The Las Vegas Raiders have not gotten off to the best start during the 2025 NFL season. Things could easily be worse, as the team stands at 1-1 after a solid road victory against the New England Patriots and a brutal home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
While the offense looked much worse in Week 2 than it did the week prior, the defense at least stepped up in an even bigger way on Monday Night Football against the Chargers. The one thing that stayed the same between these two contests, however, is the play of the offensive line.
Although Geno Smith has been sacked seven times in just two games, Las Vegas' pass protection has actually not been terrible. But the run-blocking has been abysmal, and it is hurting the offense's overall production. Luckily, one young player rebounded in Week 2 to give the fan base some hope.
DJ Glaze had a much-needed bounce-back game for Raiders' OL
In Week 1 against the Patriots, second-year right tackle DJ Glaze stunned Raider Nation by putting together a poor performance in a strong offensive showing. After all, he was an above-average tackle for the Silver and Black last year on one of the worst offenses in the league.
But Glaze struggled nonetheless, recording the second-worst Pro Football Focus grade on the team, earning a 48.2 mark for his efforts. This included a 49.8 pass protection grade and a 53.4 mark as a run-blocker. Glaze was also penalized twice in the contest against the Patriots.
Week 2 told a different story, however, as Glaze improved across the board. He went from having the second-worst grade to having the second-best, as his 71.0 PFF grade trailed only Kolton Miller. He also had a 78.5 mark in pass protection and improved to 59.3 in run-blocking with no penalties.
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Even though Smith had a poor performance, the offensive line gave up one fewer sack on roughly 15 more dropbacks. The rushing attack improved as well, ever so slightly, in terms of both total output and efficiency.
Las Vegas still has plenty to figure out, as they clearly need to make offensive adjustments. But Glaze was part of the problem in Week 1, and he has already transitioned into being part of the solution. He'll need to continue to build off of this if the Raiders want to improve.
Glaze and the Raiders will take on a solid Washington Commanders defensive line in Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season, and they will need to bring their absolute best if they hope to knock off one of the best teams in the NFC.