Raiders Center Andre James Gets His Shot This Season

A former undrafted free agent might get a shot at starting for the Las Vegas Raiders this season.

Center Andre James, who was signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2019 NFL Draft, signed a contract extension with the Raiders this summer.

With the departure of All-Pro center Rodney Hudson via a trade to the Arizona Cardinals, the center position is up for grabs.

It’s between James and former Houston Texans starting center Nick Martin, who has signed as a free agent this offseason.

With James limited playing time on the field, he has still caught the eye of a couple of his teammates.

"That guy (Andre James) just came to work every day, picked up as much as he could from Rodney (Hudson),” offensive tackle Kolton Miller said via Raiders.com.

Miller and James were teammates at UCLA.

“You can see he already had the footwork, already had the fundamentals, he just needed to fine-tune some of the smaller stuff,” Miller added. “He's come along a great way. I'm excited for the season. I'm excited for the competition coming up to see what he does."

Guard Richie Incognito, a 15-year veteran, also spoke highly about James. Incognito now serves as a mentor for James.

"First and foremost, Andre is a great dude," Incognito said via Raiders.com. "He's a great guy; he's a hard worker; he's humble; he's hungry. He's got position flexibility.

“He played tackle in college and then got to the league and played center. I go back to 2019 when Rod (Hudson) went down, and Andre had to come in the game in Houston, and we didn't miss a beat. We were hammering them with the ball, we were running on them, we were making a comeback late and Andre stepped in the next week in Detroit and he played at a high level.

"He's a hard-working kid. He's passionate. He's from humble beginnings, being an undrafted guy, so I'm excited to see him go."

James has a couple of big guys backing him up. It’s now up to him as towhether he can deliver on the field, this time as a full-time starting center.

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