The Raiders didn’t play well on Monday night against the Chargers and arguably the most disappointing position group in the game was their offensive line.
Geno Smith was uncomfortable in the pocket for most of the game and first-round pick Ashton Jeanty had little room to run on the majority of his 11 carries. Both players felt the effect of the Chargers defensive line dominating the trenches.
Overall, it was a rough night for the Raiders’ offensive line, but two members of the group actually received favorable game grades from Pro Football Focus.
Kolton Miller (81.4) and D.J. Glaze (71.0) were the Raiders’ two highest-graded offensive linemen in the game and no one behind them was even close in terms of game grades.
Jordan Meredith (58.5) and Alex Cappa (56.2) turned in similar grades, while Dylan Parham (49.6) received his second consecutive disappointing grade from PFF analytics. Parham was given a 50.5 grade from Pro Football Focus in week 1 against the Patriots.
Through two games, Miller is PFF’s highest graded pass blocker in the NFL, and Glaze is listed as their 37th-ranked pass blocker. On the surface, Glaze’s ranking doesn’t stand out, but considering he’s only in his second NFL season, it’s relatively encouraging that he’s already an average pass-blocking tackle – or at least has been through the first two games.
Unfortunately for Miller and Glaze, they have both been more unsteady as run blockers and that’s been true of the entire offensive line.
Through two games, Miller (66.5) and Meredith (66.0) haven’t been terrible as run blockers, but Parham (55.5), Glaze (55.5), Jackson Powers-Johnson (54.8) and Cappa (44.0) have been a big part of the reason why the Raiders’ running game has been barely better than it was a year ago.
x: @raidersbeat
It’s time we replace a few people!
Problem is that the they have no quality depth, so the replacements are worse.
The hope is that Jeanty can start to overcome these run blocking issues, because the early conversation this season isn’t too different from last year when it was Zamir White dealing with ineffective play. Of course, I’m mandated by law to say this is why RB usually isn’t considered a premium position, and it’s hard for them to justify a top 10 pick. But it’s only 2 games, so hopefully things get on track.
Geno was just horrid. In addition to 2 awful picks (the arm punt didn’t bother me much), he looked like he broke the pocket early a number of times and his accuracy and decision-making wasn’t very good.
If Week 1 was proof of concept for hiring a 74 year old Head Coach and acquiring a 35 year old QB to a team that went 4-13 the year before…. Well, Week 2 was the flipside, s coach and QB who seem unlikely to be a part of the next good Raiders team, whenever that is. Raiders scream 7 or 8 wins to me. Hope I’m wrong.
They almost always struggle because their personnel struggle with lateral movement, which is key to the zone blocking concepts they use. What I don’t understand is why the coaches don’t tailor their scheme to the player’s strengths. I can’t even remember the last time we ran a power scheme. It’s troubling the coaches we’ve had can’t grasp this concept or just don’t care. Must be ego
Well when it comes to the offensive it is nepotism, I find it hard to believe that Pete Carrol’s son was the best oline coach we could find.
Just to be clear, this only applies to run blocking
Glaze could’ve been called for holding on every play. Miller was getting moved all over the place. He’s the best we’ve got and he’s getting worse every game. Jeannty has no base with his short legs and is just a speed bump. Our entire OL is terrible and it was felonious that we didn’t focus on rebuilding that. Grant and Roger’s? Really?
Fully agree! I’d rather seen a built up OL with maybe J.Mason as the lead back rather than the guys we have. What is now painfully obvious is Jeanty can’t pass protect to save Geno’s life. So that will be a dead give away going forward.
It seems we chose this path when we hired a 73 year old coach, who doesn’t have the shelf life to build the core of the offense as it should be. Spytek chose a glossy running back, and started playing lineman roulette in FA and the draft. I think PC is a legend and still a great coach, but Spytek should build the team for his term, he’s young man, let PC coach the players. If Pete runs out of gas, the Raiders would have a strong roster and attract another good coach when the time comes. Hey, it’s only been two games, so I’m going to be patient, I think we have the best people in place, at least in a very long time. I felt this is a 500 team at best, so I’m going to try not to sweat it from week to week.
Totally agree. Pete Carroll will likely go into the Hall of Fame. There’s a good chance he was the best coach available in the offseason…. But was he the best coach for this organization, given his age and timeline? Well, that remains to be seen. Because taking a back at #6, and acquiring a 35 year old QB are moves you make when you have a good overall roster, and are a piece or two away. The Raiders went 4-13 last year, and had one of the worst rosters in football. Even if things go pretty well (I’d consider finishing around .500 to be a good result), what’s the ceiling, and how do they make the leap from there?
Pete is still mentally stronger than probably have the head coach coaches in the league. His physical condition is probably equal to that. And the team buys into him. So don’t even go there with his age. He’s too old when he’s ready to step down
Pete Carroll is in better mental and physical condition than have the coaches in the league. He’s one guy that you can’t throw the age card at. And the players are all in for him unlike our last, five HC’s?
I guess I’m stuttering
Yur guess is good as mine. Mark won’t do it but I really think he should sell the team, to whom has a lot of football sense.
Bring back Sincere McCormick and cut either Mosert or White. Sincere ran the ball successfully, last season, behind this same lame OL. Not impressed by the staffs talent evaluation, so far.
This is why you don’t fire Telesco. He knew where to build it. Brady’s boys have already screwed is with their 1st 2 picks and not signing Darnold
The 2nd round pick is a head scratcher. Jeanty doesn’t have much of a chance when the line can’t run block
As long as the offensive line doesn’t protect the qb, it’s going to b a very long year. That goes for all the offensive lines n the nfl.
O.L.=oblivious line