Oakland Raiders: Can Jonathan Cooper win the starting left guard job?

The Oakland Raiders have signed former first-round guard Jonathan Cooper to bolster their guard depth. Can he earn the starting job with a strong summer?

The Oakland Raiders didn’t have an immediate plan for the left guard position when they traded former All-Pro Kelechi Osemele away to the New York Jets in March.

Osemele had been a great player for many years but injuries and age — plus a poor schematic fit — had caught up to him so the decision to ship him away wasn’t too difficult. But finding a suitable replacement has been challenging.

At first, the anticipated starter appeared to be veteran Denzelle Good who the team had acquired late last season. Good made four appearances, three starts, at right guard in place of the injured Gabe Jackson and performed admirably.

At least admirably enough that the Raiders saw him as a viable starting candidate.

But when the opportunity arose to sign former four-time Pro Bowl guard Richie Incognito, the Raiders couldn’t pass on the opportunity. Incognito had spent last year out of football and had dealt with his fair share of legal issues, but the Raiders decided to give him a shot regardless.

Unfortunately, those legal issues resulted in a two-game suspension to start the 2019 season — something that the Raiders had, of course, anticipated. And with Incognito out for the beginning of the season, Good once again appeared slated to be the Week 1 starter.

However, the team signed veteran guard Jonathan Cooper on Monday suddenly clouding the guard picture for the time being. Cooper was the seventh overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals back in the 2013 NFL Draft, but his NFL career hasn’t exactly gone as planned.

After impressing early in the preseason, Cooper would break his left leg and be forced to miss the entirety of his rookie season. Since then, Cooper’s career has been marred by injuries and inconsistent play.

The North Carolina product would spend just two more seasons in Arizona before bouncing around with a couple of teams and ending up in Dallas in 2017. Cooper would make 13 starts for the Cowboys playing likely the best football since his college years — although still a weak spot of the unit.

And after a slew of injuries to their offensive line, the Washington Redskins signed him in November of last year and immediately thrust him into the starting lineup. Cooper would make just four starts before suffering another season-ending injury, this time a torn bicep.

But Cooper actually played well in Washington, so much so that many Redskins fans were disappointed that the team hadn’t re-signed him this offseason.

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Many have speculated that the broken leg that Cooper suffered prior to his rookie season changed him as a player. His agility and athleticism deteriorated and suddenly Cooper wasn’t the same player he was at North Carolina.

It’s a sad tale of what could have been, but Cooper has still shown the ability to play starting-caliber football at points in his career — as evidenced by his performance last season or his year with Dallas.

The question now remains, where does he fit in with the Raiders?

Cooper will now likely compete with Good for the Week 1 job in training camp and into the preseason. But the interesting aspect to this is that Incognito is still eligible to participate in training camp and the preseason meaning the allotment of snaps should be intriguing to watch.

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Cooper has a more accomplished pedigree than Good and more starting experience which could help him in his quest to earn the starting job. And perhaps the better question is, could Cooper actually usurp Incognito for the starting job?

If Incognito plays close to his former self, then he’s likely assured the starting position. But if the rust really begins to show or he simply doesn’t look like the player he once was, the 29-year-old Cooper could be ready to pounce at the opportunity.

At the very least, the Raiders have options.

Cooper could very well be the team’s starting left guard come Week 1 — provided he stays healthy, of course. And if he really plays well and Incognito shows signs of decline, the Raiders could even stick with the younger former top-10 draft pick in Cooper.

With Good, Cooper, and Incognito — as well as a couple of undrafted rookies looking to make the roster — Oakland has some solid options to replace Osemele. Now it will just come down to who steps up and wins the job.