The Raiders have released 31-year old WR Javon Walker.  Walker played in 3 games for the Raiders and he didn’t catch any passes.  All Walker did last season was return 1 punt for 0 yards for the Raiders in 2009.  Walker played in 11 games in his two years with the Raiders and he caught 15 passes for 196 yards (13.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  This is no loss for the Raiders as Walker has been a bust since signing with them two years ago.

The Raiders have released 34-year old DE Greg Ellis.  Ellis played in 14 games for the Raiders last season and he made 29 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he had 7 sacks, forced 2 fumbles and he defensed 1 pass.  Ellis was a decent player for the Raiders last season but his age probably was a huge factor in the decision to release him.

The Raiders have released 30-year old running back Justin Fargas.  Fargas played in 12 games for the Raiders last season and he carried the ball 129 times for 491 yards (3.8 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 17 passes for 113 yards (6.6 avg) last season for the Raiders.  Fargas played in 92 games for the Raiders in his career in which he carried the ball 827 times for 3,369 yards (4.1 ypc) with 10 TD runs and he also caught 77 passes for 523 yards (6.8 avg).  The Raiders will gave all of Fargas’ carries to Darren McFadden and Michael Bush in 2010.

The Oakland Raiders have franchised 30-year old DE Richard Seymour guaranteeing him $12,389,000 bucks for the 2010 season.  Seymour played in all 16 games for the Raiders last season and he made 47 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, he had 4 sacks, forced a fumble and he defensed 3 passes.  Seymour has now played in 127 games in his NFL career and he has 404 tackles, 43 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions and he has defensed 29 passes.  This was a good move for the Raiders as Seymour is still a good football player.

The Raiders need to put the stopwatches away and start drafting football players.  Who cares if a guy can run a 4.2 40 if he can’t catch the ball or make a tackle?  In the first round (#7 overall) the Raiders took WR Darrius Heyward-Bey out of Maryland.  He was the fastest player timed in the 40 in the entire draft.  Too bad he can’t catch a pass.  Heyward-Bey played in 11 games for the Raiders last season and he caught 9 passes for 124 yards (13.8 avg) with 1 TD grab and he also carried the ball 2 times for 19 yards (9.5 ypc).  In the second round (#47 overall) the Raiders selected another speedster in safety Michael Mitchell out of Ohio.  Draft experts considered him to be a huge reach for the Raiders.  He played in all 16 games for the Raiders last season and he finished up with 16 tackles and 1.5 sacks.  DE Matt Shaughnessy (4th round, #124 overall) out of Wisconsin was a good pick for the Raiders as he has a nice upside.  He played in all 16 games for the Raiders last season and he finished up with 29 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss and 4 sacks.  WR Louis Murphy (4th round, #124 overall) out of Florida is another speed demon but he can actually catch the ball.  He played in 16 games for the Raiders last season and he caught 34 passes for 521 yards (15.3 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 31 yards (5.2 ypc) and he made 3 tackles.  Murphy is the guy that caught the biggest pass of the year for the Raiders late in the 4th quarter at Pittsburgh that gave the team a huge road win.  DE Slade Norris (4th round, #126 overall) out of Oregon State played in 4 games for the Raiders last season and he made 2 tackles.  DE Stryker Sulak (6th round, #199 overall) out of Missouri was cut before the season started.  TE Brandon Myers (6th round, #202 overall) out of Iowa played in 11 games for the Raiders as a rookie catching 4 passes for 19 yards (4.8 avg).  He also had 6 tackles and forced a fumble for the Raiders as a rookie.

GRADE FOR 2009:  C-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C