FanHouse KwameHarris

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The 2008 season might go down as one of the most bizarre campaigns in the history of the Oakland Raiders. Lane Kiffin and Al Davis clearly didn't get along, while Kiffin pulled off the impossible task of making Davis look like a sane, rational person.

A team spokesperson nearly decked a beat writer; the punter was, reportedly, punched out by a defensive lineman; and the team on the field finished with a losing season, failing to win more than five games for the sixth consecutive year. Just a disastrous season in every way imaginable.

Through the first six years of his career, Oakland Raiders left tackle Kwame Harris hasn't exactly lived up to the expectations that come with being the No. 26 overall pick in the NFL draft. After being, basically, a bust of a selection for the 49ers, Harris moved across the bay prior to this season and inked a three-year, $16 million deal with the Raiders.

Thus far, the move has been maddening, if not completely frustrating, for the Raiders and their fans. Fortunately (I think) for silver and black faithful, the madness is coming to an end this Sunday, when Harris is going to be taking a seat on the bench in favor of Mario Henderson when the Raiders host New England.

According to Raiders beat writer Jerry McDonald, the reason for the benching is because Harris can't seem to grasp the concept that offensive lineman aren't allowed to move before the snap, and because he's been a turnstile when it comes to protecting JaMarcus Russell's blindside.

I'm sure most NFL fans are sitting around tonight thinking to themselves, "hey, I wonder when Warren Sapp is going to say something crazy again?" What's that you say? You're not thinking that? Well, too bad, because he's struck again.

Lately, Sapp has been spouting off all sorts of nonsense, from telling Oakland offensive tackle Kwame Harris he couldn't block Sapp's daughter, to calling his former teammate, Keyshawn Johnson, a "naughty word for a female dog." And that's when he's not screaming in the general direction of Raiders owner Al Davis.

Well, apparently he crossed some sort of line when he went after Keyshawn, and Sapp's mom didn't exactly approve of her son's potty mouth. From NFL.com's Adam Schefter:

"A week ago I took a shot at an old teammate of mine and I really felt like I crossed the line," Sapp said. "My mother was watching that show and she gave me a buzz and said, 'You know what, that's wrong because you and that boy and the kids and all of your families have played together and won together and you've got to apologize.'

Yeah, Warren, play nice with your friends.

Former defensive tackle Warren Sapp has never been at a loss for words, especially when Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders are the topic of discussion. If you'll recall, earlier this season Sapp fired his first shot at his former team when he told us that, pretty much, they were going to suck.

A few weeks later, when the Davis vs. Lane Kiffin saga was just about to hit its peak, Sapp reminded the 80-something-year-old Raiders owner that Cliff Branch wasn't ready to step out onto the field and haul in bombs from Jim Plunkett. Beyond that, he's also voiced his displeasure for the Dolphins' wildcat offense, and informed the football-watching public that he isn't exactly a fan of Keyshawn Johnson.

Who's next on Sapp's agenda? Starting left tackle Kwame Harris, naturally. From Mike Florio at PFT, quoting Sapp on his WQAM radio spot in Miami:

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

1. Offensive Tackle. There is a reason the 49ers gave up the most sacks in the league last year. There's a reason Frank Gore had a letdown year (a few, actually, but this is one). The 49ers are off to a good start at overhauling the position with Joe Staley, but Staley's moving over to the left side, and it's up in the air how he'll respond. Backup Kwame Harris is a free agent, and the 49ers aren't really fans of either him or Jonas Jennings. The team is going to need a starter at right tackle, whether that's Jennings or someone new. But the team need a general upgrade in talent and depth. Bad news. The 49ers don't have a late first round pick. They could hope that Jeff Otah, Ryan Clady, or Sam Baker fall to them. An intriguing pick for later in the first day is Heath Benedict from Newberry. They'll have to get some help out of the draft, because free agency is scarce. Max Starks looks to be the the best available, meaning someone will grossly overpay for him.

