The Oakland Raiders have bolstered the offensive tackle position this offseason, and Kolton Miller and Trent Brown have looked dominant early on.
The Oakland Raiders gave up 30 sacks between their offensive tackles last year, which was by far the most sacks given up from any teams offensive tackles. When Jon Gruden came to Oakland prior to the 2018 NFL Draft, he knew his most significant need was offensive tackle.
In 2018, the Raiders knew they needed to fix their offensive tackle position, so they went and drafted Kolton Miller with their first round pick. With the left side fixed, the opposite side still needed work during the 2019 offseason.
Fellow 2018 rookie Brandon Parker gave up ten sacks in ten games, so Gruden went out and got Trent Brown. Coming off a Super Bowl winning season as the left tackle for the New England Patriots, Brown goes back to the right side with Oakland, a spot where he has been elite in the past.
Although a lot of people criticized this signing, but the Raiders needed an offensive tackle and Brown was the best out there.
How has it worked so far? Well according to early reports, Trent Brown has been rocking defensive linemen:
#RaiderNation asked for clips of Trent Brown - here you go pic.twitter.com/hFML48vfDh
— Kyle Martin (@kylesfeed) July 30, 2019
There have also been other reports, including he put second year defensive linemen into the ground:
Trent Brown just planted PJ Hall in the turf.
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) July 29, 2019
Moving on to Kolton Miller, who is up to 330 pounds, he has impressed in his own ways:
Kolton Miller has looked really good these first two days in pads. Raiders LT is carrying extra weight well, proving sturdy and tough to get around.
— Scott Bair (@ScottBairNFL) July 30, 2019
There were also reports that Miller was dominating Clelin Ferrel in practice, now, of course, the fourth overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft is a rookie. But Miller has been impressing in team drills the first few days of practice.
Maybe Richie Ingonito is rubbing off on Miller? Regardless, Jon Gruden has been correct in his assessment of Miller during OTAs:
Jon Gruden believes Kolton Miller will be one of the best OTs in the NFL.
— Sanjit T. (@Sanjit__T) June 4, 2019
What do you thiink?
IMO: I've been pretty open about my opinion, if you follow me. I also feel Kolton Miller will become a really good OT. He is a stud at Run Blocking.#Raiders #RaiderNation #RN4L pic.twitter.com/mKSCnxMcNg
Oakland will go as far as this offensive line unit will take them, starting with the offensive tackles. If Carr gets sacked 50+ times, Oakland will not win more then six games, but based on early returns, this looks like a solid unit so far in camp.
If the Raiders can give Carr time, there is no reason why they cannot win 8-12 games, depending on how well the quarterback can play. But it’ll all start with our offensive line.