Heyer joins a small faction of former Raiders that have found work wearing green in NYC. The Jets boast of former Raiders receivers coach Sanjay Lal who will continue to coach up Chaz Schilens and now are joined by reserve lineman Heyer.

Heyer saw time at tackle and guard last season including making two starts both of which came against the San Diego Chargers. His value was found in providing depth for the O-line during his one season in Oakland.

Until yesterday Heyer was listed on the Raiders roster under the Unrestricted Free Agent heading. His name is now gone leaving the likes of Kyle Boller, Darryl Blackstock and T.J. Houshmanzadeh among others that are still Raiders in theory only.

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Not that it comes as any surprise but the Raiders have officially removed themselves from the Quentin Groves market. The unrestricted free agent and one time starting weak-side linebacker for the Raiders has signed a deal to play for the Arizona Cardinals next season.

The Raiders originally traded for Groves two years ago as the Jacksonville Jaguars decided to part ways with the disappointing defensive end. In Oakland Groves was converted to linebacker where he became a starter by default.

Last season the Raiders traded for Aaron Curry and Groves was quickly removed from the starting lineup. He’ll likely be a reserve in Arizona serving as a special teams contributor for the Cardinals.

Once a highly regarded pass rusher coming out of Auburn, Groves has just 2.5 sacks to his name in four NFL seasons, none of which came as a Raider. With all due respect to Groves it was very telling on just how Oakland’s defense was going to fare going into 2011 when the Raiders broke camp with Groves still holding onto his starting gig. He never looked comfortable as a linebacker and rarely made plays in Oakland’s 4-3 scheme. Perhaps there is a role Groves is better suited for but that clearly won’t be discovered by Dennis Allen’s staff.

Tarver's defense needs to get up to par with the offense. (Photo: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE)

Dennis Allen might be the one in the spotlight but it is Jason Tarver that will feel all the pressure. Anyone with any understanding of football knows that if the Oakland Raiders had a halfway decent defense they would have won the AFC West going away.

Tarver’s task is to get the defense somewhere in the neighborhood of the offense. That might sound easy but consider how many defensive coordinators, defensive players and defensive coaches have changed over the years with the results looking very similar in the East Bay.

Yes, the Al Davis scheme will no longer be forced on the staff.

Yes, this is a new era.

However there are some lingering issues Tarver will have to take care of in order for this defense to get up to playoff caliber. Here is Tarver’s to-do list.

1) Stop the Run – Yeah, this one is beyond obvious. You get the feeling the Raiders couldn’t stop Stephen Hawking from running on them. This run defense was historically bad last season which is saying something when you consider how horrible the Oakland run defense has been for the past 9 years. Some of that was due to Mr. Davis’ draw-it-up-in-the-dirt scheme. Part of it is a general lack of discipline. No matter the problem Tarver needs to fix it…yesterday!

2) Improve the Secondary – This goes beyond implementing a new scheme. The personnel must change. For starters the scholarship program needs be done away with. Re-signing both Michael Huff and Hiram Eugene was a horrible mistake. Why re-sign two players that play a similar position yet neither have played said position at a high level? In addition, the notion of replacing Nnamdi Asomugha with rookies and cast-off vets was laughable. Mix coverages, find better talent and make the secondary a turnover creating machine. You don’t need to be elite if you can take the ball away often enough.
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