Factoid
Only 48 catches for 612 yards. That’s all the Raiders got out of their starting wide receivers last year.
Not their best receiver. All of their starting receivers combined. Take all 16 of the team’s games, separate out the stats of the wide receivers who started in those games, and it works out to only 48 catches for 612 yards.
In no game during 2008 did an Oakland wide receiver go over 100 receiving yards. In only two games, in fact, did their starting receivers – again, combined – go for more than100 yards. (At Baltimore, Chaz Schilens and Javon Walker combined for 104 yards on 5 catches; and in week 16 against Houston, Schilens and Johnnie Lee Higgins combined for 108 yards on 6 receptions).
Amazing.
Oakland ranked next-to-last in passing. They completed only 222 passes, and their starting wide receivers combined for less than 22 percent of those receptions. The team’s most productive wide receiver was Higgins, who caught 22 passes for 366 yards and 4 TDs. Ronald Curry caught 19 passes, while Schilens and Walker each caught 15.
Awful. Historically awful.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that the Raiders went after a receiver with the 7th pick of the draft (those Darrius Heyward-Bey’s career has gotten off to a rough start so far – he dropped 3 passes at practice on Saturday).
—Ian Allan
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