For all of the Las Vegas Raiders' shortcomings during the 2024 NFL season, their offensive line was surprisingly strong. Anchored by a mixture of veteran players, rookies and unproven commodities, the Silver and Black's big boys up front were the least of the team's concerns.
New general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll displayed confidence in this group when they passed on a slew of offensive linemen in both the early part of the 2025 NFL Draft and the free agency period.
This meant that things were expected to remain relatively the same in Las Vegas. The Raiders ended up adding several mid-round picks and cheap veteran additions, but these players were thought to be depth pieces.
Raiders are staring down a potential disaster on the offensive line
Unfortunately, things seem to be panning out in a different way at OTAs. The Athletic's Tashan Reed reported that new free agent addition Alex Cappa, who Raider Nation had mixed opinions on, is essentially a shoo-in to start at right guard.
"There’s an ongoing competition at left guard," Reed wrote. "Left tackle Kolton Miller, center Jackson Powers-Johnson, right guard Alex Cappa and right tackle DJ Glaze seem to be locked into starting spots, but Dylan Parham and Jordan Meredith rotated at left guard throughout practice."
While Cappa was certainly a good player at the beginning of his career and a pivotal part of the Buccaneers' Super Bowl victory, those days are long gone. After peaking with a 71.3 PFF grade in 2021 for Tampa Bay, he has been on a steady decline since.
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Last season, he recorded a 50.5 overall grade for the Bengals, and his pass-blocking earned only a 39.7. This includes four contests where his pass-blocking was graded at 25.0 or below and two contests at 10 or below.
By comparison, Jordan Meredith earned an 80.8 overall grade and a 75.7 pass-blocking mark. Dylan Parham earned a 74.3 overall grade and a 67.5 mark in pass protection. The most important aspect of these numbers is that they are the best marks of their young career, so these two players are still improving, while Cappa is on the downslope.
The Raiders may feel pressure to play Cappa because of the two-year, $11 million deal that they gave him earlier this offseason. However, Carroll has promised that he will have an open competition and the best players will play.
Fortunately, the offseason is long, so it stands to reason that these two players will outcompete Cappa for the starting right guard role. If not, it may be a disaster waiting for the Silver and Black.