Oakland Raiders

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports The Oakland Raiders have a fresh look to their team, and that alone has already put them in better position than last year. The hope that new Raiders’ quarterback Matt Flynn brings to the team is shining a long awaited light of curiosity in Oakland. The Raiders have been at work this offseason making many big changes on offense and defense. In just this past week, the Raiders have signed wide receiver and kick returner Josh Cribbs, as well as signing punter Chris Kluwe. Cribbs had a quiet year with the Cleveland Browns, but looks to become an important piece to this “new look” offense of the Raiders. The signing of Kluwe is just a smart pick-up for special teams. Hope is one thing; being good is another thing entirely. The Raiders still seem very weak in certain areas, but have now become interesting at the quarterback position, which consists of four players trying to stay on the roster. Flynn is no guaranteed starter. He will have to beat the promising Terrelle Pryor, rookie Tyler Wilson out of Arkansas and rookie Matt McGloin out of Penn State. Pryor started the final game last season, recording 150 yards and two touchdowns, but only had a 46 completion percentage and an interception in the loss. Pryor was still a fan favorite all year to start over former quarterback Carson Palmer once the season started heading south. Wilson was a projected first round pick a year ago, but after falling to the fourth round he landed with the Raiders. Wilson had one of the better and more impressive mini-camps than any other player in the whole league according to insiders. As for McGloin, he is a long shot, but you never know what will happen. It is going to be a fascinating quarterback competition to say the least.  Jeremy Hayes is an Oakland Raiders writer for RantSports.com. Follow Jeremy on Twitter @TheJeremyHayes

Mitchell White barely shows up as a blip on the NFL prospect radar. The former walk-on appeared in 43 games for Michigan state but started just two games in his college career, tallying just 26 career tackles and one pass defended. But the Raiders not only saw enough from him to invite him in for a tryout, but were impressed enough in three days of rookie camp to sign him to a contract. One of his two career starts was his final college game. That final start came in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against TCU. He didn't record a single statistic in the game but the Spartans came from behind for a 17-16 defensive victory over the Horned Frogs. The 4-year letterman earned his stripes based on his standout special teams play and that is likely what earned him a spot on the Raiders' camp roster. The 5-11, 184 pound defensive back played mostly at corner but also stepped in at safety. Due to his lack of top flight talent at cornerback, there is a chance he could be pegged for the safety position. The position is thin at the moment so it makes some sense. We will soon find out where he will line up once he takes the field for OTA's. But regardless of where he lines up, his bread will be buttered by his play on special teams. If he is to make the Raiders roster, that's how he will do it. One would assume White has great leaping ability due to the fact he was a high-jumper for the Michigan State track team. However, at the MSU pro day he had just a 33 inch vertical leap. He has decent speed, running a 4.42 40-yard dash at his pro day. Mitchell has an identical twin brother who was also signed to an NFL team this year. His brother Myles was a wide receiver for Lousiana Tech who was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent. Follow @LeviDamien

Kirby Lee-US Presswire With the departure of mistakes-ridden Carson Palmer, the Oakland Raiders quarterback situation is one of the most unsettled in the NFL. The favorite to become the new leader of the downtrodden Raiders is former Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn. Matt Flynn was never supposed to be a Raider; he was supposed to be heading into his second season as the leader of the Seahawks. However, Flynn was beat out by rookie phenom Russell Wilson in training camp last year, which made Flynn expendable this offseason. Flynn has shown some flashes of greatness in his two career starts. In his first start against the New England Patriots, Flynn threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns. In his second start against the Detroit Lions, Flynn threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns. Unless he has another mediocre training camp, Flynn should be the Raiders starting quarterback this year. New offensive coordinator Greg Olsen will setup the offense to fit Flynn’s style of play and it will be up to Flynn to make things happen for the Raiders. While Flynn is more of a West Coast-offense-style quarterback, his receivers are not really built for that style of play. One of the Raiders super-athletic wide receivers must find a way to become more of a possession-style receiver for Flynn to thrive this year. Second-year wide receiver Rod Streater is probably the favorite to become Flynn’s number one target this year because of his great route running and sure hands. Flynn must find a way to mesh with Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford, who have both shown flashes of greatness over their young careers in the silver and black. One of the biggest issues for the Raiders offense will be the tight ends. With no proven pass catcher at the tight end position, Flynn’s Raider career might start out as a nightmare. Former wide receiver David Ausberry is the favorite to win the starting job but he must show that he can block before he gets any playing time. If Ausberry were to improve his blocking, expect him to put up big numbers this season. Rookie Mychal Rivera also has a chance to start at tight end, although he is not a great pass catcher. He is probably the most well rounded tight end on the team. It will be of upmost importance that Darren McFadden stays healthy this season. If McFadden were to return to his old form under the new power-blocking scheme, Flynn will have more room to make plays for the passing game. Expect the backfield of McFadden and Marcel Reece to thrive with Flynn at the helm of the offense. Both McFadden and Reece have shown the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield so it would not surprise me if they both put up career reception numbers this year. Although Flynn is the favorite to win the starting job, don’t count out rookie Tyler Wilson or super-athletic Terrelle Pryor to beat Flynn out in training camp. If Flynn performs well in pre-season and training camps, he will get the chance to show the world he can finally be the leading man. Jorge Contreras is an Oakland Raiders writer for RantSports.com. Follow Jorge on Twitter @jraycontreras

