Last season’s Oakland Raiders were surprisingly effective on both sides of the ball. They improved their scoring defense by 3.3 points per game and their scoring offense by 6.6 points per game over the 2014 season. A large part of that improved offense was the presence of wide receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree and the improved play of second-year QB Derek Carr, but none of what they did would have been possible without the offensive line also making great strides.
By signing former Chiefs center Rodney Hudson and former Bears and Vikings tackleJ’Marcus Webb (who was moved to guard), moving Austin Howard back outside to tackle and penciling that trio in with left tackle Donald Penn and left guard Gabe Jackson, the Raiders took a leap from having a clearly below-average line to having a considerably above-average one.
As an example, their league-wide rankings in Pro Football Focus’ pass-blocking and run-blocking grades jumped from eighth and 29th to second and 10th. They went from 28th in Football Outsiders’ Adjusted Line Yards to 19th. Carr went from being pressured on 33.9 percent of his drop backs down to 29.5 percent.
Hudson, Jackson, and Howard were already under contract for the 2016 season heading into this free agency period, but Penn was a free agent. He was re-signed to a two-year $14 million deal earlier this week, after the Raiders inked former Ravens guard Kelechi Osemele— otherwise known as one of the nastiest run-blockers in the NFL — to a five-year $58.5 million deal last week. Penn, for one, is excited about the potential Oakland’s five-man group of front has.
“The sky’s the limit, but we can’t just talk about it,” Penn said, per CSNBayArea.com. “We have to work and do it on the field. We have the guys to be the best offensive line in the league and to lead this team. We want to lead by example, and I’m confident the rest of the guys will follow.”
He also knows exactly what Osemele brings to the unit.
“It’ll help with the consistency in the run game, and it’ll help open things up and keep us from being so one-dimensional,” Penn said. “The run game was good last year, but we weren’t consistent. He’s a great run blocker, and he’s going to come in and bring something to the run game.”
Oakland averaged only 3.9 yards per carry last season, tied with four other teams for 20th in the league, despite their excellent group up front. Having another mauler in the group will help open things up for Latavius Murray (and whoever the Raiders use as the power complement to him). If they can get that run game going better than the last couple years, that will take more pressure off Carr’s shoulders, which should only help him progress.
Story provided by Jared Dubin
