Oakland Raiders: Revisiting the 2018 NFL Draft class
By Brad Weiss
Kolton Miller in the first round
Oakland turned some heads when they drafted Kolton Miller in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, after trading back with the Arizona Cardinals. Miller was not seen by many as a first round talent, but the Raiders definitely saw something in him, and he has been the team’s starting left tackle ever since.
When Miller was drafted, the Raiders still had Donald Penn returning as the left tackle, but he was injured as the team went to camp that summer. That left the door open for Miller, who should bounce back in a big way in 2019 after playing through injury for much of the 2018 campaign.
Penn is gone from the roster for 2019, but the Raiders did bring in former New England Patriots left tackle Trent Brown, who is fresh off a Super Bowl victory. He will move to the right side in Oakland, as Miller continues to be the man protecting Carr’s blindside, or at least that is how the depth chart will look starting camp.
In the third round, Oakland selected another tackle in Brandon Parker, who started as a rookie in 2018 when Penn went down due to injury. He should not have been in the starting lineup, and struggled mightily, so it will be interesting to see how he progresses as the third tackle on this roster in 2019.