The core issue for the Las Vegas Raiders' offense last season was an offensive line that was simply not functional, as Geno Smith was the most sacked quarterback in the league, and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty was regularly left to fend for himself on the ground.
Of course, a forced and wholly unnecessary re-arrangement of the pieces, as Pete Carroll empowered and backed up his underqualified and overwhelmed son as the coach of the unit, did the Raiders' offensive line no favors.
As Klint Kubiak and a new coaching staff take hold of things, however, the offensive line situation for the Raiders naturally won't be as chaotic. The free agent addition of center Tyler Linderbaum also automatically stabilizes things in the middle of the unit.
Looking at it right now, the Raiders have three locked-in offensive line starters in Linderbaum, left tackle Kolton Miller and guard Jackson Powers-Johnson. While trade speculation continues to linger around Powers-Johnson for no reason, the real question is which guard spot he starts at.
Rookie Swiss Army knife Trey Zuhn III brings possibilities for Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line
In the third round of last month's draft, the Raiders added Texas A&M offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III. A left tackle by trade for most of his time in College Station, he is slated to move to guard in the NFL, and was announced as such, but he was listed as a center in some places due to experience there.
The early view of Zuhn is primarily as a candidate to compete at guard. In naming the Raiders' rookie lineman as a Day 2 or Day 3 pick who could have an immediate impact, ESPN's Field Yates backed up that idea.
"Zuhn's exact fit remains to be seen, but he's one of the most versatile prospects in this class regardless of position. He spent most of his time at Texas A&M at left tackle and then played more than 100 snaps at center late last season.
"Zuhn is an easy mover with really good length (6-foot-6, 319 pounds) and could play an interior spot in Klint Kubiak's zone-heavy scheme. While big-ticket free agent Tyler Linderbaum has center locked, Zuhn should compete for guard snaps instantly."
The only real criticism of Zuhn III is how he doesn't have the perceived ideal arm length (32 and 1/2-inch arms) to play left tackle in the NFL. Otherwise, as Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote, he could have a long career in the league as an interior starter with tackle versatility.
It's also fair to assume, within the kind of logic that eluded last year's coaching staff when it came to how the offensive line was best-constructed, Zuhn III will not be firmly set into any one position at this early point in his career. He'll be given an opportunity to compete and prove himself everywhere.
Could Zuhn III compete with DJ Glaze for the starting job at right tackle? Glaze also deserves a mulligan after last year's chaos, but he is by no means immune to competition. Zuhn III seeing some work at right tackle during training camp and preseason games is in the range of possibilities.
Of course, Zuhn's versatility opens up all sorts of possibilities for how he'll fit into the Raiders' offensive line, this year and beyond. Maybe he's a starting guard right away. Maybe he's a versatile backup for a year or two, before taking the starting job at one of the guard spots, or right tackle.
Perhaps that was the core point of drafting him: To add genuine versatility to a unit that badly needed it.
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