Raiders Draft Position Evaluation: Interior O-Line
When it comes to assessing the biggest strengths of the Las Vegas Raiders, the offensive line has been a unit that’s arguably been the team’s most consistent.
A big part of that strength has been led by the play in the interior, which going into this season was supposed to be led by Pro Bowlers Rodney Hudson, Trent Brown, and Richie Incognito, as well as Gabe Jackson.
That part of the line took a hit early in the season though, when Incognito was put on injured reserve after Week 2, which ended his season. Brown also missed much of the season because of injuries and Covid-19 issues.
Denzelle Good, a backup that the Raiders picked up from the Indianapolis Colts in 2018, then became the starter.
Both he and Jackson had tough years this past season, being ranked as just the 42nd and 60th best guards in the league by Pro Football Focus (PFF), respectively.
Hudson though kept up his excellent standard of play, finishing the season as one of the top 10 centers in the league by PFF.
When it comes to the Raiders' potential draft plan, looking at adding new guards could be on the table.
It would seem to make sense looking at Incognito. The soon to be 38-year-old has one year left on his contract and the Raiders could save $6.35 million by releasing him.
It isn’t out of the question Jackson could be leaving too.
It’s his second straight season where he’s ranked below the top 40 at his position.
Considering that his contract has him paid as the seventh-best guard in the league, the Raiders haven’t been getting just value these past two seasons.
If they decide there’s a prospect they really like in the draft, like possibly Creed Humphrey from Oklahoma or Alijah Vera-Tucker from USC, Jackson could become expendable.
At the very least, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to draft at least one lineman for depth to better combat any future injury issues.
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