by Jeremy Kahn

NAPA–For the Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray he will later be backed up by Roy Helu Jr who is out right now. The Raiders right now don’t want a lot of distractions like another team has in the Bay Area. It’s really good to have Murray in the back field and the Raiders can be a powerful team in that backfield when the season starts in September.

Murray was badly needed back because back ups Helu and Michael Dyer are not active. Trent Richardson is also back after missing the first five days of camp due to a case of pneumonia. Richardson rivals the Colts Frank Gore and they will do very well replacing Helu and Dyer. Ken Norton Jr defensive coordinator is a proven winner and he won two World’s Championships with the Dallas Cowboys.

Norton’s expertise is coaching defense and his experience from Seattle will help him out alot. He’s a great coach and in the next few years Norton could be a head coach somewhere. Head coach Jack Del Rio is a great coach and a good guy and he was in Jacksonville and he’s a proven Bay Area figure he went to USC and then onto the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.

He was a good player and a greater coach and he’s going to be offensive savvy when he gets into his first game in Oakland when the pre season starts next Friday against the Houston Texans at the Oakland Coliseum. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is a stud and he came in and lit the world on fire last season and nobody at the Raiders knew who he was.

David Carr is Derek’s older brother and if they can get all their cylinders fired up and the Raiders can get everything going on offense and defense the Raiders should be back in the playoffs in a year or year and half year. The Raiders had Dennis Allen at head coach last season and right now it looks like the Jim Harbaugh effect.

Harbaugh got the 49ers when they were struggling and got them to the playoffs in one year and he got them to the post season when the team was primarily former head coach Mike Singletary’s guys. Del Rio can have that same kind of success by next season but in two years the Raiders will be back in two years. Raiders receiver Rod Streater, tight end Clive Walford, and tackle Stacey McGee are still out these three will probably miss a lot of the pre season. Streater will be back and if McGee and Walford can get back by the last game that would be great for the Raiders before they start the season.

Jeremy Kahn is an Oakland Raiders beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com