The Oakland Raiders mini-camp begins tomorrow and while some things will be difficult to guage without pads players will be on display and will offer fans a quick glimpse as to how the team is shaping up for 2009.  The following represent some of the key topics:

– How smooth does the Raiders highly controversial first round pick Darrius Heyward-Bey look catching the ball, and will his speed be as breathtaking as advertised?  Does he catch the ball with his hands or against his body? 

– How well does Mike Mitchell cover receivers in the seven-on-seven drills when contact is negated?  Can he cover the speedy wide outs when he is unable to utilize the best part of his game which is his physical nature?

– Will JaMarcus Russell be in better shape? He needs to be.  Period.

– What happens when Russell overthrows Heyward-Bey?  Can the rookie out of Maryland accelerate and run under it?

– Will OT’s  Mario Henderson or Khalif Barnes take any reps from the right side of the ball or will both be working exclusively on the left side of the line?  Most likely both will be starting but who will be protecting Russell’s blind side?

– How will aging backup QB Jeff Garcia look throwing the deep ball that both Tom Cable and Al Davis want as an intergal part of the offense?

– Is Andrew Walter the fourth quarterback behind Russell, Garcia and Bruce Gradkowski?  Every session is huge for Walter as he is a longshot to make the team in ‘09.

– Will the Raiders mix in some 3-4 defense, with rookies such as Slade Norris and Stryker Sulak, who will be stood up as outside linebackers but who rushed the passer in college?

– Will the Raiders FINALLY see some potential out of Michael Huff?  To date, Huff has been a bigger bust than Robert Gallery.  Gallery has seemed to at least found a home at guard.  Huff has not found a home anywhere.

– Is Javon Walker healthy and does he have anything left in the tank?  Whether he does or does not is irrelevant as he is guaranteed $4.6 million over the next two years.

– Will there be a new fullback on the Raiders roster?  Lorenzo Neal is rumored to be coming to the Silver and Black but nothing has yet to be confirmed.  In that regard, we’ll see if Oren O’Neal is ready to take the field or if he’s off to the side with the trainers.

While Minicamp will be beneficial to guage the above mention issues it will be of little or no use when determining other factors:

 –Will the Raiders be any better at stopping the run?

The team will be working on filling gaps and being fundamentally sound, but with rules mandating that you don’t want players blocked to the ground or any true hitting, you just  can’t tell if any progress is being made and even training camp can be deceiving because the contact is not finished.

– Will the pass protection be improved?

– The depth chart. There will be some clues, maybe but nothing substantial.  It is still way too early.

All in all tomorrow marks the first time the team will be running drills as a unit and it will be very interesting to gauge Russell, Heyward-Bey, and Mitchell especially. 

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