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Inside Bay Area > Inside The Oakland Raiders > Position group analysis: defensive line

Starters: RE Kevin Huntley, LT Warren Sapp, RT Terdell Sands, LE Derrick Burgess

The competition: E-T Tommy Kelly, E-T Tyler Brayton, E Quintin Moses, T Anttaj Hawthorne, E Jay Richardson, T Josh Shaw, T Lauvale Sape, E Dave Tollefson,

Summary: Huntley spent most of the sessions available to the media with the starters, but ideally the Raiders would love to see third-round pick Richardson seize the position during training camp.

Regardless, the three most important performers, based on production as well as salary, are Sapp, Sands and Burgess.

Sapp stunned everyone by showing up to his lone minicamp appearance at 285 pounds _ the lightest he's been since Miami. Coach Lane Kiffin let it slip that Sapp had been as high as 334 in 2006, when he had 10 sacks.

Sapp's job is to attack and penetrate, and he should be quicker if less stout. The immovable force, retained in a key free-agency signing, is Sands, who will be the focal point of Oakland's occasionally questionable run defense.

Whether Sands actually starts or not, the size of his contract, as much as size of his body, says he will be on the field more often than not to give the Raiders their best hope of dealing with the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson and Travis Henry in the AFC West.

Kelly has shown flashes of being a dominant player since arriving as an undrafted free agent, but has yet to take the next step and become a consistent player. Some of his best games have come as an end, although his position coaches believe heis better as a tackle.

Brayton, who started 15 games and had no sacks at right end last season, saw some time at tackle and his best chance to stick may be as a swing player. As much as Brayton is admired for his motor, all that desire has not enabled him to become a playmaker.

Hawthorne, who looks as soft as the Pillsbury Doughboy, plays stronger than he looks and saw some time in the tackle rotation last season. He'll be a bit player, however, unless either Sapp or Sands is injured and Kelly moves fulltime to end.

Shaw drew Kiffin's praise during offseason workouts and Sape has NFL experience.

The bottom line: The Raiders will not become an elite defensive line unless they find a second outside rushing threat to complement Burgess (Moses?) and consistently stop the run.

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