Jon Gruden's Rebuilding Offensive Line
Only a few short years ago, the Raiders had what was considered one of the best offensive lines in the National Football League.
That’s when center Rodney Hudson, guards Richie Incognito and Gabe Jackson, and tackles Kolton Miller and Trent Brown were all healthy, and playing well together for the Silver and Black.
Now, offensive line coach Tom Cable basically is starting over after Hudson was traded to the Arizona Cardinals, Jackson was dealt with the Seattle Seahawks and Brown was sent to the New England Patriots during the offseason.
Pro Football Focus, for one, doesn’t like what it sees.
Recently, PFF ranked the Raiders as having the 25th best among the 32 offensive lines in the NFL, while Bleacher Report and USA Today also have had questions about the Silver and Black’s rebuilding O-line.
“The right guard spot will be manned by Denzelle Good, who is coming off a career-high 958 snaps en route to a 56.7 grade, good for 59th out of 84 qualifiers,” PFF wrote in its evaluation. “With center Rodney Hudson being traded, center will be a battle between Andre James and Nick Martin. James has struggled to a 23.4 overall grade on 117 career snaps, while Martin has been a solid pass protector and a below-average run blocker in his four years as a starter with the Texans. Even with Hudson declining in recent years, it will be tough to match his performance.”
For starters, one of the biggest reasons for the change is that Hudson, Incognito, Jackson,
Miller and Brown played together for only three plays last year, as aging Incognito, Jackson and Brown were out with injuries for much of the season.
The Raiders’ first move in their rebuilding job was selecting All-American tackle Alex Leatherwood, the Outland Trophy winner from Alabama, with the 17th pick of the NFL Draft to replace Brown at right tackle.
Then they signed left tackle Miller, their first-round pick in 2018, to a three-year extension worth up to $68.7 million, and after first releasing left guard Incognito they re-signed him. However, he will be 38 on July 5 and is coming off an Achilles injury that limited him to two games last season.
“First, you’ve got to figure out your first five (linemen),” said the highly-respected Cable, who first became an O-line coach in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons in 2006. “And then you’ve got to figure out your sixth man, then your seventh man, then your eighth man.
“And when you pick out six, seven and eight after you know who your first five are, all three of those guys have got to be able to play two spots. And that's really what are formula is.”
In addition to Miller, Incognito, and Leatherwood, the Raiders brought in Martin, who played with the Houston Texans for five seasons, to battle for the center spot with James, who they signed as a free agent out of UCLA in 2019.
Denzelle Good, a six-year NFL veteran with the Indianapolis Colts and Raiders, played guard and tackle for the Raiders as the injuries piled up in recent seasons, and he will battle with John Simpson, drafted in the fourth year-round out of Clemson last year, for the right guard spot.
The Raiders’ eighth man is tackle Brandon Parker, who also started at times in the last two seasons after being drafted in the third round by the Raiders out of North Carolina A&T in 2018.
"Obviously, there’s going to be competition, but I think we have a good group ahead of us,” said Miller, who was chosen by the Raiders with the 15th pick of the 2018 NFL Draft out of UCLA and will have to become a leader on the line at age 25. “We’re just going to work hard together. We’re going to continue to invest that trust. I trust Tom Cable. I trust me, Richie, Denzelle and Andre and whoever we choose to bring in. We’ll be OK, we’ll continue to work hard and get the job done.
“We’re continuing to build. I thought we made great strides last year, but obviously times changed. Like this year, things got moved around a lot and that happens with teams, right? But I feel really confident in our group and ... going forward I have the utmost confidence in the staff. I’m going along for the ride and I’m for it. Yeah, I feel good about it.”
Apparently, so does quarterback Derek Carr.
This group will have to protect Carr in the pocket and open holes for Josh Jacobs and the other running backs.
“What really jumps out at me, is that when (Cable) speaks, they listen,” Carr said. “And it’s, ‘Yes sir, I’ve got it. No problem.’ There is no debate, and it’s not really like a dictatorship. It’s just like a mutual respect that they have and, obviously, we see the fruits of it and what’s been able to happen.
“The command that he has, the respect level that he has with his group, it’s special.”
For the 2021 Raiders offense, it’s all on the line.
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