Andrew Weber-US Presswire Reggie McKenzie has done it again — he has signed another cheap but valuable free agent this offseason in Joshua Cribbs. Not only will Cribbs step in and immediately help the Oakland Raiders‘ special teams unit, but he will become a leader in the locker room. With the lack of depth at wide receiver, Cribbs should also be getting some valuable playing time at slot receiver. Cribbs will be battling with oft-injured Jacoby Ford as the return specialist for the silver and black. Last season, the Raiders’ wide receivers were injury-plagued as all four starters went down at one point. With the departure of Darrius Heyward-Bey, the Raiders’ receivers unit lost even more depth this season. While the Raiders do have talented players in Rod Streater, Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford, they still need a proven leader like Cribbs to help them become professional athletes. Cribbs is one of the greatest return men in the history of the NFL, so he should have the leg up in the competition to return kicks against Jacoby Ford. With a new quarterback in town, the Raiders need the best field position that they can get, which makes the Cribbs addition so important. Now that Raiders rookie quarterback Tyler Wilson is looking like a future starter in this league, it is up to the former college-quarterback Cribbs to teach Terrelle Pryor how to make the switch to another position. The coaching staff will insist all offseason that there is a competition at the quarterback position, but it is highly unlikely that Pryor will win the starting job, let alone the backup job. With Pryor’s elite speed and size, it makes too much sense for him to make a switch to wide receiver like Cribbs did when he first entered the NFL. Raiders nation must applaud McKenzie for once again finding an under-the-radar talent. It would not surprise me if the new Oakland Raiders show improvement and shock some teams next year. Gone are the days of Rolando McClain and JaMarcus Russel — the new Raiders are high-character guys who will hustle every play. Jorge Contreras is an Oakland Raiders writer for RantSports.com. Follow Jorge on Twitter @jraycontreras

Social media is easily the most powerful force on this planet these days. And if you want to start a movement, there is no better place to do it. That fact was never more apparent than Friday evening when a single tweet turned into a groundswell in a matter of minutes. As reported on Thursday evening, free agent Charles Woodson is scheduled to visit the Raiders' Tuesday per his agent, Carl Poston. There were a few fans at that time that mentioned to take to Twitter to send him messages to convince their prodigal son to return to Oakland where his career began and where he spent the first eight seasons of his career. For about 18 hours or so, courting Woodson via social media on his Facebook account as well as the twitter account for his winery, @TwentyFourWines was the way to go. After all, it was how the Raiders convinced Philip Wheeler to sign with the team before the 2012 season. But soon, that wasn't enough. About 4pm on Saturday, a facebook event page was created with the idea of generating a concerted effort to get the fans to join up and head to Raiders headquarters on Tuesday to show Woodson (and perhaps the Raiders organization as well) just how much the fans want the 36-year old defensive back to finish his career in Oakland. At about 5pm, I received a tweet from a fan looking to generate interest in the gathering and, as requested, I retweeted it. RT @mor3game: @levidamien Every Raider fan capable needs to show up at HQ for Woodsons visit on Tuesday. Please RT. — Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) May 17, 2013 This was the first I had seen of it on Twitter or otherwise. Next thing I know Twitter was abuzz with a groundswell of Raider fans preparing to converge on Raiders headquarters on Tuesday in a massive show of support they hope will be impossible for Woodson to deny. The initial event was scheduled for 2pm but many have discussed noon as when they would arrive. If this event turns out anything near the level of buzz created on Twitter, it should be something to behold. Hopefully, for the fans planning on showing their support, Woodson does indeed make that scheduled visit. But even if they miss him, I don't think the outpouring of support would be lost on him. I got a little chuckle when around 11pm Friday night - some six hours after my initial tweet - I received what was essentially the same tweet from someone else completely, asking me to re-tweet it. And I have received several more since then. It had come full circle. This thing looks like it's really happening. If this doesn't work, nothing will. Follow @LeviDamien

Eight Raiders players visited Facebook headquarters to discuss how they use social media, learn about career opportunities and tour the campus.

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports Throughout his football career, Matt McGloin has faced constant uphill battles. Now with the Oakland Raiders, he’ll get more of the same as he attempts to dig himself out from the bottom of the depth chart. A former walk-on at Penn State, McGloin spent his entire college career proving doubters wrong. After only one year on campus, he earned the starting quarterback gig and began honing his skills as an NFL-worthy passer. The typical knocks on McGloin include his size (6’1’’, 207 pounds), lack of accuracy, struggles with turnovers and average arm strength. What the critics don’t always take into account are the intangibles, which McGloin has plenty of. While he started off as a mediocre signal caller, the biggest setback in school history brought out the best in McGloin. In the midst of the Jerry Sandusky scandal that shook the program to its core, McGloin stepped up as the starting quarterback and helped the rest of the roster rise above the adversity. He watched other top players abandon ship and kept the program afloat during its most tumultuous time. The truly impressive part? McGloin was the first walk-on in Penn State football history to win the starting quarterback job. It was quite the feat for a player that many had written off early in his college career. It’s going to be tough sledding for McGloin as he tries to steal a roster spot in a quarterback competition that includes Matt Flynn, Tyler Wilson, Terrelle Pryor and Kyle Padron. The Raiders likely won’t hold more than three on the active roster, which means that the Penn State product will have to surpass Pryor for a roster spot. Even if he falls short, the practice squad could be an option if he impresses during training camp and the preseason. While the blogosphere is too busy speculating on whether Flynn or Wilson will win the starting gig, McGloin is preparing to steal the show. Gil Alcaraz IV is a Content Planner/NFL Featured Columnist for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @GilAlcarazIV, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

