• Placed on injured reserve: WR Arman Shields (D4b-08).
• Waived: OL Jesse Boone, DB Darrick Brown, DL Derrick Gray, DE Greyson Gunheim, WR Johnathan Holland, FB Luke Lawton, S Nate Lyles, WR Chris McFoy, P Glenn Pakulak, RB/KR Louis Rankin, FB/TE Marcel Reese, OG Brandon Rodd, CB Nick Sanchez, LB Shane Simmons, TE Darrell Strong, S Marviel Underwood, CB/KR Michael Waddell and TE Chris Wagner.
• Released: SS/OLB Adam Archuleta, RB Adimchinobe Echemandu and DT Josh Shaw.

The moves mean young receivers Todd Watkins and Chaz Schilens made the roster, for now, with Shields sitting out the season.

There was no Quentin Moses-esque shock to this year’s cuts, although there is always a yearly group of veterans good enough to get serious playing time last season for another team, but not good enough to make this season’s Raiders. Safety Greg Wesley and defensive end Greg Spires were already cut, and safety/linebacker Archuleta joined them on the waiver wire.

The surprises probably tended toward who is still on the team, including undersized defensive end Trevor Scott, the sixth-round pick, Mr. Everything offensive lineman/tight end/defensive lineman Fred Wakefield and backup tackles Mario Henderson and Seth Wand, who struggled mightily at times during the preseason. The Raiders kept 11 offensive linemen, depending on where you count Wakefield.

The Raiders also kept seven linebackers, with “bubble” players Robert Thomas (and his newly dislocated kneecap) and Sam Williams keeping their spots behind apparent strongside starter Ricky Brown. Oakland kept five safeties as well, with both Hiram Eugene and Rashad Baker making the squad.

Meanwhile, only four running backs were kept, with backup fullbacks Lawton and Reese both waived.

Lyles, Sanchez, Simmons and Underwood were all late-camp pickups as warm bodies at the bottom of the roster, while Pakulak’s release means Shane Lechler should be punting for the Raiders on Opening Night.

Candidates for the practice squad, if they clear waivers, include Brown, Gunheim, Rankin, Reese and Strong all of whom drew notice at times in camp, plus Boone and Holland, who were part of the team’s inactive roster in 2007.

It’s been an up-and-down tenure for Lane Kiffin draft picks: In 2007, seven of 11 made the roster, with three of those barely playing (and two more on reserve due to injury):

• Quarterback JaMarcus Russell (1), tight end Zach Miller (2), tackle Mario Henderson (3b), kick returner Johnnie Lee Higgins (3c), cornerback John Bowie (4b), defensive end Jay Richardson (5b) and fullback Oren O’Neal (6) stuck on the 53-man roster, though Russell saw only spot duty and Henderson and Bowie combined to play three games.

• Running back Michael Bush (4a) and wide receiver Johnathan Holland (7) spent the year on reserve.

• Defensive end Moses (3a) and safety Eric Frampton (5a) didn’t make the team at all.

This year, however, four of five stuck — running back Darren McFadden (1), safety/kick returner Tyvon Branch (4a), defensive end Scott (6) and Schilens (7).

But, three more 2007 picks were either placed on injured reserve (Bowie and O’Neal) or sent packing (Holland).

That means of Kiffin’s two draft classes, only nine of 16 players will be contributors in any way this year.

There is, of course, always the possibility the Raiders will pick someone up before Monday night’s game with the Denver Broncos — a veteran wide receiver being high on the “want” list, and depth at fullback and offensive tackle looking like real needs.

Among ex-Raiders getting whacked by other teams, former starting safety Stuart Schweigert managed to get cut by his second NFC East team of the offseason, with The Star-Ledger reporting he was released by the New York Giants.

The 53-man breakdown:

• QB (3): JaMarcus Russell, Marques Tuiasosopo, Andrew Walter

• RB (4): Justin Fargas, Justin Griffith, Darren McFadden, Michael Bush

• WR (5): Javon Walker, Ronald Curry, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Todd Watkins, Chaz Schilens

• TE (3): Zach Miller, John Madsen, Tony Stewart

• OL (11): Kwame Harris, Robert Gallery, Jake Grove, Cooper Carlisle, Cornell Green, Mario Henderson, Paul McQuistan, Chris Morris, John Wade, Fred Wakefield, Seth Wand.

• ST (3): Jon Condo, Sebastian Janikowski, Shane Lechler

• DL (8): Derrick Burgess, Terdell Sands, Tommy Kelly, Jay Richardson, Kalimba Edwards, William Joseph, Trevor Scott, Gerard Warren

• LB (7): Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison, Ricky Brown, Jon Alston, Isaiah Ekejiuba, Robert Thomas, Sam Williams

• CB (4): DeAngelo Hall, Nnamdi Asomugha, Chris Johnson, Stanford Routt

• S (5): Michael Huff, Gibril Wilson, Rashad Baker, Tyvon Branch, Hiram Eugene

• IR (5): John Bowie, Drew Carter, Oren O’Neal, Arman Shields, Mark Wilson

The expected:

Wide receiver Drew Carter and fullback Oren O’Neal, both out for the season after suffering knee injuries in this weekend’s preseason game, were placed on injured reserve.

