Man, what a bag of shit this position is. The fact that they were forced to use brittle assed Tim Dwight as their #3 receiver says it all. Nothing worked out at this position. They brought in Travis Taylor, hoping he'd be able to be a solid #3 and he was out of here like shit through a goose. Kiffin thought he could coax some production out of Mike Williams' under achieving ass. After singlehandedly losing one game with a fumble after a huge catch and another with a drop on 3rd down that would've sealed the game he was gone. Draft pick Johnnie Lee Higgins did nothing nor did the unheralded Chris McFoy. Ronald Curry is one of my favorite Raiders, but the fact is he is nothing more than a good possession receiver. The fact that he's their top receiving threat is damning. He has great hands and decent speed and makes all the tough catches, but he just doesn't get behind the coverage like you need him to. This is where Jerry Porter should come into play, yet he doesn't. Watching Porter play is infuriating because he has the talent to be a top notch receiver. He should be good for 1200+ yards and 12 TDs a year. Yet, for whatever reason, he just doesn't give a shit. He breaks routes off too early, he doesn't sell out on run blocking and his route running is terrible. I was one of his last real supporters and even I hate the prick now. Unfortunately the draft probably won't bring any help. They just invested a first day pick on Johnnie Lee Higgins and will most likely continue to force him down our throats till they realize that 40 times don't translate to on field success. Higgins was flat out bad this year, and not just on offense. He was supposed to bring a boost to the return game, and he couldn't even unseat Chris fucking Carr from those duties. He averaged barely 5 yards per punt return. FIVE! Plenty of receivers have struggled their rookie year, so I'm not rushing to judgment on him yet, but he's not off to a good start. Chris McFoy had all of one catch, so it's hard to evaluate him. I swear I thought Doug Gabriel was on this team last year, but apparently he didn't make a catch.
This is a position that needs to be addressed this off season. Porter is a free agent and hopefully will bolt. Bernard Berrian, Bryant Johnson and Drew Carter could be had for a pretty reasonable price and could help out right off the bat. I'm a big fan of Johnson because he has great hands and is a tough son of a bitch. Berrian is the sexy choice, but Drew Carter might have a higher ceiling, in my opinion. DJ Hackett of Seattle is also a free agent but he can't stay healthy. The rest of the free agent WRs that they'd have a realistic chance at signing aren't all that impressive. Knowing Al Davis, after Jabar Gaffney goes crazy in the Super Bowl and gets 140 yards and 2 TDs and gets an unearned Super Bowl MVP trophy he'll throw a bunch of money at him and expect him to be the next Tim Brown. Such is life as a Raiders fan.
Final Grade: D-
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