For the Las Vegas Raiders’ last offensive position group, we will take a look at the offensive line. When fully healthy, this unit has been a strength the past several years. However, depth has been an issue.
Here are the previous entries to the series:
Raiders Depth Chart
Starters
Left Tackle: Kolton Miller
Left Guard: Richie Incognito
Center: Rodney Hudson
Right Guard: Gabe Jackson
Right Tackle: Trent Brown
Backups
John Simpson – swing guard
Andre James – backup center, emergency guard/tackle
David Sharpe – swing tackle
Denzelle Good – 2nd backup guard, emergency tackle
Sam Young – 2nd backup tackle
Practice Squad
Jordan Devey – guard
Lester Cotton Sr. – guard/tackle
Related: A Look Back At Raiders 2019 Draft Class
Raiders Breakdown
Last year’s starting offensive line figures to remain intact to start the season. The lone exception could be Gabe Jackson. He was being shopped during draft week, and the Raiders selected John Simpson out of Clemson in the fourth round. The Raiders can clear almost $10 million in cap space by cutting the guard. That is definitely a possibility if Simpson has a strong performance in camp. Jackson should be able to keep his job heading into Week One, but he could get shopped again at the trade deadline or next offseason.
The Raiders will likely keep more than one lineman for each position, and seek to have a couple players that can play multiple positions in an emergency. There are a couple roster battles for the backup jobs to keep an eye on.
At tackle, the recent addition of Sam Young should warn Brandon Parker that he must make significant improvements or risk being out of a job. After watching him over the last two years, the former third round pick out of North Carolina A&T simply does not look like an NFL caliber offensive lineman. I expect the experiment with the small school project player to finally come to an end. Also, Denzelle Good will have the chance to make the team over Jordan Devey as the former looked a tad better in spot duty last year.
If the relatively young Andre James improves upon the strong showings he had against Houston and Detroit last season, he should be able to hold off newcomer Eric Kush.
That wraps up the offense with a total of 26 players. Next time we will look at the defensive line.
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Top Photo: Jim Mone/Associated Press