honolulu. He’ll be the lone member of the Raiders involved with the NFL’s exhibition which is hard to believe given the season Sebastian Janikowski put together. But that is for another day.

For Reece the Pro Bowl trip is validation. As an undrafted free agent that actually played wide receiver in college, his transformation into a legit fullback capable of contributing in a multitude of ways has been nothing short of amazing.

Despite Greg Knapp’s inability to properly utilize all of Oakland’s offensive talent, Reece had a career year that saw him breakout as a tailback when both Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson were injured. In addition Reece caught 52 passes good for second best on the Raiders.

Congrats to Reece for the honor! It is well deserved and should be the first of many more trips to Hawaii …unless the Raiders are in the Super Bowl one day (hey, we can wish).

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Yes, I’m still beating this dead horse. Greg Knapp has likely already turned in his office key and parking pass but that won’t stop JBB from reminding Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen how horrendous a mistake both made by re-hiring a once failed coordinator.

Despite the offensive ineptitude of the Oakland Raiders on Knapp’s watch Marcel Reece was named second team All-Pro by Pro Football Focus.

That a member of Oakland’s offense would even be considered for All-Pro honors is saying something. But since we’re in the Knapp bashing business here the low road is calling.

While Reece’s honor is something to be proud of there is no doubt the dynamic and versatile fullback could have easily enjoyed a monstrous breakout season had he played for an imaginative play caller. When the Raiders were without the services of both Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson it was Reece who stepped up and revealed himself as an all-around weapon unlike any other in the game.

When both Run DMC and Goodson returned Reece became largely invisible despite his impressive production.

But just as we knew how the Knapp hiring would end we were also pretty much clued into how the season would go for Reece. Perhaps it was his absence from offseason workouts during a brief contract dispute that put Reece in Knapp’s doghouse early on. Marcel didn’t get a single touch during the preseason and was a non-factor for most of the regular season.

Congrats are in order for Reece who should get a nice pay raise what with a second team All-Pro nod in his back pocket.

If Allen has learned anything from his major misstep it’s that his coordinators must make effective use of the talent on the team. Regardless of the scheme Allen feels comfortable with he’ll need to find an offensive mind that puts together the best game plan possible. Not the one that runs the system Allen prefers. Last time I checked Dennis Allen’s background is defense. His opinion of the offensive scheme should be completely irrelevant after the debacle that was his rookie season as a head coach.

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

There wasn’t much to feel good about yesterday for Raider Nation. Any day that ends with the team owner apologizing to the fans is never a good day.

If there was one ray of light that escaped from the Black Hole on Sunday it was wearing a #45 jersey.

Marcel Reece was finally unleashed much to the delight of Raider Nation who has been waiting for Reece to get an expanded role in the offense. I’m not going to turn this bit of positivity into a negative rant on the official punching bag of the fans – Greg Knapp. But…ya know…

It took two injuries, the coaching staff having absolutely no faith in Taiwan Jones and Reece’s second start as a feature back but it all came together against the Saints.

Reece had a game very reminiscent of the one Michael Bush had in San Diego one year ago from an all-around standpoint. While Reece didn’t find the end zone he did find plenty of running room racking up 193 total yards.

The versatile skills of Reece were on display in every way possible as he nearly went for 100 yards rushing and receiving nearly doing something no man has done in Silver and Black since Marcus Allen. That’s saying something considering Reece had never seen that kind of a work load. In college he was a receiver and for the last few years he’s been a fullback/hybrid type of player. You could see he was gassed early in the third but Marcel did like a solider and sucked it up. He wasn’t about to let this moment pass without giving it all he had.

To suddenly morph in an all-purpose feature back in only his second start in that role is impressive but many knew Marcel had this type of game. It took some desperate situations for Knapp to finally let Reece off the leash but now the NFL’s best kept secret is out of the bag. Even if Darren McFadden returns healthy there is no doubt Reece must remain a contributor in the offense. Yesterday he was the only thing that even gave the Raiders a chance at making an otherwise awful game respectable in certain moments.

But all the praise means little if there isn’t a win to go with it. Reece had to have a private celebration having finally had his coming out party in the NFL. I’m sure he’d much prefer to notch a W instead though. That kind of glory always means more than getting love from fantasy geeks out to make a trendy waiver move.