Raiders land MVP
OK, so Dominic Rhodes got jobbed out of Super Bowl MVP, even though he made the most valuable plays in the Colts' Super Bowl snoozer over the Chicago flubbers. ...
(Raiders, of course, have an affinity for other team's former Super Bowl MVPs: Jerry Rice (thumbs up), Larry Brown (thumbs way, way down).)
Rhodes as a Raider gives new coach Lane Kiffin a player he can use in the Reggie Bush mold. Rhodes is a tougher inside runner than both Bush and Lamont Jordan, who looks like a tank but runs more like a trike (and the last time he broke a tackle was when exactly?).
The Raiders have reportedly restructured Jordan's contract rather than cut him, giving Kiffin at least the impression of an inside-outside tandem. Think LenDale White and Reggie Bush.
(Now, if only Matt Leinart were available in the draft ... not that I would feel comfortable with Robert Gallery back at RT trying to protect a lefty QB's blind side. Most pass rushers who blow by resurrected LT Barry Sims like Matt Kenseth on the straightaway will at least bounce off JaMarcus Russell.)
It's hard not to be excited about this move as the Silver and Bleak inches closer to that ever-important season ticket sales push.