Tag: Kolton Miller

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 8 vs Saints

Plenty of blame to go around for the Raiders terrible performance in New Orleans Sunday

If you’re reading this, I admire your perseverance. It isn’t easy to relive games like this if you’re a fan. But it can be cathartic. And sometimes you just go searching for answers. I hope I can provide some for you from this completely lopsided 24-0 game.

Ballers

None

This should come as no surprise in a game such as this that there were no standout exceptions to all the terribleness. I came out of the live viewing expecting this and the more in-depth look confirmed that. Pretty much just bad top to bottom.

And, no, there aren’t even any Honorable Mentions.

Busters

HC Josh McDaniels, DC Patrick Graham

The offense went nowhere and the defense couldn’t seem to stop anything. It was 24-0 and really it wasn’t even that close. The Saints missed a chipshot field goal and spent most of the second half just running the clock.

The Raiders were down 7-0 heading into the second quarter. The first play of the quarter was third and one. And instead of going to Josh Jacobs, McDaniels tried to get cute and gave it to Davante Adams on a sweep. It was blown up for a loss.

Now fourth and two at their own 28, the Raiders lined up in punt formation. And McDaniels tried to get even cuter with a fake. The direct snap to reserve safety Matthias Farley was stopped for a loss and the Saints took over already in scoring range. They added a field goal to make those two bad calls by McDaniels worth three points and a 10-0 deficit.

After a Carr interception gave the Saints the ball in Raiders territory again, Graham’s defense quickly made it 17-0 when Alvin Kamara was left wide open over the middle for a 16-yard touchdown catch and run.

That was Kamara’s second TD of the game, but not his last. In fact, his third TD, he was also wide open over the middle, this time going 36 yards for the score. Graham’s defense wasn’t accounting for Kamara just as it was completely failing to contain Taysom Hill who got good yards time and time again on designed runs.

This team never got off the plane. How they could be this unprepared is mind-boggling. An earlier start due to the Eastern Time Zone doesn’t explain this level of ineptitude. Not sure anything does.

QB Derek Carr

Not one snap in New Orleans territory. Not one. His fewest yards ever thrown in a game (101) with at least ten completions or 15 attempts. His third-worst passer rating (50.3) of his career. His third fewest yards per attempt (3.88) of his career. His fourth-fewest completions (15) in a game in which he threw more than 25 passes (26).

The first drive ended with him throwing too high for a wide-open Mack Hollins. Second drive with him throwing short of Davante Adams. Fourth with him getting picked off.

The first drive of the third quarter ended with him getting sacked twice — the second time because he held onto the ball too long — and then giving up with a dump on third and 23. His next — and final — drive ended with him throwing a three-yard bubble screen to Davante Adams on second and 27. Then, of course, another give-up dump to call it a night.

CB Rock Ya-Sin, CB Anthony Averett

When Taysom Hill wasn’t running wild, Andy Dalton was picking apart the secondary. Andy. Dalton. And Ya-Sin and Averett were making it look easy.

The first TD drive featured Averett giving up a 30-yard catch. It was Averett again who gave up an eight-yard catch that put them at the 11-yard line and they scored on the next play.

Late in the first half, the Saints drove into scoring range with Ya-Sin giving up a 14-yard catch on third-and-nine and Averett giving up a 10-yard catch on third-and-four. They escaped it being a scoring drive because of a missed chip shot field goal.

They wouldn’t escape it to start the third quarter with Ya-Sin being called for pass interference on third-and-nine and the Saints going on to score their third touchdown.

The two of them would give up third-down conversion catches on the final Saints drive to allow them to bleed the clock down.

T Kolton Miller, G Alex Bars, TE Foster Moreau

Blocking was a real problem for the Raiders. No one was great. These three were especially bad.

It wasn’t a happy homecoming for LSU alum Moreau. He was getting pushed all over the place trying to block. The first play had him blocked into the gap to cause a run stuff. The second play he gave up a pressure that led to a tackle for loss and ultimately a three-and-out to begin the game.

