Amid injuries and a pandemic, the Las Vegas Raiders offensive line did what it could in 2020. Nevertheless, they still earned a relatively low grade.
It’s been a season that the Silver and Black are more than happy to put behind them. At one point, the Raiders had an offense that was clicking on all cylinders and their offensive line was paving the way. Unfortunately, Las Vegas suffered another late-season collapse under head coach Jon Gruden. We can point to many factors for this but injuries and dealing with Covid-19 certainly played major roles.
Credit is due to offensive line coach Tom Cable for doing a good job with the hand he got. Coming into 2020, the offensive line was seen as one of the team’s biggest strengths riding 2019’s momentum. Regrettably, the Raiders lost their mauler at guard in Richie Incognito, he only appeared in two games, playing on 74 snaps on offense. Moving forward, it’s unclear what Raiders brass will do about’64’, but if he can stay healthy, he’s more than effective. However, age catches up to all players and this might’ve been Incognito’s swan song.
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What else went wrong for the Raiders in the trenches?
Pro Football Focus recently took a look at all NFL offensive lines with the regular season now over. As for the Raiders, they came in 24th for this past year. Their AFC West rival, the Denver Broncos, came in behind them at 25.
Along with losing Incognito, tackle Trent Brown was largely unavailable due to a myriad of reasons, mostly dealing with injuries and Covid-19 as well. ’77’ only played in five games, which leaves many wondering if it’s worth it for the Raiders to continue paying his massive contract.
Fortunately, it’s not all bad for Gruden’s squad moving forward. In Brown’s stead, the Raiders saw Sam Young, Brandon Parker, and Denzelle Good perform admirably. Another bright spot was Kolton Miller’s excellent albeit under-the-radar season. The most noteworthy improvement for Miller was in his pass blocking. PFF noted that Miller’s 81.3 grade in that category is up nearly 30 points from his rookie grade of 52.7. It’ll be interesting to see how the Raiders address their offensive line this offseason with some difficult decisions laying ahead.
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*Top Photo: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
