Raiders Offense Might Soon Resemble A McVay/Shanahan Offense

Tom Cable is back.

After spending the past seven years with the Seahawks, Jon Gruden has brought Cable back to work with the Raiders offensive line.

Cable’s history with the Raiders is complicated, but without getting into the drama around his previous tenure in Oakland, his return can mean only one thing.

The Raiders aren’t abandoning zone-blocking under Gruden.

Raider fans have a tumultuous relationship with zone blocking scemes – mostly because it always seems to fail in Oakland.

Todd Downing and Mike Tice introduced outside zone blocking to the Raiders this season because they believed it would benefit Marshawn Lynch.

Going back even farther, who doesn’t recall the Gregg Knapp zone-blocking experience?

But if outside zones are here to stay, there may an exciting element lurking in the details.

Just connecting a few dots, is it possible Gruden hired offensive coordinator Greg Olson not as much for his knowledge of Derek Carr – but more for his knowledge of Sean McVay?

McVay added significant zone blocking elements to the Rams offense this season – with undeniable results. Olson was there for all of it.

When McVay was hired by the Rams a year ago, he immediately hired Kyle Shanahan’s quarterbacks coach in Atlanta to be his offensive coordinator in Los Angeles.

McVay wanted elements of the Atlanta offense and those concepts have been all over the Rams this season.

It feels like Gruden may be doing the same.

Adding Olson (with his knowledge of McVay’s offense) and now Cable (with his zone-blocking expertise), it seems like the Raiders might be adopting an offensive scheme similar to what we’re seeing from McVay (with the Rams) and Kyle Shanahan (with the 49ers).

Assuming you’re not one of the Raiders massive offensive linemen, doesn’t seem like a bad idea, does it?

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