Raiders: Questions that still linger heading into the 2022 NFL Draft

Raiders: Questions that still linger heading into the 2022 NFL Draft

The Offensive Line

Let’s get the low-hanging fruit out of the way first – The offensive line must take steps forward.

I almost feel like a broken record as I continuously fall back on this, but with the lack of change to the offensive line, it’s necessary to keep echoing this remark: The Raiders’ offensive line ranked 28th in the league for the ’21 season, per Pro Football Focus.

Outside of Alex Bars, who had a 49.0 PFF grade last season – Which would’ve been the second lowest grade on the Raiders’ line – the only moves made regarding the offensive line were retaining players from the beforementioned 28th ranked line just one season ago.

With both of these facts taken into account, one thing that isn’t a question for Las Vegas is the offensive line being a top priority entering the 2022 NFL draft.

The good news for the Silver and Black is they have options. Not only can the 2021 first-round draft pick Alex Leatherwood play at both guard and tackle, but there are multiple high-profile offensive linemen in this year’s draft that can do the same.

Wherever head coach Josh McDaniels wants Leatherwood to the lineup next year, this will be done without sacrificing options in the upcoming draft. This ultimately means Ziegler can draft whichever offensive lineman intrigues him the most, without worrying about if they’re more comfortable at guard or tackle.

Given not only the high quality of offensive linemen in this year’s draft but also the depth of available quality players at the unit, it would make sense that Zielger is content with solving this issue at the end of April. There’s no question there are ample ways to retool this unit once the draft begins, but until a plan is successfully executed, how the Raiders will address this remains the biggest question moving forward.