The surprising:

Special teams ace Jarrod Cooper was released, amid reports the popular safety intends to retire.

The in-between:

Veteran defensive end Greg Spires, like Carter a free agent signed this off-season, and linebacker Grant “Game Ready” Irons, attempting to make a comeback from back troubles, were waived.

Cornerback John Bowie, forever known for being drafted with the “Randy Moss pick” in 2007, was placed on injured reserve, his knee injury rendering him unable to go. Like Carter and O’Neal, Bowie’s season is over.

The additions:

The Raiders claimed fullback Luke Lawton, last of the Philadelphia Eagles, off waivers to replace O’Neal. They also signed defensive back Marviel Underwood.

The transactions leave the Raiders with 76 players on the roster (80 minus six plus two), meaning one more player must be cut to reach the limit tomorrow, and more if other players are added.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that an oft-injured, undrafted former college star dazzled Raider fans in preseason 1999, when Scott Dreisbach won a spot on the roster despite a broken leg.

Last night, the Raiders rolled the dice on another oft-injured former college quarterback, signing Nebraska’s Sam Keller, who tried out at the rookie minicamp earlier this year.

Keller, who was not signed after the May session, had failed to win a contract in a tryout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after April’s draft, and signed a three-year deal with the Arena Football League’s Los Angeles Avengers on May 30.

To make room for Keller on the roster, the Raiders cut fifth-string quarterback Erik Meyer, a free agent signed this offseason.

Keller, whose father is a former NFL player and executive, had a checkered college career.

In 2005, he three 20 touchdown passes in only seven games at Arizona State before going down with a season-ending injury. But in the spring of 2006, Keller was forced to compete with his replacement, Rudy Carpenter. Sun Devils head coach Dirk Koetter named Keller the starter, only to reverse his decision almost immediately — with some urging from players, depending on which rumors you believe.

In the wake of the debacle, Keller transferred to Nebraska, where he redshirted in 2006 and started in 2007 for former Raiders head coach Bill Callahan.

But once again, an injury ended his season prematurely, though he racked up a 2,400-yard passing season.

However, despite more than 5,000 career passing yards in a pair of pro-style offenses, Keller didn’t impress scouts and faced questions about his ego and attitude — he may have been infamous as much for his female companions as his throwing style — and subsequently went undrafted.

Still, it looks like the California native is getting the chance at the NFL he craved.

Going into training camp behind JaMarcus Russell, former Arizona State teammate Andrew Walter, Marques Tuiasosopo and journeyman Jeff Otis — who played for quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo at Columbia — it remains to be seen what, if anything, he can make of it.

Sources: Raiders.com, LAAvengers.com, Pro Football Weekly 2008 Draft Preview

The Raiders exchanged a couple of first-year players who are likely just camp bodies, waiving sixth-string quarterback Brian White, a rookie free agent out of Portland State, and signing fullback/tight end Tony Jackson.

Jackson, who played his college ball at Iowa, was on the Raiders’ practice squad for a few weeks during Art Shell’s second tenure in 2006.

White was buried on the depth chart behind veterans JaMarcus Russell, Andrew Walter and Marques Tuiasosopo, and fellow “camp arm” types Jeff Otis and Erik Meyer.

Jackson, who is 6-foot-2 and 255 pounds, will compete with Justin Griffith and Oren O’Neal at fullback, and – if he’s not considered too short for the position – Zack Miller, John Madsen, Tony Stewart and Fred Wakefield, plus rookies Darrell Strong and Chris Wagner at tight end.

He was originally the Seattle Seahawks’ sixth-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.

As some of you who have followed my work over at Raiderfans.net know, a few years ago, I started something called the Raiders Research Project, which has been an ongoing — albeit sporadic — effort to create a one-stop-shopping site for Raiders information.

Well, I’m pleased to announce that, with Bob Carr’s permission and encouragement, I’m moving the project here, to Silver & Black Report.

This may be a slow, painful process, but watch the “Pages” list to the right for updates.

The first Project, the “Unofficial Raiderfans.net roster,” is already here.

Now, I’m pleased to announce the arrival of the third Project, the NFL Europe allocation list. It’s the first spring without developmental football in several years, but as I think you’ll be able to see from the Project, the Raiders aren’t really going to miss it.

Enjoy! And watch for the rest of the projects, and new ones, coming soon to S&B Report!

Oakland Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin

By Eric Strauss, S&B Report Staff Columnist

As Lane Kiffin embarks on his second season as Raiders head coach — with the dubious distinction of being the first coach to survive a 12-loss year under owner Al Davis — he is not only trying to save his job, he is trying to avoid moving one step closer to some ignoble history.

