At this time last year, the Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line was already a complete disaster under Brennan Carroll. But Rick Dennison and his crew have made the Raiders' group up front much more competent in the early going, and they are a lot deeper than most are willing to give them credit for.
But one huge question remains: Who starts at right guard between Jackson Powers-Johnson and Caleb Rogers? Not a lot of folks saw Spencer Burford locking down a starting job on the left side, so the two recent draft picks have been pitted against each other in training camp and in the preseason.
And honestly, after so many practices and three exhibition games, no clear winner has emerged. Las Vegas has a lot of thinking and evaluating to do before the Miami Dolphins come to town in Week 1. Luckily, the Silver and Black can't really go wrong, as both players looked promising this summer.
Raiders' RG battle isn't quite settled yet after preseason
Klint Kubiak isn't one to say much to the media, particularly as it pertains to personnel or who is winning what battle. The guy won't even name a starting quarterback, even though it's clear that Fernando Mendoza will start the year on the bench behind veteran Kirk Cousins.
Reading Kubiak's actions, however, isn't too difficult. Without saying anything, it's clear that Darien Porter is the frontrunner to start at cornerback opposite Eric Stokes. It's obvious that Tre Tucker is the team's only established receiver at this point. But right guard really remains a mystery.
During the preseason finale against the San Francisco 49ers, Powers-Johnson got the start, as he did in Week 1. His being sidelined with an injury kept him out of the second exhibition game against the Houston Texans, so Rogers started that matchup. But the snap share was quite similar.
Each player got a series with Cousins and the rest of the first-team offense, and they both got some run with Mendoza and the 2s. If I had to guess right now, Rogers is trailing in this competition, as he played twice as many snaps as Powers-Johnson on Thursday and didn't start once again.
When a player is out there for so many snaps in a preseason game, the coaching staff is looking to see something from them. Powers-Johnson got out after 19 snaps, so the Raiders' leadership may have seen enough. Rogers was in there for 37 plays.
Raiders don't have a bad option at RG between JPJ and Caleb Rogers
Again, though, both Powers-Johnson and Rogers played pretty well throughout the preseason. The former's big mistake was a personal foul on opening night, but other than that, he fared quite well. Rogers also put together a solid set of exhibition showings.
Rogers jumped out on the screen a bit more as he launched several of Mike Washington Jr.'s big runs during the second possession against San Francisco. But being fairly quiet as an interior offensive lineman isn't really a bad thing, either, as those players only get highlighted when they mess up.
If we take Pro Football Focus as gospel, then Rogers ran away with the battle. Powers-Johnson's 54.5 overall mark, 61.7 run-blocking score and 28.5 pass-blocking grade pale in comparison to 68.7, 60.9 and 81.5, respectively. It should be noted, however, that Rogers played more reps against 2s and 3s.
Also, PFF falsely attributed a sack to Powers-Johnson in Week 1, which really skews his numbers in limited snaps. Jordan Meredith screwed up a stunt, but the graders determined that it was Powers-Johnson's fault. Spoiler alert: It wasn't.
Obviously, getting the first five offensive linemen together as much as possible so that they can bond and get cohesive is important. But maybe the Raiders let this neck-and-neck battle drag on for just a little longer, as during the preseason, it looked too close to call.
Fortunately, Las Vegas can't really go wrong, as both looked promising.
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