So what happened?
First, Donald Penn got hurt Week 3 vs. Dolphins, where he was hit in the head and was out for the game with concussion-like symptoms. Although Penn was out for this game, thankfully he came back Week 4 as his replacement T.J. Cummings struggled mightily.
1 sack and 1 QB hit in 34 snaps.
With Penn back Week 4, things look good. However, unfortunately for Raider Nation, he ended up injuring his groin, and that injury eventually landed him on the Injured Reserve. This was a massive blow to Oakland primarily because we didn’t really have a replacement for him at RT.
Brandon Parker, the young rookie, wasn’t ready but was thrown in there to play.
The next injury came in the same Week 4 game, Kolton Miller blew out his MCL during a run play in which he was blocking backside, he didn’t really make contact with anyone, he kind of just fell. Now, although not severe enough to be on IR, this injury forced him out of the game.
The next injury came in the same game, which was Kelechi Osemele. He got hurt and missed the rest of the game. With Donald Penn and Kelechi Osemele both knocked out of the same game, Kolton Miller was forced back into the game with a hurt MCL.
Although he allowed no sacks or QB hits before this game, and before his injury, he struggled a lot after being forced to play with a hurt MCL. His film shows a player who looked way different after his injury.
Donald Penn was on the IR, Kelechi Osemele missed the next 4 weeks, Kolton Miller, a rookie, played with a hurt MCL, Brandon Parker, a rookie who shouldn’t have played for 2 years was forced to start, and Gabe Jackson also missed time throughout the season. All of this left Oakland with one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.
With that being said, how does the 2019 Oakland Raiders line look, and who will end up starting and where?