The Raiders had losing years during the first three seasons of their existence — pre-Davis, as we all know:

• 6-8 in 1960;
• 2-12 in 1961;
• and bottoming out at 1-13 in 1962.

But during the 40 years Davis has been involved in the organization, from his head coaching debut in 1963 until the Super Bowl XXXVII loss in January 2003, the Raiders had only seven more losing seasons, including a string that saw the team go 23 years with only one in the minus column:

• 5-7-2 in 1964 under Davis;
• 7-9 in the “lame-duck” Oakland season of 1981 under Tom Flores;
• 5-10 in 1987, Flores’ final season as head coach;
• 7-9 in 1988, Mike Shanahan’s only full season;
• 7-9 in 1992 the only losing season of the Art Shell I era;
• 7-9 in 1996, which cost Mike White his job;
• and 4-12 in 1997, the only year of the Joe Bugel “error.”

In that same time, the Raiders nearly matched the seven losing seasons with Super Bowl appearances, playing in the Big Game on five occasions — and winning three world championships:

• Super Bowl II in January 1968 (Green Bay 33, Oakland 14);
• Super Bowl XI in January 1977 (Oakland 32, Minnesota 14);
• Super Bowl XV in January 1981 (Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10);
• Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984 (Los Angeles 38, Washington 9);
• and Super Bowl XXXVIII in January 2003 (Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21).

That’s not even mentioning nine other appearances in an AFL or AFC championship game during that stretch.

However, if Kiffin can’t double the team’s win total in 2008 — mind you, he accomplished the feat in 2007 — the Raiders will have suffered their sixth straight losing year, following a five-year string of 19-61:

• 4-12 in 2003, which cost Bill Callahan his job a short year after the Super Bowl;
• 5-11 in 2004, when Norv Turner became the first coach to survive a double-digit losing season;
• 4-12 in 2005, which ended Turner’s reign;
• 2-14 in 2006, the only year of Art Shell II, which sadly damaged his reputation;
• 4-12 in 2007 in Kiffin’s debut season.

If, as many “Raider haters” and fans alike are predicting, the Raiders post another record on the downside of the ledger, it could be the end of Kiffin’s tenure as head coach. Even if the Raiders go a competitive 6-10 or 7-9, which might well save Kiffin’s job, it would mean the 2009 team would be trying to avoid a seventh consecutive losing year.

Those seven losing seasons in a row — nothing atypical for some traditionally futile organizations such as the Arizona Cardinals, who have posted one winning season in the past 23, or the Cincinnati Bengals, who have four in the past 25 — would match the 40-year total of Davis’ “Team of the Decades.”

Pretty amazing, considering how much the team and its fans have suffered in recent years.

In a year in which baseball’s Chicago Cubs are “celebrating” 100 years since their last world championship, it’s a reminder that, no matter how black the mood around the Silver & Black lately, this string is, in many ways, a blip on the radar. A big, ugly blip, but a blip nonetheless

Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders head coaches:
• Eddie Erdelatz, 1960-61 (1 1/2 seasons: 0 winning seasons, 1 1/2 losing seasons)
• Marty Feldman, 1961-62 (two 1/2 seasons: 0 winning seasons, two losing 1/2 seasons)
• Red Conkwright, 1962 (1/2 season: 0 winning seasons, 1/2 losing season)
• Al Davis, 1963-65 (three seasons: 2 winning seasons, 1 losing season, 1 Coach of the Year award; member of Pro Football Hall of Fame as all-around contributor)
• John Rauch, 1966-68 (three seasons: 3 winning seasons, 0 losing seasons, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Coach of the Year award)
• John Madden, 1969-1978 (10 seasons: 10 winning seasons, 0 losing seasons, 1 Super Bowl win, 1 Coach of the Year award; member of Pro Football Hall of Fame as coach)
• Tom Flores, 1979-1987 (nine seasons: 6 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons, 1 .500 season, 2 Super Bowl wins, 1 Coach of the Year award)
• Mike Shanahan, 1988-89 (1 1/2 seasons: 0 winning seasons, 1 1/2 losing seasons)
• Art Shell, 1989-1994, 2006 (6 1/2 seasons: 4 1/2 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons, 1 Coach of the Year award; member of Pro Football Hall of Fame as player)
• Mike White, 1995-96 (two seasons: 0 winning seasons, 1 losing season, 1 .500 season)
• Joe Bugel, 1997 (one season: 0 winning seasons, 1 losing season)
• Jon Gruden, 1998-2001 (four seasons: 2 winning seasons, 0 losing seasons, 2 .500 seasons)
• Bill Callahan, 2002-03 (two seasons: 1 winning season, 1 losing season, 1 Super Bowl appearance)
• Norv Turner, 2004-05 (two seasons: 0 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons)
• Lane Kiffin, 2007-present (one season: 0 winning seasons, 1 losing season)

Hit the link above to check out the updated version, now with stats, coaches and more!