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Oakland's silver (haired) and black Posted: Thursday May 02, 2002 2:19 PM
At first glance, the Raiders appear to be going prehistoric in their quest for a third consecutive AFC West title. With 13 of 22 projected starters -- if they played today -- in their 30s, including old-timer free agents Bill Romanowski and Rod Woodson, Oakland would seem to be going in reverse. The Raiders might be. They might be relying too much on Trace Armstrong, at 36 and coming off Achilles' tendon surgery, to be their key pass-rusher. They might be relying too much on Tim Brown, 36, and Jerry Rice, 39, to be their go-to receivers. This may be a team that appears to be built for one last season, but Woodson played well at safety last year in Baltimore, moving sharply on the ball and still playing instinctively against the run. At 37, he was wanted by three clubs (Oakland, Baltimore and Washington) and he should be able to give the Raiders' secondary a shot in the arm. This team will also run the ball better than it did a year ago. New coach Bill Callahan will likely look to push the pile more this season than Jon Gruden did last year, playing big back Tyrone Wheatley more and mashing behind a line whose smallest man, center Barret Robbins, weighs 310 pounds. And this is a team with a few very good young players. Defensive tackle Rod Coleman, a kid playing next to free-agent acquisition John Parrella, could become a inside pass-rushing threat. First-round pick Phillip Buchanon should win the starting job opposite Charles Woodson by October. And this should be the year that Jerry Porter finally breaks through to give the receiving corps the big-play threat in the deep game it's been lacking. Botton line: The Raiders are still the team to beat in this division -- even though come September they'll have one of the oldest rosters in recent NFL history. Cardinal sinsBoy, is David Boston lucky. After the Cardinals' Pro Bowl receiver was taken into custody in March for erratic driving, two small bags of cocaine were found in the back of the police cruiser in which he was transported. Though blood tests revealed the presence of cocaine and marijuana in Boston's system, the Maricopa County (Ariz.) Attorney's Office said Tuesday that there isn't sufficient evidence to prosecute Boston on drug possession charges given that there were not discernible fingerprints on either bag. Police are now recommending that the wideout be prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs. Boston became one of the game's biggest receiving weapons last year, catching 98 balls for 1,598 yards. Only Terrell Owens rivals him for production and dominance among tall wideouts right now. The NFL is likely to put Boston in its substance-abuse testing program now, but it could have much, much worse. The Cardinals hope this is an aberration and a wakeup call for a player they're relying on desperately as the team tries to escape mediocrity. One equals twoWhen the Bengals gather for a full-squad minicamp this weekend in Cincinnati, Jon Kitna will be the No. 1 quarterback on the depth chart and newly signed Gus Frerotte will be No. 2. But there's no question that Frerotte will have to be awful in camp and preseason games for him not to earn the starting job. The Bengals coaches are that down on Kitna after his yo-yo performance last season. Frerotte could likely have stayed in Denver in a comfortable backup spot because it's unlikely injury-plagued Steve Beuerlein will be able to withstand the rigors of regular duty behind Brian Griese . But Frerotte saw this as his possible last-gasp chance to be an NFL starter and he's right. If he can't beat out Jon Kitna, he needs to get ready for his career in the NFL twilight carrying a clipboard. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Check out his Monday Morning Quarterback column every -- and you should see this coming -- Monday morning.
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