Ranking the Las Vegas Raiders offensive position groups against the AFC West

Offensive Line

The Las Vegas Raiders offensive line has been steadily forming into a destructive unit over the last few seasons, and they return all five starters from 2019. Rodney Hudson is an absolute beast in the middle of an offensive line that continues to keep Derek Carr clean.

The Raiders’ offensive line is one of the better units in the league. The leader of the group is Rodney Hudson, who is one of the best centers in the NFL and was even named to Pro Football Focus’ Top 101 Players of the last decade. Hudson is a three-time Pro Bowler and has only allowed 55 total pressures in nine seasons.

At guard, Richie Incognito is a four-time Pro Bowler and played at a high-level last season, while Gabe Jackson has been a solid starter for the Silver and Black the last six years. Trent Brown was able to make the trip to Orlando in 2019, and Kolton Miller made tremendous strides as a sophomore to round out the position group.

Kansas City also has some star power along its offensive line. Mitchell Schwartz has been one of the best right tackles in the NFL and he sits one spot behind Hudson on PFF’s Top 101 list. On the left side, Eric Fisher hasn’t lived up to his first overall draft selection, but he’s been a consistent starter and even managed to make the Pro Bowl in 2018.

The interior is where things start to get a little dicey for the Chiefs. Nick Allegretti is the team’s projected starter at left guard and he’s played a total of eight offensive snaps. Then there’s Austin Reiter and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who are both fine players but nothing to necessarily get excited about and certainly aren’t the same caliber as Hudson, Incognito, and Jackson.

Last season, the Chargers offensive line was a huge issue as the group allowed 93 quarterback hits and was ranked 29th overall by Pro Football Focus. However, the organization addressed this issue by bringing in Trai Turner and Bryan Bulaga.

Those two are massive upgrades for Los Angeles and should help sure things up for whoever is under center in 2020. Remember, any time you roll with a rookie quarterback there is going to be a steep learning curve, and the fact that they bolstered the offensive line is a good thing for Herbert once he takes over.

It feels like it has been years since the Broncos have had a decent offensive line. The organization took a step in the right direction by taking Dalton Risner in the second round last year. However, Garett Bolles remains a liability on the outside, and Ja’Wuan James missed the majority of 2019 due to injuries, making him a question mark heading into 2020.

Denver’s projected starting center is rookie Lloyd Cushenberry, adding another unknown commodity among the line. The organization did upgrade at right guard by bringing in Graham Glasgow, but the Chargers did more to sure up its pass protection this offseason, which is why I give them the nod over the Broncos right now.