The Las Vegas Raiders have practiced thrice with the same first-team offensive line: Kolton Miller, Spencer Burford, Tyler Linderbaum, Jackson Powers-Johnson and DJ Glaze. But three unpadded practices at Intermountain Health Performance Center aren’t enough to coalesce.
Not even close.
“It’s so early,” coach Klint Kubiak affirmed about the offensive line after Friday’s practice. “I like how they’re working. I like their attention to detail. I like how they’re finishing. … We’ll just keep building them. Keep banking reps. But we have a long way to go.”
The Raiders were hamstrung a season ago by substandard play on their offensive line, since retooled with Linderbaum at center and Burford at left guard via free agency. Long their left tackle and the leader of the line as their first-round draft pick in 2018, Miller missed all but the first four games with the high right ankle sprain and hairline fracture that triggered his placement on injured reserve.
But Linderbaum, lastly with the Baltimore Ravens, is one of the NFL’s top centers — as his market-setting three-year, $81-million deal (with $60 million in guarantees) reflects — Burford made 38 starts at guard for the San Francisco 49ers and Miller is healthy once again. How the unit gels or doesn’t under offensive line coach Rick Dennison dictates again their effectiveness offensively.
“There’s a standard,” Miller said when asked if there’s pressure on the offensive line. “I think last year there was a lot of moving pieces. There’s a lot of change. I think the goal is to have the best five out there, build together, add to it each day, and really build for long-term success. This isn’t easy. Coaching (offensive) line takes time and it’s a lot of work.
“It’s underappreciated. You can’t get too frustrated about it. You’ve just got to find ways to improve each day.”
The Raiders wound up with the league’s worst record and No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL draft — and subsequently Fernando Mendoza — in part because their offensive line was overmatched (and mixed and matched) on a weekly basis. Quarterbacks were sacked a league-high 64 times (with Geno Smith absorbing 55 sacks, tops last season for signal callers) and runners were bound to 3.6 yards per rush, the league’s worst mark en route to 1,317 rushing yards, the fewest in the NFL by 266 yards.
That’s why Las Vegas prioritized Linderbaum, a three-time Pro Bowl honoree who stablizes its interior as a mauling run doubling as a stalwart in pass protection, stablizing its interior. Burford has experience playing in effective passing and rushing offenses in San Francisco. Powers-Johnson was effective as a rookie (playing center) and Glaze could improve as a third-year starter.
“It’s a great group, hard-working group,” Linderbaum added this week. “Guys that come in the building each and every day and want to improve, and that’s all you can ask for out of an offensive unit. … The more we can gel during that OTA period time and now (training) camp is really critical and important. And each rep that we get is going to be really valuable.”
Assessements of the offensive line for Kubiak and his coaching staff should crystalize this coming week, when padded practices introduce the element of physicality at the line of scrimmage. Spencer Rogers, Jordan Meredith and Trey Zuhn III are pushing Burford and Powers-Johnson at guard, but the first-team line has been steady so far.
Not that it means much after three practices.
“Our entire (group of) offensive line coaches, they’re doing a great job of pushing these guys,” Kubiak said. “Offensive-line wise, it’s just so important that those five guys can come and gel together and then when one guy goes down, can that next guy play multiple spots? So, we’re learning, we’re growing.”
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
