Much is expected of the Oakland Raiders offense in 2017, and offensive coordinator Todd Downing gave some insight on the group at training camp.
Football has officially kicked off at Redwood Middle School in Napa, CA home of the Oakland Raiders 2017 training camp. Finally, fans and players alike can take a united deep breath and rejoice.
At the end of Sunday’s practice, offensive coordinator Todd Downing met with the media for a press conference. Downing first noted the team’s — specifically the offense, obviously — desire to improve from this point (per Raiders.com):
"“Everyone is unsatisfied, they want to get better.”"
AFC West Champions or bust, Super Bowl Champions or bust. That’s a mighty big ask, especially for a first-year offensive coordinator inheriting the No. 6 offense in the league. In his first training camp as coordinator Downing appears up to the task and Raider Nation should be thrilled.
Downing offered on his quarterback Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and gave a small precursor of what to expect from the Raiders among many other things:
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"“It’s almost eerie sometimes how he and I can finish each other’s sentences…You don’t have to always be the one that says this is the way we’re going to do things or hey this is the way I want to see this. When you get to share that with your trigger man that’s a pretty special thing.”"
Serving as a quarterbacks coach for three years before getting promoted to run the offense with the quarterback you have brought up since his rookie days is huge. Downing remains constant on his evaluation on the communication levels between him and his quarterback. Being on the same page with your quarterback is essential for any offensive coordinator. But to hear the way the two of them glowingly gush over the love they have for one another is encouraging.
Downing is a coach, and a sharp one at that. When asked about his quarterback he brought up consistency. The things he’s done well in the last few years, Carr is now transitioning into becoming an expert at those rather than just good in those areas. Working on such things as ball placement and accuracy.
For those expecting four quarters of Carr hero-ball, Downing suggests tempering that enthusiasm:
"“I don’t want him ever feeling like he’s got to make the big play. There will be game situations where we have to hang onto the ball for a little bit longer or we have to force the ball into coverage, but those are unique game situations. I want him to rely on his training on his rules and then let the rest of it come by feel.”"
At wide receiver, Amari Cooper is entering his third year in the league. Cooper is a young 22-year old receiver who is still growing into his body. Durability concerns and late-season production declines have dogged this wide receiving phenom. There is only so much the Raiders could do with a 20-year old kid who needed time to grow into his body.
This offseason has yielded the most visible results of Cooper’s dedication in the weight room and he looks bigger. The best part about it is, it’s good weight and doesn’t affect Cooper’s playing speed, nor does it affect his ability to make cuts and gain separation.
Cooper is expected to continue his ascension through the NFL and his third year is the time for a breakout year. Eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive year is awesome for the young man, but he too wasn’t satisfied and never smiles because he’s pissed off for greatness. Downing offered this on the stud wideout:
"“I wouldn’t say that I told him to get any bigger. I just wanted him to become more consistent in his route running and then staying a little bit more quarterback friendly at the top of his routes.”"
Known as more of a finesse receiver, adding more physicality to his game will only elevate his play and ability to produce for his football team and his quarterback. The added bulk will help Cooper prove to be more sturdy at route tops and while hand fighting downfield it helps you stay balanced. Holding his route path makes it harder for the defender to knock him off course and screw up the anticipation factor on a timing route.
The added bulk will also make Cooper’s 6-1 frame that much more difficult to navigate when the defense has to fight through him to get to the ball. Or when they get locked in one-on-ones vertically.
The days of Daryle “The Mad Bomber” Lamonica were the beginning of Al Davis and Raiders lore. Slinging the ball downfield to the best athletes on the field and terrorizing the NFL with the vertical passing game became “The Raider Way”.
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Fast forward to today, the modern NFL has become more of a dink and dunk passing league, geared towards west coast style offense featuring quick passes and long runs after. But the elite teams can build a better offense. The style of play these offenses use heavily relies on the ability of their signal callers.
In 2016, Carr proved himself efficient in diagnosing defenses audibling out of poor plays and into good ones. But most of all when things broke down for Carr on a given play, he broke out his most trusted weapon, his right arm. On numerous occasions, we have witnessed go routes and a fade patterns win football games outright and/or set the Raiders offense up in a position to score. Bill Musgrave was not a proponent of the vertical passing game, Downing, however, is.
Downing is not only a technician in terms of details and focusing on rules and training, but also an aggressive play-caller looking to strike fear in defenses. Much ado has been made about Downing’s tutelage under the Scott Linehan tree and there are similarities. The Raiders and Al Davis invented the vertical passing game way back in the 60′ and used it to terrorize the league.
Armed with a smart veteran young quarterback with a missile launcher for a right arm, the Raiders look primed to resume taking the league by storm and pillaging just for fun, as Downing said this:
"“As we find matchups and we want to exploit matchups we’re going to have the opportunity to do that vertically, we’re going to have the opportunity to do that in the run game, we’re going to have the opportunity to do that in the intermediate pass game…We want to be able to attack the field vertically on the inside part of the field too.”"
Power running mixed with a superstar quarterback who loves to showcase just how good his arm really is — topped with a field-controlling tight end who forces defenses to account for him as a weapon.
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The one key cog this offense is missing is its Pro Bowl left tackle who is in a contract dispute currently. In order to make the Super Bowl run Raider Nation is hoping for, the team needs all its weapons on the same page working together, iron sharpening iron in order to be able to contend for it all. Like Downing said in closing “we’ll see when the pads come on.”