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

1. Offensive Tackle. The Rams have been lucky to have an incredible franchise left tackle for the last 11 seasons, and his play did as much for The Greatest Show on Turf as anyone else. But Orlando Pace has been ludicrously brittle the last two years and, at 32, can't really be depended on anymore. The drop-off in production without Pace has been glaring. On the other side, Alex Barron has been disappointing as a first-round pick; there's so much yellow cloth at Barron's feet on gameday that you'd think he stuffed his jersey with Terrible Towels. In the last four years, Barron ranks behind just Robert Gallery in penalties. On top of the starters, after all of the injuries the Rams endured on the line last year, depth should be considered critical. The easy and obvious answer is Jake Long, who should be available when the Rams pick second. Long can play both sides, which certainly helps, and he can immediately take over for Pace should something happen. If the team needs further depth, Kwame Harris or Damien Woody could be affordable options, and Woody triples as a possible guard and center.

Back in July, I noted that continuity on the offensive line was going to be crucial to the Rams this season. We've managed to make it through one week of the season, and any hope of that has been shot straight to hell.

Thanks to injuries to Orlando Pace and Richie Incognito, the Rams will most likely play the 49ers this Sunday with only two starters on the line in the same spot they were to open the season against Carolina. Alex Barron was moved to left tackle to replace Pace, Milford Brown slid over from right guard to take Barron's vacated tackle spot, and Claude Terrell is stepping in at right guard. Though Scott Linehan noted that he will test more line combinations before Sunday.

To give an idea of how important stability on the line is to the Rams -- since 2002, Marc Bulger has played with what will be his 20th offensive line combination. The only time he's spent an extensive period with the same group -- in 2003, when all five starters lasted the entire season -- the Rams won the division.

Fixing the line might not remain an in-house matter, either. This Sunday, their (sort of) solution might be on the other sideline in street clothes. It's been a long fall for 49er tackle Kwame Harris, who went from potential starter to deactivated. And with Harris expecting a trade sometime soon, St. Louis (who, with Washington, has lost its starting tackle for the season) seems like a pretty natural landing spot. Teams typically don't like trading in their own division, but apparently the 49ers don't view Harris as much of a threat, and probably aren't concerned about him going to a foe. As for the Rams, they should just hope that whoever they put on the line stays on the line for the rest of the season.

As we noted in our Training Camp Battles series, right tackle Joe Staley is locked into maybe the least compelling position battle since Peyton v. Sorgi. It's all but guaranteed that Staley will start from Week One -- the 49ers coaches were so uninspired by Kwame Harris' play that they traded back into the first round to get Staley. And if they're at all torn about how to order their depth chart, they can turn to their faithful.

When rookie tackle Joe Staley stonewalled linebacker Roderick Green during a pass-rushing drill, a chant of "Staley! Staley! Staley!" erupted from the westernmost bleachers.

Conversely, there were more than a few catcalls -- what coach Mike Nolan later termed "ribbing" -- when tackle Kwame Harris was beaten by linebacker Parys Haralson during the same drill.

Yes, Staley already looks like the better player (though he appears to be getting pwned in that picture). But in all fairness, this is THE Parys Haralson we're talking about. He's made many an offensive tackle look foolish. OK, that's just not true.

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

To be honest, this one is a bit of a stretch. Truth is, while Mike Nolan will have you believe competition is alive and well at just about every position on the roster (wink wink), take one look at the roster and it's pretty obvious that all of the starting spots are spoken for.

This includes right tackle. Take a quick glance and you can't really tell the difference between Kwame Harris and a revolving door. The 49ers were so inspired by Harris' play that they traded back into the first round after selecting Patrick Willis to grab Joe Staley, widely considered the third-best tackle in the draft.

If Harris wins this battle, it's because he'll have seriously outplayed Staley for it. The fact that Staley avoided a holdout means Harris won't have first-team reps handed to him, and the 49ers seem more than willing to give the job to Staley as long as he proves capable of standing still and putting his hands out in front of his chest. But there's one important variable here -- Harris' contract. It's not exactly a secret that players tend to up their game in a contract year, and after seeing the huge paydays handed out to less-than-mediocre offensive linemen lately (Leonard Davis anyone?), Harris might be inspired to have a "breakout" year.

Training camp battles: See them all