Oakland Raiders: A Few Questions That Must Be Answered This Offseason

How Will They Deal With The Offensive Line?

In 2016, the Raiders had one of the most dominant offensive lines in the game. Arguably, their line was the best in the NFL.

2017 saw a new offensive coordinator and new offensive scheme brought in. Downing moved away from the power blocking scheme favored by his predecessor, Bill Musgrave — a scheme this group excelled in — and put in a zone blocking scheme.

And, as everybody knows, the results were less than stellar.

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As the losses mounted and the desperation increased, Downing tried to add more power blocking back into the system and it ended up being a confused, mish-mash of garbage. Downing tried to get cute and stripped away the identity of this Raiders offense – line up and punch you in the mouth football – and the team never got it back.

With Gruden coming in and installing his offensive philosophy, the line will again be in a state of transition. However, Gruden is far better at tailoring his schemes to fit his personnel than Downing could ever hope to be.

So, assuming Gruden runs an offense that maximizes the talents of his players and plays to their strengths – which seems a pretty safe bet – what is the current state of the line?

Obviously, the interior of the line is set with Rodney Hudson, Kelechi Osemele, and Gabe Jackson. And assuming Donald Penn can make it back – and up to the high level of play that’s marked his tenure with the team – that should be four-fifths of the line locked and loaded.

However, the fact is that Penn is going to be 35-years old and the Raiders will need to find his heir sooner, rather than later. They’re also going to need to address the very glaring hole on the right side of that line.

Neither Marshall Newhouse nor David Sharpe seemed to lock down that side of the line very well. Jylan Ware and Vadal Alexander are still projects and seem better suited as backups, more than anything.

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There are some talented, physical tackles who will be available on Draft Day. There seem to be slim pickings in free agency with the likes of Ja’Waun James, Nate Solder, and Cameron Fleming headlining the group.

Oakland is going to have to address the offensive line – both Penn’s age and the hole at right tackle make it a necessity. How they go about shoring it up will be one of the more interesting things to watch this offseason.