Raiders should supplement offensive line through NFL Draft

While the Oakland Raiders are deep and talented on the offensive line, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t look for a developmental piece or two in the draft.

The Oakland Raiders find themselves in a very advantageous situation along the offensive line. Not only do they return all five starters from 2017, but the Silver and Black aren’t losing any linemen to 2018 NFL free agency. It’s a fantastic entry point for offensive line coach Tom Cable.

He inherits three perennial Pro Bowlers in left tackle Donald Penn, left guard Kelechi Osemele and center Rodney Hudson. Right guard Gabe Jackson could be in line to make his first Pro Bowl in 2018. Oakland’s right tackle Marshall Newhouse will have a season’s worth of reps playing with this strong front-five.

Reserves like Vadal Alexander, Jon Feliciano and David Sharpe got some playing time last fall due to injury. Alexander proved to be the sixth offensive lineman that could play at guard and right tackle. Feliciano can handle all three positions on the offensive interior. Even rookie Sharpe got some run at tackle once Penn succumbed to injury late in the season.

So yes, the Raiders are in a terrific spot with regards to its offensive line. It is the most talented part of this team and continuity is very much in place in terms of personnel. Sure, there will be some growing pains in switching from Mike Tice to Cable as offensive line coach, but it could be for the better in the long run.

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That being said, it only serves the Raiders to draft an offensive lineman or two in the upcoming NFL Draft as developmental projects for head coach Jon Gruden, Cable and the rest of the Oakland offensive staff to work with. The Raiders will need to be elite in the trenches if they want to win a Super Bowl with Gruden as head coach and Derek Carr as the franchise quarterback.

Oakland could use one of its top-four picks on an offensive linemen. However, it may make more sense to get an undervalued guy with the many sixth-round picks general manager Reggie McKenzie has at his disposal. This will allow Cable to coach up the fringe NFL prospect. It’s not like he hasn’t done that before.

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While with the Seattle Seahawks, Cable would often coach former collegiate power forwards and tight ends into being NFL offensive linemen. It was a stressful job for him in Seattle, but Seahawks general manager John Schneider clearly devalued the position group in terms of team building. This is proving to be a growing problem for the Seahawks, as their competitive life cycle is starting to rapidly decay under head coach Pete Carroll.

While the Raiders are experienced and handsomely paid up front, the only starter that was drafted by the Raiders was Jackson. He came to the Silver and Black in the great 2014 NFL Draft out of Mississippi State. That draft saw the Raiders take defensive end Khalil Mack No. 5 overall out of Buffalo and Carr out of Fresno State near the top of the second round. Jackson was the team’s third-round pick out of Starkville.

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The idea would be for Cable to groom a discounted pro prospect and turn him into a starting level player by the time Penn or whomever retire from football. Replacing Penn will be difficult, but it is worth a shot to do that in-house if Cable and the Raiders staff are up to the challenge. The Raiders will eventually need to reload along the offensive line to sustain excellence during the Gruden era. You can never have too many offensive linemen.

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