It’s a new era of football underway in Las Vegas and first-year head coach Antonio Pierce is expected to do a few things differently than his predecessor, Josh McDaniels, did in his 22 months with the team.
Everyone can see that the culture is shifting in Las Vegas under Pierce, but the scheme is also getting an overhaul in some areas.
New offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is expected to bring a run-heavy offense with him from Chicago, and GM Tom Telesco confirmed this week that the blocking scheme is going to look different than it did a year ago, as well.
In an appearance this week on Raider Nation Radio’s JT the Brick Show, Telesco made two references to the new blocking scheme in conversations about recently third-year guard Dylan Parham and newly acquired running back Alexander Mattison.
Talking about Mattison, Telesco referenced the zone-blocking schemes the Vikings ran with Kevin Stefanski and Gary Kubiak in 2019 and 2020.
“The scheme that we’re going to run, he ran this very similar in his first couple of years in Minnesota, so he has some familiarity with that,” Telesco said.
On Parham, Telesco gave another nod to the team’s new blocking scheme.
“I think the scheme with Dylan Parham is going to accentuate what he does well as far as reaching and running and getting people,” Telesco said in a clear reference to getting the team’s offensive linemen being on the move more in zone-blocking situations.
Telesco’s remarks don’t mean the Raiders will run exclusively one blocking scheme or another, but there will be a clear shift in focus going forward under Getsy.
Telesco also talked about a running back situation by committee, but don’t be surprised if Mattison ends up with as many (or more) carries than anyone on the roster. His running style fits what the Raiders are trying to do going forward. Mattison averaged 4.6 yards per carry in his first two seasons with the Vikings (under Stefanski and Kubiak), but averaged 3.9 or less in each of the three years after.
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