The Raiders knew Kolton Miller was going to be a work in progress and the first order of business when the rookie arrived was to see him add muscle and gain weight.
According to offensive line coach Tom Cable, Miller was 312 pounds at the draft – which isn’t a lot for an offensive tackle standing 6 feet, 8 inches tall. Miller evidently was able to get his weight up to around 320 pounds, but it sounds like another 15-20 pounds might be the ultimate goal.
“You can count on him to do that work,” Cable told The Athletic’s David Lombardi. “And then, he’s a kid. He’s naturally gonna be 335, 340 one day and not look like a fat guy. He’s gonna look pretty good as his body matures physically, because he’s done everything that we’ve asked.”
While it sounds like Miller reached his offseason weight goal this year, his overall strength is still a concern in his rookie season.
“I am not sure he is physically strong enough yet to hold up as a starting left tackle in the NFL,” Raiders insider Vic Tafur wrote about Miller prior to the preseason opener. And while Tafur isn’t a personnel guy, you can bet his opinion wasn’t pulled from thin air. Miller does, in fact, look relatively slim and trim out on the field.
Miller has only seen a handful of snaps so far in the preseason (Gruden sat almost all the starters against the Rams), but he hasn’t looked bad in the few snaps he has taken. The pass protection sequence below was at least encouraging.
.@Raiders @kolton_miller shows great reaction on this protection. He gets a ++ from me for being a “football player” and taking a free hit of the QB. #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/1AKUHaNVKk
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 11, 2018
twitter: @raidersbeat
