FanHouse JohnnieLeeHiggins

As the Oakland Raiders try to move forward from Punch-Gate and put together their first winning season since Jerry Rice was their leading receiver, they have already received some more bad news. Chaz Schilens, who was definitely shaping up as their best receiver, has suffered a relatively serious injury.

According to FanHouse's Nancy Gay (via e-mail), who is in Raiders camp today, Schilens has a fractured 5th metatarsal bone in his left foot. He currently has a boot on it. There is no word yet on if he'll require surgery.

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's daily gathering of links from around the web, covering the goings-on in NFL Training Camp which have an impact on fantasy value.

Obviously, with training camp comes a certain level of optimism surrounding every team. At Bears camp, the entire offense has been a veritable hype machine, due mostly to the acquisition of pro bowl quarterback Jay Cutler.

Devin Hester is getting rave reviews from every source who has seen camp as well. Most recently, Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune penned an entire column gushing about the progress of Hester as a receiver and the prospects of him becoming a legitimate star receiver. And he hasn't always been a Hester-at-wideout fan.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
Running game that needs help from the passing game. One thing is for sure, the Oakland Raiders can run the football. They finished 10th in the NFL last season in rushing offense. The problem is that they only had nine rushing touchdowns (only three teams had less), which we can attribute to the fact that the Raiders had the worst passing offense in the NFL.

If the Raiders can find a way to stretch the field and move the ball through the air, expect the rushing game to get even better.

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With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Oakland Raiders are coming off their sixth straight losing season and will be entering 2009 with their fifth different head coach in seven years.

For the second consecutive offseason, the Raiders have spent a gargantuan amount of money on cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Chris Johnson, and punter Shane Lechler. The Raiders also find themselves in their customary spot in the top 10 of the NFL draft, and their biggest need is pretty obvious.

There is a pretty good chance Terrell Owens has played his final game as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, as a number of people in the know seem to think it's simply a matter of when, and not if, the team decides to part ways with its controversial receiver.

Following his two-day stint in the Cowboys front office, Dan Reeves spoke of a tug-of-war battle between the Keep Owens camp and the Dump Owens camp, while NFL reporters such as Jay Glazer, Adam Schefter, Peter King and Ed Werder are all convinced the Dump Owens side will prevail in the end.

Lance Moore only caught 32 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns in 2007. In 2008, he caught 79 passes for 928 yards and 10 touchdowns. It came from out of nowhere, considering all the other receiving options in New Orleans, but that doesn't mean we can't start grasping at who could be the one who goes from relative fantasy obscurity to a great contributor in the time of one season.

Let's check it out those who will likely see an expanded role in their offense next season, in addition to growth as a playmaker. Please realize these are for deep keeper leagues. Do not even think about keeping any of these over an elite receiver.

Donnie Avery, Rams -- As I said in my top-10 picks post about Steven Jackson, the Rams can't get any worse. They'll figure some things out in the offseason and Mr. Avery is going to be an important part of the offense for any new administration due to his youth. We saw the flashes of talent this time around, and next season we'll see him grow into a real NFL receiver. Plus, it's not like his division is chock full of beastly defenses.

While doing my daily rounds through cyberspace yesterday morning, I stumbled across a stat on the fantasy sports site, Rotoworld, that I found just a little hard to believe. Apparently, the Oakland Raiders have scored only one touchdown in the first half of their games this season. One.

They didn't provide a link to confirm this embarrassing factoid, so I decided to look it up, just to make sure. And you know what? They were right. Sort of.

As it turns out, the Raiders have actually scored two first-half touchdowns this season, though, only one came with the offense on the field. During the Raiders' Week 4 loss to San Diego, tight end Zach Miller hauled in a 63-yard touchdown pass from JaMarcus Russell. Other than that? The only scoring done by the silver and black before the half this season has been from the foot of Sebastian Janikowski, or on an 89-yard punt return by Johnnie Lee Higgins.

Doesn't that get you excited for tonight's Raiders-Chargers tilt?

No team in the NFL has completed fewer passes this season than the Oakland Raiders, and frankly, it's not even close. That's probably not all that shocking to you, seeing as how JaMarcus Russell is a second-year quarterback, and the Raiders are, for the most part, a running team blessed with a deep backfield including Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. Naturally, like any team, they're going to stick with their strength.

Still, Russell has struggled at times, while also showing flashes of the potential that made him the No. 1 overall pick a year ago. Perhaps one of the problems he's dealing with this season is the fact his wide receivers are, well, for lack of a better word -- terrible.

Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee pointed out today that the Raiders haven't had more than one wide receiver catch a pass in a game in four weeks, and that Michael Bush, a 245-pound running back -- who is now playing fullback -- is second on the team with 18 receptions.

Sounds pretty bad. But it gets worse.

I feel kind of bad for Lane Kiffin. He seems like a likable guy. Young, full of fire, an NFL Head Coach at the age of 32, he's got a lot going for him. Except for the fact that NFL coaching job just happens to be with the Oakland Raiders. And, well, as long as the long arm of Al Davis is still able to reach out of the owners box and pull the strings his head coach is attached to on the sidelines, he's going to be calling all of the shots. Case in point: The Raiders quest to find a replacement for the injured Drew Carter.

When Kiffin was asked this evening if any of the available free agents (more on this in a second) would be coming in for a tryout with the squad, Kiffin gave a curious reply for someone in his position (Head Coach!): "I have no idea."

Um. Interesting.

Jerry McDonald at the Contra Costa Times throws out the names of Koren Robinson and Joe Horn, and jokingly (I hope) made references to former Raiders Doug Gabriel, Carlos Francis and Johnnie Morant. Obviously those guys aren't coming back, but Robinson and Horn seem like just the type of guys Al Davis would love to bring on board, especially in a time of total desperation. McDonald even quotes Horn's agent as saying he expects to hear from the Raiders.