What to do About the Oakland Raiders Offense

Aug 8, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Brice Butler (12) carries the ball during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Raiders 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Give Him a Chance

A lot of people don’t know just how talented of a receiver Brice Butler is because he was never given a fair chance. He was neck-and-neck with Julio Jones and A.J. Green out of high school as a receiver then he went to USC, for Pete Carol. But of course, Carol went to the Seattle Seahawks and Lane Kiffin went in and played the receivers he made promises to when recruiting.

And since making him their 7th-round pick in 2013, the Raiders haven’t been too fair with Butler either. After leading the NFL in receiving this preseason, it still came down to the final day for him despite all the passes other receivers dropped. Then when the regular season started, he drops one pass thrown his way and we haven’t seen him since.

The 6’3″, 212-pound, 4.3 40 running, 40-inch vertical leaping Butler should get a fair chance to see if he can be a vertical threat. If he can, that really opens things up because opposing teams won’t be able to send one safety to help with Holmes while one stays in the box. With two deep threats in the game, the Raiders would be a threat to throw the ball deep on first down so opposing teams have to take one safety out of the box.

Jones could then continue to come in and do his thing on third down with guys to clear out for him.