P Chris Kluwe spoke with the media via conference call Friday.

While most punters are not known for much other than being the guy the fans don't want to see trot onto the field, Chris Kluwe has become known for much more in his career. The outspoken, socially active punter has become known as a player who is not afraid to stand up for his beliefs with regard to civil rights. Mostly with regard to same-sex marriage but it expands much farther than that. One such stance he took was the fight to get Ray Guy into the Hall of Fame. He took up the cause last December in a game against the Chicago Bears in which he covered the Pro Football Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary patch on his jersey with a post-it message that read "Vote Ray Guy". If more players made statements like that, perhaps the injustice of having no punters in the Hall of Fame would change. Kluwe is a California kid, not surprisingly. His family moved to California when he was one years old. He grew up in Southern Cal and went to UCLA. Now that he has signed with the Raiders, he gets to return to his home state with the hopes of finishing his career here. "I was actually hoping to do the whole ‘spend your entire career with one team' because I think that's pretty cool to get that kind of legacy almost," Kluwe said of his time in Minnesota. "But at the same time that's really hard to do in the modern NFL, that really doesn't happen that much anymore. So, yeah, the situation coming up was just amazing for me because now I'm a lot closer to my family, my parents will be able to come out and see quite a few more games and just being in the state, it's really cool." It is interesting he is coming back to California at the very time the Supreme Court is set to rule on the controversial Prop 8 which bans same sex marriage in the state. It is a decision of which he has great interest. But for now, he has a greater focus and that's on his football career. "My first plans are to make the team," said Kluwe. "That's gonna be the overriding influence right now. I don't really anticipate a whole lot necessary [for me to do with regard to Prop 8] because it's one of those things that the Supreme Court should look at it and realize that there are established precedence in order to rule the right way on this case. So, I'm hopeful that once June rolls around, the Supreme Court will have made the right decision." The idea of gays in sports is a hot topic at the moment as well with Jason Collins becoming the first active professional athlete in the U.S. to come out as being gay. An idea that was that which was not discussed or tolerated is now thrust into the limelight. "I was pleasantly surprised," Kluwe said of Jason Collins' decision to come out. "Just the fact that it seems to be something that as younger generations grow up, they really don't see what the fuss is about. That gives me hope for the future of our society because it really is a matter of people being free to live their own lives without feeling like they're being oppressed by other people, which I think is the very core of this civilization." Kluwe's views were seen as shocking and controversial just a few years ago and it has led many to believe the distraction he caused was why the Vikings released him despite coming off two of his best seasons in the NFL. The Raiders obviously do not agree Kluwe would present any kind of issues. They have been focused on stocking this team with high-character, team oriented players so adding Kluwe to the roster should be all the proof needed that GM Reggie McKenzie believes in his character. "Well, hopefully I fit in pretty well," siad Kluwe. "I've never been arrested, I've never done anything detrimental to the team, or said anything bad about players or coaches and for me I just want to come out and help the Raiders win in any way I can. That's what my job here is to do is to help the team win games." He will have every opportunity to win the punter job for the Raiders. His competition will be Marquette King who the team brough

The Raiders have made the move to sign free agent punter, Chris Kluwe, official. The 8-year NFL punter has spent his entire career with the Minnesota Vikings and was released this off-season. That's when the Raiders came calling in need of replacing departed All Pro punter, Shane Lechler. "After the Vikings released me, I was waiting to see what happened," said Kluwe. "My agents had gotten contact from the Raiders, they said they were interested, they brought me in for a tryout, I think I punted pretty well, and they brought me in and said they'd give me a shot at OTA's and hopefully fall camp." Kluwe entered the league with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent out of UCLA in 2005. He was waived by the Seahawks and claimed by the Vikings. He has a career punting average of 44.4 yards per punt including averaging 45.3 yards per punt over the past two seasons. He also ranks second in Minnesota history with a 37.3-yard career net punting average. He has also had just one punt blocked over his career. "Yeah, and the only reason it got blocked was because I dropped it," said Kluwe. "That's one of those things I also pride myself on is that I have one of the quickest get-off times in the NFL. So, hopefully it takes some pressure off the guys up front so they can get down and get in coverage faster because they know I can get the ball off." As expected, the Raiders waived punter Bobby Cowan who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho following the draft in April. This leaves Kluwe and Marquette King to compete for the job in camp. Follow @LeviDamien