Pick Your Poison: In Year 3, Raiders Route Tree Is Wide Open
Al Davis loved to see his quarterback heave the ball downfield for the big touchdown. Some have even said the innovator of Raiders football preferred it. But, if you take a long hard look at Davis’ vertical passing game, the go route had company on the route tree. Big Al’s concepts included a number of options for the quarterback.
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“[Al Davis’] pass offense included an almost unlimited variety of pass patterns as well as a system of calling them, and utilized the backs and tight ends much more extensively than other offenses. … To develop an understanding of it took time, but once learned, it was invaluable,” legendary coach Bill Walsh, a young assistant on Davis’ staff, wrote in his book, Building a Champion.
Yes, the routes aim to stretch the opposition vertically, to the breaking point. But, the architecture ensured all receivers — deep, intermediate and short.
Former Raiders OC Bill Musgrave ushered it back in. Now, offensive coordinator Todd Downing gets to expand upon it. However, what we’re seeing is truly a Raiders Renaissance: a form of the Davis’ offense revived.
Leading the charge, strong-armed quarterback Derek Carr and ever-improving wide receiver Amari Cooper. Yes, Carr has other weapons at his disposal. But the tip of the spear is AC/DC. The young pair is pick-your-poison personified. Carr can make all the throws and Cooper can run all the routes. And here’s some music to Big Al’s ears: the duo have worked on the deep pass — consistently.
“There are a couple of times we hit them early in games and it gets in not only the player’s head guarding him, but the coach’s head,” Carr said. “Do you want to leave him on that island? And then you get everything else working for you, so working on that deep ball is always important. Me and Coop, it’s something we work very hard at.”
Cooper, still very young at 23, is starting to exhibit the swagger he had at Alabama. Match that attitude with pristine route running and an impressively bulked up, muscular frame, and Year 3 Coop may be a whole different cat.
“That just dog in him is coming out,” Carr said. “That thing that you saw at Alabama where he’ll just take things over. DBs better know that he’s really taking it serious that he’s trying to go attack them this year. “He’s not going to let them come to him anymore.”
That new mentality fits right into another Davis mantra: “We don’t take what the defense gives us; we take whatever the hell we want.”
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