Well, we knew this was going to happen eventually, just surprised it had to happen at this point of the season with the Raiders fighting for their playoff lives. Today, the NFL dropped the hammer on Aldon Smith after his recent charge of DUI and hit-and-run back in August. The details of his suspension is one calendar year. That means Smith's 2015 season with the Raiders is officially done and if the Raiders are to sign him to a long-term deal in the coming offseason, he can't report to the team until next November. However, according to the Pro Football Talk article that I linked under "one calendar year," he can apply for reinstatement 60 days before his one year suspension is up and he has to pass all alcohol/drug tests.
I can hear the Niner fans and the NFL fans who poke fun at the Raiders chirping away about how the Niners made a smart decision and how the Raiders made a really dumb decision in bringing him in and then the whole "typical Raiders, signing troubled criminals again." News flash: we knew. We knew that signing Aldon Smith was a risk-reward type acquisition. I'll link to the post I made in September when the Raiders first signed him. Let me ask you guys something: between the recent arrest in August to the suspension today, how much did Aldon Smith make headlines around the league during his time with the Raiders? Aside from the Santa Clara DA filing charges and his arraignment in last month in which he pleaded "not guilty," Zero! Nothing! True, it was all overshadowed by the Deflategate saga and the incumbent situation with Greg Hardy and his domestic violence troubles. But, for the most part, Aldon Smith has kept himself clean with the Raiders. No DUI troubles, no arrests, nothing since joining the Raiders. The Raider organization has done a masterful job putting in the necessary support system to help him succeed. You have a lot of players in that locker room who are all about the team and the community; high-character guys and an organization with a unified owner, GM, and head coach that helped Aldon stay clean, focus squarely on football, and give him the necessary help. Now, what if he was in a long-term deal, in a full season? We don't know, but facts are facts and Aldon Smith has kept himself out of trouble since joining the Raiders.
Now where do the Raiders go from here? The defense is already as terrible as it is with its secondary. With Aldon, I would say the defense was half-way decent since Khalil Mack doesn't have to be double teamed a lot from the opposing team's O-line. Without Aldon there, the defense is projected to be much worse as it is now at this point of the season. The linebacker position, with the exception Malcolm Smith, it's a "who's who" now. Curtis Lofton is struggling, Ray-Ray Armstrong is not to be trusted, Neiron Ball is hurt, Korey Toomer and Lorenzo Alexander are special teams players at best, Ben Heeney is still a work-in-progress. If Jack Del Rio and Ken Norton, Jr. are hearing this, now would be a great time to put Khalil Mack back at his normal OLB spot. Mario Edwards, Jr. is currently on a tear, filling in admirably for Justin Tuck and Denico Autry and Benson Mayowa are serviceable defensive ends that can play opposite of Edwards. Khalil Mack should be the jack-of-all trades. He is an integral chess piece that needs to be moved around to exploit mismatches. Just give him more opportunity to get sacks because if they just leave him there at DE with Aldon Smith gone, he'll be double teamed all day.
Other than that, it was fun while it lasted to see Aldon Smith and Khalil Mack play in the same line. I'm sure that gave a lot of offensive coordinators a heart attack just at that notion. It didn't work out as expected since Norton is a rookie Defensive Coordinator after all. Reggie McKenzie said in an interview that Aldon Smith is in the Raiders' long-term plans and I do hope they keep him long term. If they do keep him and sign him to a long-term deal, with an improved secondary next season (hopefully) and a switch to a 3-4 base defense (hopefully), we'd like to see Khalil Mack and Aldon Smith just completely terrorize the AFC West and the rest of the NFL for years to come.
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