One of the biggest reasons the Raiders were able to improve by three wins this season was due to the upgrades the team made on the offensive line. The additions of Richie Incognito and Trent Brown helped stabilize two spots that gave Oakland problems last year.
Not only did Incognito and Brown improve the quality of the line, but Kolton Miller also made steps in the right direction. While he is still a work in progress, there is no doubt that he is dramatically better now than he was at this time last season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Oakland’s offensive line finished as the 15th-best unit in football. That grading would have risen dramatically if it weren’t for a rash of injuries at the end of the season to Incognito and Brown. Take a look at PFF’s thoughts on the Raiders’ group from the 2019 season:
There was no duo of interior offensive linemen in the NFL better at limiting pressure than Rodney Hudson and Richie Incognito this season. Hudson allowed just three pressures in 509 pass-blocking snaps in 2019, while Incognito allowed only nine pressures in 414 snaps. Out of those 12 combined pressures, only one was a sack and one was a quarterback hit — with the other 10 being hurries. On the outside, Kolton Miller improved significantly on his rookie season, but his overall grade of 64.9 still ranked just 23rd among 37 qualifying left tackles.
The Raiders will return all five starters on the offensive line next season, and that should go a long way in helping this team become more consistent. If they can get some injury luck to go their way in 2020, expect this unit to perform even better in Las Vegas.
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