The Las Vegas Raiders go into the 2023 NFL season with their starting offensive line from a year ago returning. Andre James returns as the center, and at offensive guard, both Alex Bars and Dylan Parham played the majority of the snaps last season, and are expected to be the front-runners to start once again in 2023.
Then there are the offensive tackles, as Jermaine Eluemunor stepped up in a big way last season, earning another contract with the Raiders as the starting right tackle. On the left side, Kolton Miller has held down that spot since being a first-round pick of the Raiders back in 2018, and has solidified himself as a franchise left tackle for the organization.
But how good is Kolton Miller when it comes to the rest of the NFL? Sure, he has been the Raiders best offensive tackle since the 2019 season, as he shook off a rough rookie campaign to establish himself as one of the best young offensive tackles in the league. But is he elite when you look at the rest of the league?
Raiders have an elite left tackle
Outside of his rough rookie season, Miller has been an asset to the Raiders franchise, holding down the left tackle position as the team tried to figure out all the other spots on the offensive line. He has played with numerous different right tackles, as well as interior offensive linemen, and through it all, has steadily improved every season.
Pro Football Focus recently ranked Miller as the No. 8 offensive tackle in the league, putting him right behind the likes of Tristan Wirfs and Jordan Mailata. Both of those players are considered elite offensive tackles, so being ranked at No. 8 should put Miller in that category as well.
The thing will Miller is that he consistently ranks outside of the top 10 by other publications, and that could be due to how bad the Raiders have been since he came into the league. Since 2018, Las Vegas has made the playoffs only once, and after a six-win season a year ago, they could find themselves on the outside looking in once again.
Looking at Miller against the rest of the NFL, he is on the border of being one of the elite left tackles, but he still has some improving to do. Hopefully, the team can continue to stack talent around him, and at only 27-years old, he has a lot of good football left in him.