Jerry Porter

Since Porter was selected in the second round of the 2000 draft, he has shown that he can make it in the NFL. Furthermore, he has shown that he can be great in the NFL. But only at certain times. Between these short flashes of greatness, however, he is simply silent; and sometimes he remains in this dormant stage for quarters and even games at a time.The 2006 season will be the time for Porter to close this chapter on his career and begin a new one: a chapter of consistency.Don't get me wrong, Porter can be a first-rate wideout and can even be dominating at times. But not all the time. Just for this reason, he has fallen short of the coveted 1,000-yard mark for a second straight season. In 2004, Porter posted his best career marks, hauling in 64 passes for 998 yards and nine touchdowns. Once again, good, but not the cream of the crop. The following season was expected to be a colossal year for the West Virginia alumni for the sole reason that now he would be working alongside Randy Moss. Once again, he fell short of expectations-catching 76 passes for 942 yards and five touchdowns.To better understand Porter's Achilles heel, however, you need to move beyond the seasonal statistics and more towards his individual game numbers. As a whole, 942 yards looks fairly respectable for a second wide receiver on the depth chart. But, as you look at his numbers with a game-by-game perspective, they seem to become smaller and far less reputable. In the first seven weeks of the 2005 campaign, Porter's highest yardage total came in a week two loss at Kansas City, when he caught five passes for just 68 yards. To make matters worse, he also went without a touchdown in each of those weeks. Finally, in week eight, Porter showed why the Raiders baited him in with a five-year, $20 million contract prior to the 2005 season. He posted a two-touchdown, 123-yard game against Tennessee that resulted in Oakland's third win of the season. Then, for the following two weeks, the 6'2" wide receiver went back down to average, at best-with games of 68 and 27 yards. Week 11 was one final resurrection for number 84. In a 16-13 win at Washington, Porter hauled in six passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. The remaining yardage totals thereafter were, well, just about average: 57, 50, 36, 31, 29, and 76 yards.If you plotted Porter's 2005 numbers on a graph, it would closely resemble two witches' hats placed side by side: A steady horizontal line at about 59 yards, a sudden 123-yard peak, and then another long horizontal stretch around 59 yards. After that, the line would shoot up once more at 142-yards and then finally resurface to mediocrity.In the only two games that Jerry Porter amassed over 100 yards last season, Oakland came out on top. So if the are looking to improve on their four-win 2005 season, Porter will have to step up on a more regular basis in 2006. With a mobile Aaron Brooks behind center and a healthy Randy Moss, anticipate for him to improve somewhere close to the 2005 numbers of Dolphins' wide receiver Chris Chambers. In 2005, Chambers posted 82 receptions for 1,118 yards and nine touchdowns. As opposed to Porter's 58.88-yard per game average in 2005, this means he would have to raise that median to 69.88 yards per game in 2006. He would also have to raise his touchdown total to from five to 11. However, fans know just how capable Porter is at achieving this, as he has already posted two nine-touchdown seasons in his career.Everyone is aware: Jerry Porter is quick, he is physical, and he can change a game.