The second drive saw Bars miss his block to give up a run stuff for a three-yard loss. The drive ended with Miller giving up a pressure that forced Carr to step up and throw on the run and the pass fell short and incomplete. Miller would end the next drive when he did a face plant on his block that got Davante Adams nailed for a loss on the sweep.

Moreau would give up another run stuff on the next possession, then Carr was picked off on third-and-two.

After falling down 24-0, Bars gave up a sack on Carr and he was sacked again on the next play while trying to make up the yards lost on the first one.

Carr’s final drive began with Miller being flagged for a false start. Then after Moreau made a first down catch, he gave up another hit on Carr that led to another tackle for loss. And Miller gave up a hit on Carr on the next play to set up third and 13. So much for all that settling in they were doing.

LB Denzel Perryman, LB Divine Deablo

It’s times like this that you realize just looking at tackle numbers doesn’t tell the whole story. If it did, it would look as if Deablo had a great game. After all, he did put up 14 tackles. But many of those tackles were downfield after the damage had been done. The same goes for Perryman and his eight tackles.

For proof of this, you need only look at the game Alvin Kamara had. Seven of his nine catches came with either Deablo or Perryman in coverage. Against Deablo he had four catches on four targets for 38 yards and a TD. Against Perryman he had three catches on three targets for 47 yards and a TD.

I don’t think much more needs to be said.

DE Chandler Jones, DT Bilal Nichols, DT Andrew Billings

Nearly the entire defensive line. Maxx Crosby did enough to stay off the list. The others did not.

Jones was routinely losing containment on the edge and watching Taysom Hill run by him for first downs and chunk plays. He let Hill get by him for good yards on each of the Saints’ three touchdown drives. And after an early pressure on Andy Dalton, he didn’t breathe on him the rest of the game.

Neither Jones nor Nichols nor Billings had a single tackle until after the Saints had taken their 24-0 lead in the third quarter. And none had a single stat other than that. Just utterly ineffective.

Just so you know they were actually on the field, the first TD of the game was set up by Nichols giving up a five-yard keeper on first and goal from the eight. And then Kamara scored from three yards out right through Billings’s position,

WR Davante Adams

I don’t blame him for much of what he’s going through. But he did have a drop, couldn’t seem to get open consistently, even when lined up against a rookie corner, and at one point was even flagged for an illegal shift. He was targeted five times with one catch on a bubble screen. In total, he touched the ball twice for a net of two yards.

Raiders offensive line starting to ‘settle in’ now with very positive results in win over Texans

Raiders Oline felt like they were starting to ‘settle in’ after win over Texans

It’s safe to say the Raiders offensive line is coming off their best game of the season. They not only played a big role in Josh Jacobs having arguably the best game of his career, but kept Derek Carr clean as well.

Jacobs ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns in the win over the Texans. Most of those yards (98) and all of the touchdowns occurred in the second half as the Raiders offensive line wore down the defense.

It is probably no coincidence that they had such a game with the same starting five for consecutive weeks for the first time this season.

Granted, right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor went out on the first drive and was replaced by Thayer Munford, the other starting four were the same and at the same positions where they had started prior to the bye week. And Munford has played enough snaps at right tackle, having him come in didn’t disrupt anything.

Right tackle has seen a great deal of change going back to training camp, preseason, and the regular season. But so too has the guard positions and even the center position.

While Andre James is the returning starter at the center position, both guard positions have new faces. And they haven’t always been the same new faces. 

The new face the coaching staff has been trying to find a home for is rookie Dylan Parham. The top pick (third round) seems to have found his home at left guard. And his chemistry with left tackle Kolton Miller is showing up on the field.

“It’s just everybody moving around and now we’re getting comfortable with one another and we’re starting to settle in a little bit more,” Parham said following the Raiders win over the Texans Sunday. “Once you know how another player plays, you can play off of them. It helps the whole offensive line. But that’s the thing, we’re all one as a unit. There’s five of us, but we’re all one. So, once we start getting on one course it helps us play a lot better, so I feel like that’s why we’re playing well as we go along.”

