To begin, we all know that the Raiders march to the beat of whatever drum gets Mr. Davis out of bed every morning. With the deadline looming for NFL teams to be down to the required 53-man roster all was quiet on the Oakland front. Small morsels trickled out to a hungry Raider Nation eager to learn just who they’d be cheering for in 2011.

The first to rumors were that both Walter McFadden and Lito Sheppard didn’t make the squad. McFadden’s release was shocking only in how long it took. It was pretty clear early on in his Raider days that his talents just didn’t translate to the NFL. At least not in the Raiders’ man-intensive scheme.

But that was just the beginning.
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This is the last off-season of labor strife for at least a decade. Despite the lockout ending before too much was lost there were plenty of casualties of the subtle kind.

For some straight cash was lost, homie. Vets that sought long term deals had to settle for one-year auditions.

For others, roles went by the wayside no thanks to the loss of OTAs, time with team trainers and just plain poor showings in the four weeks of camp.

For many, the chance at a job in football ends tonight as the final cut downs are due by 3pm Pacific Standard.

Here is one blogger’s picks for the 53 men lucky enough to earn a living wearing silver and black in 2011.
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There has been plenty of talk during this extended off-season about the Raiders making the move to a 3-4. Unless they draft wisely or by some miracle actually get to sign free agents, then that seems highly unlikely given the current personnel. Sure, plenty of the recent additions have been of the OLB/DE hybrid variety. But given the amount of money invested in the defensive line and the fact that there just isn’t the depth at linebacker, it would seem a move to be made at a later time.

The linebacking core wasn’t exactly a strength last year though there were plenty of key contributions throughout the season.

Kamerion Wimbley arrived in the East Bay as a Cleveland castoff. He emerged as a pass rushing dynamo with a $10-million franchise tag. Wimbley’s presence helped revitalize a defense that had been without a consistent pass rusher since the decline and subsequent departure of Derrick Burgess.

If the Raiders have any designs on making the move to a 3-4 then they’re going to need more guys like Wimbley who are as comfortable standing as they are getting down into a three-point stance. Wimbley might not be one of the better assets against the run but that’s where Rolando McClain comes in.
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