Reggie McKenzie

Peter King, Sports Illustrated’s football guru, released his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback posting where, in one segment, he has nothing but good things to say about former Green Bay Packers executive Reggie McKenzie.

The newly-hired Oakland Raiders’ general manager has a huge mountain to climb to bring the Raiders back to respectability and an even larger climb in getting the team back to playoff status.

But according to King, he feels that McKenzie is well on his way.

Here is a segment of King’s interview with McKenzie:

I asked McKenzie if he wished he could have the Carson Palmer trade back. Last October, then-coach Hue Jackson dealt first- and second-round picks to Cincinnati for Palmer. “You can beat that doggone story ’til it’s worn out,” said McKenzie. “But I know this: We’ve got a quarterback we think can win the division and take us to the playoffs. Losing a one and a two doesn’t bother me one bit.”

McKenzie did a great job in Green Bay, so there’s no reason why he can’t do the same out West.

Here is the entire piece that King put together:

…we start out west, with one of those draft-pick-poor teams, and what the Oakland Raiders are doing about it.

The Raiders are actually doing things right, and Reggie McKenzie’s the reason why.

When the Raiders hired McKenzie as general manager in January, he took over a team with the most decimated draft board in recent history. No first-, second-, third-, fourth- or seventh-round picks because of prior trades or Supplemental Draft picks. McKenzie inherited a team that, in late February, was $26 million over the salary cap and had two draft choices — the 148th and 189th overall — before the annual compensatory picks were awarded. Think about it: An 18-year scout finally gets his chance to run a team and pick the players he wants … and he’s hamstrung by the worst cap situation in the league, and one of the worst draft-choice pools in NFL history. And one more thing: Peyton Manning just walked into his division.

“Never thought, ‘Woe is me,’ ” he said the other night from his office in Oakland. “Not once. Never thought I shouldn’t take the job because of things like that either. It never entered my mind. I just figured, ‘We’ll find players.’ I know how to find players. I’ve been in Green Bay when we found Mark Tauscher and Donald Driver late in drafts, and found Tramon Williams on the street, and signed Charles Woodson in free agency. It can be done.”

If McKenzie’s right, it will be done this year with low-cost free-agents starting at three positions (Shawntae Spencer and Ron Bartell at cornerback, Philip Wheeler at linebacker), and one well-paid (five years, $20 million) starting right guard, Mike Brisiel. Help also came in the form of three of the top 10 compensatory picks awarded last month in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Oakland’s first pick will be the first compensatory choice awarded by the NFL, the 95th overall choice, which means McKenzie will sit around all night Thursday on day one of the draft, and all night Friday through rounds two and three, till the end of the third round.

I asked McKenzie if he wished he could have the Carson Palmer trade back. Last October, then-coach Hue Jackson dealt first- and second-round picks to Cincinnati for Palmer. “You can beat that doggone story ’til it’s worn out,” said McKenzie. “But I know this: We’ve got a quarterback we think can win the division and take us to the playoffs. Losing a one and a two doesn’t bother me one bit.”

McKenzie said he feels honored to be the first person in almost half a century other than Al Davis to be running the Raiders’ draft. “This is a new day in the Raider organization,” he said. “Coach Davis, he knew football. I relish the chance to follow him and get this team back where it belongs.”

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Jared Allen and the Minnesota Vikings have sunk to levels not seen from the franchise in some time.

The last time the Green Bay Packers played the Minnesota Vikings I found myself feeling a little sorry for the Vikings players and fans. While watching the game I came to the realization that the Vikings are made up of Jared Allen and 21 other players who would struggle to be back-ups on the Packers.

Okay, maybe Adrian Peterson could start for the Packers, too.

A couple of days later I ran into a fellow parent at elementary school parent-teacher night. He was wearing a Vikings jacket and I was wearing a Packers coat. I called out in a friendly fashion, “Hey, Vikings fan!” expecting that when he turned around we could engage in typical your-team-sucks banter.

Instead he turned, saw the green and gold, and hung his head.

I felt bad.

I walked up to the Vikings fan, put my hand on his shoulder and said, “Maybe Christian Ponder will turn into a great quarterback.” He seemed a little encouraged, but it left me wondering what has happened to the once proud Vikings? Are the years of mediocrity and near misses finally starting to take their toll? Are the Vikings really going to move to a new city because of stadium issues?

I, for one, hope not. I love the Packers-Vikings rivalry almost as much as the Packers-Bears rivalry.

Oddly, during last Sunday’s blowout win against the Raiders I had no feelings of sadness for the Raiders players or fans. I gleefully cheered when the Packers went ahead 31 to nothing before the half. 31-0!

Bahhahaha!

Carson Palmer?

Hahaha.

Another Raiders penalty?

Ha! Go Pack Go!

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This preview of this Packers vs. Raiders is pretty cheesy.

Ok, so Chris Shellcroft of Just Blog Baby brought out the heavy ammunition … or at least a few slices of cheese … when he asked the following high protein questions about the Packers vs. Raiders matchup.

It’s all in great fun and you might event get a giggle out of the results. So, without further adieu, enjoy:

You know the drill. It’s just over 24 hours until kickoff and you need to get lowdown on the opposition.

Fear not my friends!

JBB is here to help you get ready for those Packers and their pursuit of perfection.

In order to get you that insight only JBB can provide we reached out to the resident cheeseheads of FanSided over at Lombardi Ave.

Ray Rivard, the editor of Lombardi Ave., was kind enough to give us a slice of his time. Now he may think Aaron Rodgers is going to punch holes in Oakland’s secondary like a slice of Swiss but will Ray meltdown like a piece of Kraft American in the grilled cheese that is JBB’s patented 5 quirky questions?

To find out how Rodgers does you’ll have to watch the game. To see if Ray crumbled like blue cheese on a wedge salad or stayed strong like the scent of Muenster under the pressure of our questions all you’ve got to do is read on after the jump …

But before you take the jump, Like Lombardiave.com on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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Ready yourself for a different look at football from a guy who is part of a site that really likes to have fun.

Enjoy the ride and the laughs after the jump … and don’t forget to Like Lombardiave.com on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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