Being the only steady presence on the offensive line, left tackle Kolton Miller agreed wholeheartedly with Parham’s assessment.

“We’re learning more from each other and we hope to keep it up,” Miller said of he and Parham working next to each other. “He’ll probably be there for a while. He’s growing a lot as a young player, as a first year player. He’ll talk and that’s the biggest thing is communication with all these stunts. He’s been coming in with a veteran mentality as a rookie, so that’s been huge.”

Getting the run game going the way they have in recent weeks has helped the offense considerably. Mostly it takes pressure off Derek Carr and the receivers. It also keeps the defense honest, leading to open receivers when they do go to the air.

It was clear that balance was off over the first few games and some of that was because the offensive line was not performing well. There was clearly a lot more blame to go around, but the offensive line is crucial to the success of an offense and it wasn’t what it needed to be. 

From the looks of it, that is changing. It has led to two wins over the past three games, and the other game was a close loss to the Chiefs. And that’s with right tackle still being a bit of an issue. Get that one figured out and we will see more runaway wins like we saw last Sunday.

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 5 vs Chiefs

Raiders made a game of it with the Chiefs. But fell short in the end again. So let’s look at the game’s Ballers & Busters

Monday Night was a much closer game in the end than most thought it would be. The Raiders jumped to a 17-0 lead and twice were within one point late. But in the end, that one point deficit was where it would stay and the Raiders would fall to 1-4 on the season.

Ballers

RB Josh Jacobs

Once again, Jacobs was running with a mission against a Chiefs Run D that was best in the league coming into the game. Jacobs made mincemeat of that top ranked run D.

His mission was never more evident than early in the second quarter when he followed up a 13-yard run with a 21-yard run that ended with him plowing through the safety. Jacobs had already scored the Raiders’ previous TD from one yards out and those two runs set up the Raiders’ third score to go up 17-0.

Late in the third quarter, Jacobs followed up another 13-yard run — he created himself with a broken tackle — with a 37-yard run. The Raiders had long since lost the lead and the field goal off that run brought them back within one at 24-23.

Jacobs’s second TD of the game brought the Raiders back to being down one late at 30-29 before the failed two-point conversion. That’s where it remained on their final drive which started with a couple Jacobs eight-yard runs; the second of which gave him a new career-high for a single game, breaking his previous mark (144) he set last week vs the Broncos.

His last run went for five yards on third-and-one, setting his new career-high at 154 yards. Unfortunately, the Raiders went away from him on their next third-and-one and fourth-and-one and the game was over on consecutive incompletions.

DE Maxx Crosby

Every play Crosby made was a big one. It started with a wicked inside spin move to get the sack to end the Chiefs’ first drive. The next drive he made a run stop for no gain and it ended with a missed field goal.

The second quarter featured Crosby’s second sack of the game. That one moved him into a tie for the league lead in sacks (6). Though it wasn’t enough to keep the Chiefs from scoring their first touchdown of the game.

After the Chiefs had completed the comeback to go up 24-23, the Chiefs were back on offense looking to extend their lead. That drive started with Crosby making a run stop for a loss. The Chiefs would still get the touchdown, but on the two-point conversion attempt, the Condor would get pressure on Mahomes and get his long arms up to bat down his pass attempt.

DE Chandler Jones

For the first time this season, Crosby had some help from the other side. Jones didn’t manage to get his first sack as a Raider, but he put plenty of pressure on Mahomes from his side of the line and made some run stops as well.

Jones helped set up Crosby’s first sack with a run stop on first down and pressure resulting in an incompletion on second down. He then broke up a screen pass on the next drive and two plays later the Chiefs would miss a field goal attempt.

The third possession went three-and-out and it was all Jones. Starting with a run stop at the line and ending with a hit on Mahomes to force an incompletion.

