3 Reasons the Las Vegas Raiders will exceed expectations in 2020
3 Reasons the Las Vegas Raiders will exceed expectations in 2020
Depth and stability along the offensive line
For quite a few years now, the biggest strength the Raiders have had to fall back on has been their talent on the offensive line. However, what has proved to be a pitfall of the offensive line is the lack of depth behind the starters. As talented as the front five guys are, their replacements have proved just how important it is to not only have talented backups, but versatile players who can move around when two or three starters go down.
Looking at the Raiders starting group though, there’s no denying just how special and talented these five guys are. Since acquiring Rodney Hudson in 2015, he’s made the Pro Bowl three times, and according to Pro Football Focus, has been the best center in the league at pass protection during that time frame.
At both tackle positions you have a young third-year guy in Kolton Miller, who has shown to take great strides from his rookie to sophomore season, and a proven talent in Trent Brown. Time will tell how Miller’s development pans out, but he’s shown that he can handle the grind of being a left tackle at the NFL level.
Brown, who was acquired in free agency last year, is one of the biggest and most physical tackles in the league. He has shown time and time again that he can handle any assignment given to him, and when healthy, is worth every penny of the 4-year/$66 million contract the Raiders gave him.
On the inside at the guard position, the Raiders have been blessed with very consistent play out of the home grown talent in Gabe Jackson. Unfortunately, he’s been struck by injury a time or two, and it has some within Raider Nation wondering if it’s worth hanging onto him for the $9.5MM it’ll cost. None the less though when he’s healthy, he’s proven to be able to play at a Pro Bowl level.
Pairing him up with veteran guard Richie Incognito gave the Raiders a duo to was able to open up an abundance of running lanes for running back Josh Jacobs.
The Raiders went on to extend Incognito this offseason, while also re-signing a handful of other lineman such as Jordan Devey, Denzelle Good, and David Sharpe. They also went out and got Eric Kush to round out their group of second-string players. Probably the most exciting of all though is rookie Josh Simpson, whom they drafted in the 4th round.
Simpson is a 320 lb guard out of Clemson, surprise surprise, who has very solid athleticism and projects as a future starter. With Incognito’s age, and Jackson’s injury history, it’s very settling to know the heir apparent is waiting in the wings to step in if and when the time comes.
The Raiders offensive line looks poised to have the most depth and versatility as a group then we’ve seen in years prior. Couple that with the talent the starters bring to the table, Derek Carr and company should have all the horse power in the world to run a well oiled machine.