Oakland Raiders: Reasons To Be Excited And Concerned After First Game

May 26, 2015; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Trent Richardson (33) catches a pass at organized team activities at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Concerned – Trent Richardson

Reclamation projects are always iffy from the get go. You roll the dice and it could work out better than you’d ever imagined, or you could just as easily crap out entirely. Former third overall pick and to this point, huge NFL disappointment Trent Richardson is exactly that reclamation project the Raiders are rolling the dice on this season.

The biggest positive of the Richardson signing is that Oakland guaranteed him peanuts in salary this year. So even if they decide to part ways with him at the end of the preseason – or perhaps even before that – it’s not going to cost them very much at all. That’s a huge and stark contrast to how the business side of the organization has been run in year’s past.

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It’s probably safe to say that if Richardson continues making plays – or actually, not making plays – like he did against the Rams, he’s going to find himself with a bus ticket out of town sooner rather than later. And if that happens, that could spell the end of Richardson’s brief NFL career.

For the night, Richardson posted 18 yards on just five carries, but the only takeaway of his performance that has people talking is the fact that the offensive line had blown open a hole so large, you could have driven an armored car through it. Richardson though, somehow missed that gaping hole – which would have been little more than a leisurely stroll to the endzone – and headed straight into a pile of bodies where he was tackled at the line of scrimmage.

That lack of vision has been a knock on Richardson his whole pro career. The fact that he’s not making plays – even when they’re being handed to him on a silver platter – is certainly cause for alarm.

Next: Excited: The Meat Up Front