Those efforts helped the Raiders build their 17-0 lead to start the game.

T Kolton Miller

Miller didn’t give up any sacks or hits on Derek Carr and as far as I can tell, he didn’t give up any run stuffs either. In addition, he had blocks on several Josh Jacobs runs including his first touchdown run and a 21-yard run in the second quarter that set up the Raiders’ third score.

FB Jakob Johnson

Doing a fine bit of lead blocking for Jacobs was his fullback, including leading the way for Jacobs’s 37-yard run in the third quarter.

WR Davante Adams

Derek Carr went bombs away to Adams several times in this game. The first one went for a 58-yard touchdown. The next two were underthrown and Adams came back for them, forcing a pass interference. The second of them happened in the end zone, setting up their second touchdown.

The next long ball was easily the best pass and catch between Carr and Adams since they became Raiders teammates. Adams got behind two Chiefs defenders and Carr placed it perfectly in his hands in-stride for a 48-yard touchdown.

It was the last two passes to Adams that ended the game. The first would likely have set up the potential game-winning field goal, but Adams didn’t finish the catch before stepping out of bounds. The final pass, Adams and Hunter Renfrow ran into each other. The pass was way long, but it wouldn’t have mattered considering Adams and Renfrow were on the ground. It was a terrible way to end an otherwise great day for Adams who had three catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns.

LB Divine Deablo

Deablo finished with a team leading ten tackles. On the last two Chiefs drives alone, Deablo had three run stuffs, one for a loss. His last tackle helped lead to the Raiders stopping the Chiefs on their final drive and keeping them from just running clock to give the Raiders offense one more shot.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 1 vs Chargers

Those players who contributed most to the Raiders loss and those who gave them reason for optimism despite.

Despite all the talk of how encouraging the season opener was for the Raiders, or all the positive signs, they still lost. Ballers & Busters should do well to call attention to the positive signs while pointing to how it all went wrong.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby

No sacks, sure. But a lot of that had to do with just how elusive Justin Herbert can be. Crosby still got plenty of pressure and was stout against the run as well.

His run-stopping prowess showed up on the first drive in which he made two stops and got in the backfield to help lead to a stop on a third play and the Chargers would end up settling for a field goal.

The second Chargers possession was a three-and-out with Crosby getting pressure on first down to force a short completion and then teamed up to make the stop on third and short for no gain.

On the next drive, he had a couple more tackles and another pressure and the drive after that ended when he teamed up to make the stop on fourth down for no gain and a turnover on downs.

The first drive of the third quarter had Crosby all over it, getting two pressures and a QB hit to force an incompletion, but despite his efforts, the Chargers still scored.

To begin the fourth quarter, he started off a three-and-out with a run stuff. And the next drive he made a tackle for loss and the Chargers would miss a 49-yard field goal attempt to keep the game within reach late.

The Raiders offense would get back in the end zone to pull it to a five-point game. All the defense needed to do was stop the Chargers quickly to give them a chance. They did just that, with Crosby making the tackle on a three-yard catch on second down of a three-and-out.

So, yeah, no sacks but Crosby finished second on the team in tackles (10) and added two QB hits and a tackle for loss.

WR Davante Adams

Quite the Silver & Black debut for the All-Pro receiver. He was every bit as advertised, making the first catch of the day and putting up 54 yards on three catches on the first drive alone.

The first pass of the third quarter went to Adams as well as the second pass with Adams breaking wide open and taking the catch for 41 yards and the Raiders scored their first TD three plays later.

With the fourth quarter winding down, the Raiders were in first and goal at the three. Carr went to Adams on the fade, but overthrew it. Then he threw for Adams along the goal on the right. The pass was wide right, but Adams showed off his insane reach to extend to pluck it out of the air for the touchdown.

Adams finished with 10 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown. Nice introduction to the Raider Nation.

