Oakland Raiders: 5 Predictions For The 2015 Season

Nov 10, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Trent Richardson (34) runs the ball during the first quarter against the St. Louis Rams at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

Trent Richardson Will Be Reborn In Silver and Black

When Oakland signed Browns and Colts castoff Trent Richardson, one of the most common comments made on internet message boards, Twitter, and even around office water coolers was, “Same old Raiders.” The meaning of that sentiment of course, is Oakland signing players on the downside of the careers, one step from the end of their playing days.

And given some of the veteran free agent signings over the last few seasons, it’s not hard to figure out why so many would share that view – LaMarr Woodley, Carlos Rogers, and Maurice Jones-Drew spring to mind.

But Del Rio, who has had a huge influence on the shaping of this roster, saw something in Richardson that he liked – he saw untapped talent and potential. And Del Rio, being the no-nonsense guy he is, isn’t going take a flier on a guy he’s not sure about.

One of Richardson’s replies when asked why he could never find a home in either Cleveland or Indianapolis, has been that it’s not a “good marriage” and that he didn’t really fit their style of play.

Though some are quick to dismiss that as the excuses being made by a player widely considered to be a huge draft bust, there is something to what he is saying. Richardson comes with a specific skill set. And if he’s being asked to do things he’s not either comfortable, or even used to doing, his production is going to suffer. It’s very possible, if not likely, that he was just a bad schematic fit for both teams, and his production suffered for it.

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Bama Hammer

Immediately after signing with Oakland though, Richardson was excited about playing for Del Rio and OC Bill Musgrave. He was incredibly enthusiastic when talking about how similar some of Oakland’s offensive philosophies and schemes are to what he ran at Alabama – where he was one of the top backs in the nation for a time. He said he was already comfortable in the Del Rio/Musgrave system and that he believed he’d be a good schematic fit with the Raiders.

It was something echoed by Amari Cooper, the Alabama product who, after his debut at Oakland’s rookie camp, mentioned that he felt comfortable out on the field because the schemes and philosophies were really similar to what he’d run with the Crimson tide.

With a historically bad running game in 2014, the bar for improvement in 2015 is admittedly set pretty low. But to open up the passing game, Oakland’s ground attack to be better. A lot better. And if Cooper is already comfortable in Del Rio’s offensive system, that seems to bode very, very well for Trent Richardson’s rebirth, and quite possibly, a step toward fulfilling all of that incredible promise he showed while at Alabama.

Next: Prediction #2