News & Info/Headlines

Jones Taking His Talents To Oakland; Will They Have A QB To Use It?
As Oakland Tribune's Jerry McDonald reported it, the Raiders added a productive veteran to their wide receiving corps Monday with the addition of James Jones, who caught 59 passes for 817 yards last season for the Green Bay Packers.

Jones, 29, played seven seasons for Green Bay, catching 310 passes for 4,305 yards and 37 touchdowns as a target for both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

So the first question for fantasy football owners at this point isn't whether the Raiders have the firepower at quarterback necessary to make Jones and the rest of the team's wideouts viable prospects -- they don't; the question is whether they'll get that firepower before the season starts -- whether via free agency or the NFL Draft.

Looking beyond that for the moment, Jones was selected in the third round of the 2007 draft by the Packers when general manager Reggie McKenzie worked in the personnel department.

Two seasons ago, James had a career-best 14 touchdown receptions. Twenty-nine of Jones’ 46 career starts have come in the last two seasons.

He joins a group of wide receivers with precious little experience.

Rod Streater led the Raiders in receptions (60) and yards (888) last year and according to the Sports Xchange, is a favorite of the coaching staff for his work ethic and commitment to improving. Andre Holmes (25 receptions, 401 yards) emerged as a big-body target who could blossom under the right quarterback and passing system. Denarius Moore (46 catches, 695 yards, 5 TDs) remains a playmaker but has been plagued by consistency issues for three seasons and missed three games with an AC joint injury.

Meanwhile, Jones, in seven seasons, has 310 receptions for 4,305 yards (13.9) and 37 TDs.

Jones, who turns 30 at the end of March, will be the most experienced member of the Raiders’ receiving corps.

So will it matter? Will Jones, Streater or any of the others be anything more than WR3 fantasy prospects?

Again, time will tell. Head coach Dennis Allen conceded at his postseason press conference it was conceivable the quarterback of the future was currently not on the Raiders roster.

There are some possible scenarios floating around. ... According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Raiders are one of two teams interested in Houston's Matt Schaub. Cleveland is the other team. Both have the salary-cap space to absorb Schaub's $14.5 million cap figure.

But the Texans are looking to trade Schaub before they release him and whether either team is willing to part with a draft pick to pay that steep price for a reclamation project is dubious.

In addition to Schaub, NFL Network's Albert Breer reports the Raiders are "looking at" Josh Freeman. Oakland has been connected to Michael Vick and Mark Sanchez as well.

And there's always the draft.

The one certainty seems to be that Oakland is ready to move on from the Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin experiments.

Pryor's athletic skill is intriguing and he improved as a passer, although he appeared to regress in that area later in the season. McGloin looks like he could be an NFL backup for multiple seasons and could be a fallback position if drafting or signing a potential starter doesn't work out.

But if that's the case, Oakland's receiving corps will become even less interesting than it was last season.