OAKLAND, Calif. – The end of the exhibition season brought encouraging signs for the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks when it comes to their backup quarterbacks.

The end of the exhibition season brought encouraging signs for the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks when it comes to their backup quarterbacks. Bruce Gradkowski threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter and the Raiders mostly used backups to end the preseason with a 27-24 victory over the Seahawks on Thursday night.

Matt Leinart’s star-crossed college career vaulted him into the national spotlight as both a celebrity and a can’t-miss NFL prospect.

According to an Arizona Republic report, he might soon find himself out of a job just three years after the Cardinals drafted him 10th overall, ahead of both Jay Cutler and Aaron Rodgers.

Even if he is released, Leinart probably isn’t done quite yet in the NFL.  But at this point, the odds are against him having much if any success as a pro quarterback.

He certainly wouldn’t be the first College Football star to flop in the NFL.  Here’s a look at 10 accomplished college quarterbacks of the last 20 years who were never able to cut it in the pros.

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By most accounts, the Oakland Raiders have had a strong offseason. They cut JaMarcus Russell and replaced him…

By most accounts, the Oakland Raiders have had a strong offseason. They cut JaMarcus Russell and replaced him…

Oakland Raiders’ head coach Tom Cable has begun the most difficult job any coach faces—telling players they are not going to be on the team anymore.

I’ve been in a similar situation as a high school coach, but not with the same ramifications. The players I cut were not trying to feed their family with a job in football, and they were merely relegated to the junior varsity. They still had a chance to play and compete.

The stakes are much higher in this case, and I do not envy Cable one, little bit.

Several Raiders have already been cut. Fullback Chane Moline, wide receiver Paul Hubbard, offensive guard Allen Smith, and tight ends Tony Stewart and Eric Butler were all released earlier this week. However, this will not be the end of roster cuts.

There will be more. Many more—21 more to be precise.

Following the most recent cuts, there are currently 74 players listed on the Raiders’ official website. The league requires that every team have only 53 players on the active roster when the regular season starts.

Some of the released players will be picked up by other teams, some will be signed to the eight man practice squad, and some will be out of work altogether.

Let’s begin with some preliminaries…

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A year after a tumultuous training camp—which included the daily struggles of JaMarcus Russell and allegations of assault and domestic assault against head coach Tom Cable—the Raiders spent a serene month in the wine country to sort it all out.

Russell is gone, released after three years and zero progress toward validating his status as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 draft. Cable kept his coaching job but relinquished offensive coordinator and play-calling duties, concentrating on the overall picture.

The general feeling in Oakland was one of optimism, and not just because the more professional Jason Campbell had replaced Russell at quarterback. The Raiders went after some specific areas of concern, the rushing defense in particular, and appear to have one…

You might get tired of looking at the numbers, but it’s good to know what has been going on with the teams that the Oakland Raiders will encounter.

One guy said these graphs look like the ones you see in sales. Well, maybe that’s what we are trying to do, sell the idea of more victories.

We are encouraging the Oakland Raiders to study the situations carefully before they come up against their opponents. The charts are not difficult to understand. The chart in this article shows the data for 1978 to 2009.

A question could be asked. Have the Titans dominated the Oakland Raiders when you compare the total wins per season, from 1978 to 2009?

The graphs show the total number of wins for each team over a 31-year period. Notice that from the point marked 19 on the horizontal axis to the endpoint 31, the blue curve either touches or is below the red curve. However, there is a short time period within that interval where the Raiders dominated the Titans.

In 2001 the Raiders had ten wins and the Titans had seven. Both teams had 11 wins each in 2002.

The meaning of the graphs from x = 19 to x = 31 (on the horizontal axis), is that the Titans had more total wins or the same number of wins as the Oakland Raider from about 2002 to 2009.

Here is the data from 1978 to 2009:

The graph is posted:

The Titans had a rather serious decline in performance from 2007 to 2009. On the other hand, the Oakland Raiders had a slight incline and a little constancy from 2007 to 2009.

Let’s hope that the Oakland Raiders continue their step by step upward trend to put a new spin on things.

Most of all, the Oakland Raiders must toughen up and tighten up their program to continue an upward trend toward more wins during the regular season.

There is a need for the Oakland Raiders to stay strong, healthy and injury free. Whatever is necessary to improve the depth chart for different positions needs to be done now.

It’s obvious to many fans that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to get the synergy and winning spirit back for the Oakland Raiders.

When the time comes to trim the roster down to 53 few good men, just do it. I think everyone will agree that the Raider Nation wants the best 53 men for the job.

Just win, baby! Toughen up and tighten up to tackle the Tennessee Titans.

This is an early alert!

Read more Oakland Raiders news on BleacherReport.com

(Satire)

Dear Adam Schefter,

I don’t care if you heard Seabastien Janikowski just had a lap band surgery.

I don’t care if you heard Richard Seymour’s kid just got a D on a test.

I don’t care if you heard Jason Campbell just named his new pet I Hate Snyder.

I don’t care if you heard Darren McFadden is going star in ‘The Wild Hogs 2′. 

I don’t care if you heard Tom Cable switched to DirecTv. 

I don’t care if you heard Al Davis got caught scouting a wide receiver that runs a 4.5. 

I don’t care if you heard Asomugha was planning to run for President.

I don’t care if you heard Lamarr Houston was entering Anger Management.

And I certainly don’t care if you heard Matt Leinart was going to be traded to the Raiders. You know why?

Because the only “insiders” in the organization are Al Davis and John Herrera, any other information is false on principle.

The Raiders just released an official statement:

“ESPN’s Adam Schefter is once again making untrue statements about The Oakland Raiders, this time regarding Matt Leinart. The Raiders have never discussed trading for Leinart.

The Raiders are very happy about their quarterback situation.”

Adam, you’re better than that. I can’t wait until the next time you report something false!

Read more Oakland Raiders news on BleacherReport.com

ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders have plenty of roster moves they need to make before the start of the season.