Kolton Miller named Oakland Raiders key homegrown talent
By Brad Weiss
The Oakland Raiders brought in some solid talent this offseason, but they will need their starting left tackle to be better in 2019.
The Oakland Raiders have added talent all over the roster this offseason, as first-year general manager Mike Mayock has looked like a season vet in the position. From offensive line, to defensive backfield, this Raiders roster is much better than the four-win team from a year ago, but once again, Kolton Miller will be at the center of their fortunes on offense.
Gregg Rosenthal from NFL.com put together a solid piece in which he laid out the key homegrown talent for each AFC team. For the Raiders, the pick was their 2018 first round draft selection, starting left tackle Kolton Miller, who started all 16 games as a rookie, but battled through injuries.
Miller showed, when healthy, that he is certainly good enough to be a starter at the NFL level, and he will retain his left tackle spot despite the team paying record-breaking money on Trent Brown. Brown is fresh off a Super Bowl victory as the left tackle for the New England Patriots, and will team with Miller to form a bookend to protect quarterback Derek Carr in 2019.
For the rest of the AFC West, Dan Feeney was the selection for the Los Angeles Chargers, as his improvement will be key for this offensive line in 2019. Kansas City’s selection was wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who will have to step up if Tyreek Hill is forced to miss time due to his issues off the field.
Rounding out the division, the Denver Broncos also will have to get production out of a homegrown wideout, as their pick was Courtland Sutton. The former Ole Miss wide receiver racked up over 700 yards as a rookie last season, but will need to be better as the true No. 1 option in this pasising game in 2019.
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The addition of Trent Brown will be huge for this Raiders offensive line in 2019, as Brandon Parker as the starting right tackle just did not work last season. This is a Raiders team that should be much better on both sides of the ball this upcoming season, but if Miller has issues protection Carr’s blindside once again, it will be very hard for him to utilize all of his new weapons.