Oakland Raiders Tickets

The Oakland Raiders rallied behind interim head coach Tom Cable so well that Al Davis pushed his ambitions of making a big splash aside and gave the former assistant the job on a permanent basis.

Of course, the fate of the Raiders really rides on the development of quarterback JaMarcus Russell. It would certainly help if the team could provide him some type of target to throw the ball to.

I'm sure the Raiders, knowing Al Davis, will look to upgrade the wide receiver position through the NFL Draft. In fact, they will make a huge reach with the No. 7 selection just to take a wideout with speed.

It's also worth mentioning that the Raiders signed veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia to back up Russell and possibly even push him for the starting job in training camp.

The running game is strong, with Justin Fargas and Darren McFadden splitting time in the backfield. I think McFadden could take off in 2009.

The schedule is fairly favorable for the Raiders despite having to play the AFC North and NFC East.

While the AFC North is tough at the top, they do get Baltimore at home at the end of the season after the Ravens have to play at Pittsburgh. They also get to play Cleveland and Cincinnati, who should both be very beatable.

They get to play the Houston Texans and New York Jets outside of the divisional alignments, and both teams have major issues at the quarterback position.