Due to all of the recent injuries at WR, 26-year old Chaz Schilens has had a chance to show what he can do the last couple of weeks.  Schilens has caught 10 passes for 147 yards (14.7 avg) in the Raiders’ last two games as he has been stepping up.  Schilens has played in 11 games for the Raiders so far this year and he caught 20 passes for 243 yards (12.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Raiders’ QBs have completed 20 of 28 passes (71.4%) so far this year, so maybe they will start looking his way a bit more.  Schilens has now played in 40 games in his first four years with the Raiders and he has caught 69 passes for 874 yards (12.7 avg) with 7 TD grabs.

26-year old fullback Marcel Reece is much more than just a blocker.  He has played in 7 games for the Raiders so far this year and he has carried the ball 11 times for 63 yards (5.7 ypc).  Reece has also caught 16 passes for 202 yards (12.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs so far this year.  Reece has now played in 25 games in his first three years with the Raiders and he has carried the ball 41 times for 185 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 43 passes for 555 yards (12.9 avg) with 5 TD grabs for the Raiders.  Reece is outstanding as a secret weapon for the Raiders.

31-year old QB Carson Palmer has appeared to shake off the rust as he has been outstanding lately.  In his last two games, Palmer has completed 34 of 43 passes (79.1%) for 463 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT.  The Raiders have scored a combined 51 points in their last two games (which they won), to vault into first place in the AFC West.  To stay there, the Raiders are going to need Carson Palmer to continue playing well.  Palmer has played in 4 games so far this year for the Raiders overall and he has completed 58 of 99 passes (58.6%) for 911 yards with 6 TD passes and 7 INTs (80.0 QB Rating).  Palmer has also carried the ball 11 times for 0 yards (0.0 ypc) with 1 TD run this year.

28-year old OLB Kamerion Wimbley is playing well once again for the Raiders this year.  He has played in 9 games for the Raiders this year and he has 37 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks and 2 passes defensed.  Wimbley has now played in 25 games in his first two years with the Raiders and he has 95 tackles, 15 sacks, 8 tackles for a losss, 1 forced fumble and 3 passes defensed.  Wimbley has been the best pass rusher on the Raiders since they stole him in a deal with the Cleveland Browns a couple of years ago.

Darren McFadden is having a strong follow-up to his breakout season in 2010.  He has played in six games for the Raiders so far this year and he has carried the ball 111 times for 610 yards (5.5 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  McFadden has also caught 18 passes for 151 yards (8.4 avg) with 1 TD grab this year, as he has simply been amazing.  Michael Bush provides a nice contrast with his power running to McFadden’s flat out speed.  Bush has played in six games for the Raiders so far this year and he has carried the ball 43 times for 138 yards (3.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  Bush has also caught 7 passes for 99 yards (14.1 avg) this year.  Fullback Marcel Reece has been a secret weapon, when healthy.  Reece has played in 3 games for the Raiders this year and he has carried the ball 2 times for 15 yards (7.5 ypc).  He has also caught 6 passes for 43 yards (7.2 avg) with 1 TD grab this year.  The Raiders are averaging an amazing 160.0 yards rushing per game and 5.1 yards per carry, which is pretty darn impressive.

29-year old QB Jason Campbell has played really solid football so far this year for the Raiders.  Campbell has played in all five games for the Raiders so far this year and he has completed 94 of 156 passes (60.3%) for 1,118 yards with 6 TD passes and 4 INTs (84.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 16 times for 44 yards (2.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far this year.  Campbell can either chuck the ball down the field 40 times in a game or he can be very conservative and manage the game.  He is up for whatever the gameplan calls for and for that reason, I think he’s a very underrated QB.

22-year old, rookie 5th round pick Denarius Moore is really stepping up for the Raiders so far this year.  The rookie WR has played in all 3 games for the Raiders so far this year and he has caught 9 passes for 180 yards (20.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has also carried the ball 2 times for 48 yards (24.0 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this year.  Moore is the gamebreaking type of WR that Al Davis covets, so he appears to have landed in the right place at the right time.

29-year old QB Jason Campbell was a game manager in the win over the Broncos in Week #1.  But, head coach Hue Jackson let Campbell loose last weekend against the Bills and he was outstanding.  Campbell has played in both of the Raiders games so far this year and he has completed 36 of 55 passes (65.5%) for 428 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT (99.7 QB Rating).  Campbell also has carried the ball 9 times for 5 yards (0.6 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this year.  Campbell looks more than capable of doing whatever Coach Jackson needs him to do this year.

35-year old punter Shane Lechler came to the Raiders back in the 5th round of the 2000 NFL Draft.  The Raiders felt that getting Sebastian Janikowski and Lechler in the same draft would really boost the special teams and they were right.  Lechler punted the ball six times for 349 yards (58.2 avg) against the Broncos last Monday Night!  He had 1 touchback and he pinned the Broncos inside their own 20-yard line 1 time.  Lechler has now played in 175 games in his first 12 years in the NFL and he has punted the ball 861 times for 40,778 yards (47.4 avg).  Lechler also has 126 touchbacks (14.6%) and he has pinned the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line 275 times (31.9%) in his career so far.  Lechler is one of the best punters in all of football.

33-year old kicker Sebastian Janikowski was excellent for the Raiders in the season opener against the Broncos last Monday Night.  He connected on all three of his field goal attempts against the Broncos, including a NFL record tying bomb from 63 yards!  Janikowski also nailed both of his extra points as he scored 11 points against the Broncos.  Janikowski has now played in 174 games in his first 12 years with the Raiders and he has made 265 of 336 field goals (78.9%).  He has also made 358 of 361 extra points in his career so far as he has scored 1,153 points for the Raiders.  The Raiders took Janikowski in the first round (#17 overall) of the 2000 NFL Draft.  That was shocking to me at the time, but Janikowski has had a decent career for the Raiders.