Raiders’ offensive line continues to be a concern
The Raiders offensive line has been a work in progress through the first five weeks of the season, and if a personnel change is coming, most believe it would happen at one of the guard positions.
Jackson Powers-Johnson and Spencer Burford have been the most inconsistent contributors along Klint Kubiak’s offensive line and Burford was a player mentioned after the Saints game as a potential starter whose job might be in jeopardy.
Burford responded with a solid performance against the Chiefs in week 4, but on Sunday at New England, Burford was given a pass-blocking grade of zero by Pro Football Post.
Burford gave up five pressures in the game, which isn’t great, but wasn’t necessarily a disaster considering he didn’t give up a sack. The oddity of PFF’s grading is that they gave Kolton Miller a pass blocking grade of 65.7, but Miller gave up three pressures and two sacks.
Whatever PFF saw from Miller on the 37 snaps he didn’t give up pressure must have been good, but it would be fair to say no one along the Raiders’ offensive line played particularly well on Sunday.
Probably the Raiders’ most consistent offensive lineman against the Patriots was D.J. Glaze, who allowed three quarterback hurries but didn’t give up any sacks or quarterback hits.
Glaze and center Tyler Linderbaum have given up a combined 12 quarterbacks pressures all season, according to Pro Football Focus, with each being credited with giving up one sack this year.
All things considered, Glaze has been the surprise of the Raiders’ offensive line, and if the guards don’t start playing better soon, we could see second-year guard Caleb Rogers back in the mix sooner than later.
Raiders’ O-line struggling to run block, too
Ashton Jeanty is averaging an anemic 3.3 yards per carry through the first five games of the season, and while his injured ankle has been a factor, run blocking has been a major issue since week 1.
Kubiak’s offense is centered around the running game, and coincidentally, Rogers (77.3) has been the team’s highest-graded run blocker by PFF – though the sample size has not been a lot (89 offensive snaps).
PFF’s worst-graded run blocker on the team has been Powers-Johnson (43.8) and that comes as somewhat of a surprise considering his size and mobility.
Kubiak has shown patience to this point, but it’s hard to imagine he won’t send a message soon if the offensive line doesn’t start opening up running lanes sooner than later.
If Rogers does re-enter the starting lineup at some point, it will be interesting to see if he would start over Burford or Powers-Johnson.
Just a guess on a gut feeling… probably Powers-Johnson.
x: @raidersbeat
