The Raiders are an easy target these days, but there's potential in some of Oakland's younger players.
In the case of Denarius Moore, his noted playmaking ability has been tarnished by streaks of inconsistency over his first two seasons. Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson is calling for more maturity from the 24-year-old pass-catcher.
"A lot of it is going to be on Denarius," Olson said Tuesday, per the Bay Area News Group. "To me, it's that whole character issue, becoming a self-starter, becoming a self-motivated person, and a lot of it comes with maturity. I think he'd be the first guy to say we're constantly on top of him ... we'll just coach him up, but I think he's becoming a more mature player and a more mature person."
Moore produced his share of gems as a rookie in 2011, including a five-catch, 146-yard outing in Week 2 that included a head-turning 50-yard touchdown grab against the Buffalo Bills. That put him on the radar, and he went on to catch 33 passes for 618 yards in his first season. Moore's 18.7 yards per catch suggested Oakland had found a burner.
Moore's numbers rose last season (51 catches, 741 yards and seven scores), but he suffered what Raiders coach Dennis Allen called too many "concentration drops."
Moore's training-camp performance this summer was cited as a "real source of frustration" for the Raiders, who have to wonder how the field-stretching receiver will mesh with Matt Flynn's less-than-cannon arm. The Raiders have too many issues to only pick on Moore, but if they want to catch anyone by surprise in the AFC West, they'll need their deep threat to wake up.
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