CB Nate Hobbs

The final big play of the day for the Raiders to give them a chance to make the comeback came from Hobbs. In third-and-three, Hobbs swatted down a pass over the middle intended for Mike Williams and the Chargers went three-and-out.

That was just the final play for Hobbs, who was all over the place in this one. On a play on the first drive, he shot into the backfield to make a tackle for loss. He did it again early in the second quarter. And a few plays later, he put his helmet into the ball on a tackle to force the fumble that might have been a turnover had it not went out of bounds.

The Chargers would score on that drive, with Hobbs giving them a first and goal because he hit Justin Herbert on his slide. But that was an extremely tough play to gauge because Herbert hesitated on his slide and Hobbs had already committed.

Hobbs would finish third on the team with nine tackles, adding two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.

Honorable Mention

C Andre James, G Dylan Parham — The ground game for the Raiders picked up late in this game and these two had a good deal to do with that.

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Raiders announce 2022 team captains

Raiders will have 8 team captains this season

Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels took to the podium for the last time prior to the team’s season opener against the Chargers. His first order of business? Naming the 2022 team captains.

McDaniels was generous with his team captains too, naming eight of them — three on offense, three on defense, and two on special teams

Offense:

QB Derek Carr
WR Davante Adams
T Kolton Miller

Defense:

LB Denzel Perryman
DE Maxx Crosby
S Duron Harmon

Special Teams:

P AJ Cole
WR Mack Hollins

The somewhat surprising players among the team captains are Duron Harmon and Mack Hollins.

Harmon may not even start at safety, with Johnathan Abram and Tre’von Moehrig starting there. And Hollins gets the nod as a kick coverage and blocking specialist.

All the others make perfect sense.

This is Miller’s first time as team captain. Last season the offensive lineman Jon Gruden named as team captain was Richie Incognito who didn’t end up playing a single game due to a calf injury.

Derek Carr and Maxx Crosby are the only captains from last season who return as captains this season.

Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller were team captains last season as well and neither are team captains this time around.

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Once cloudy competition on Raiders Offensive line gaining some clarity

Raiders offensive line if the season started today

It was just over a month ago when the Raiders took the field for this year’s training camp. At that time, the only settled spot on the Raiders’ offensive line was Kolton Miller at left tackle. It would appear the rest of the line is taking shape as well.

Let’s look at each position and how it has changed, going from right to left.

Right tackle

At first, it looked like 2021 top pick Alex Leatherwood would get the first crack. Then it was Brandon Parker who was running with the first team. Both of them had dreadful performances in the preseason — first Parker at left tackle, and then Leatherwood at right tackle.

Rookie seventh-round pick Thayer Munford was given a look at right tackle and held his own, while Eluemunor played at left tackle. Munford is now out injured, and with Miller at his left tackle with the first team against the Patriots, Eluemunor was the first team right tackle while Leatherwood came in with the second team.

Eluemunor started at right tackle for Josh McDaniels in New England and he is getting a real shot to grab that job with the Raiders as well.

“I hear about what he’s been doing and the workouts he’s been doing and he looks great,” Derek Carr said of Eluemunor. “Really proud of where he was, where he’s come from, and where he is now. I’m excited to see him just keep growing.”

Right guard

It initially seemed like Lester Cotton Sr was a placeholder until Denzelle Good returned from injury. Then Good returned and promptly retired and Cotton has remained. The former undrafted free agent has drawn praise for showing vast improvement this year, going from practice squad player to projected starter.

Center

The only other offensive lineman besides Miller who has held onto the same spot he had when camp began is center Andre James.

Left guard

As recent as a week ago, it appeared John Simpson was going to return as the starting left guard. Now it’s not looking that way.

In last weekend’s game in Miami, it was rookie third-round pick Dylan Parham who got the start, with Simpson coming in later and Parham moved over to center with the second team.

That continued in joint practices with the Patriots on Tuesday, looking like Parham has passed up Simpson as the favorite to start at left guard.

“He’s got some areas that I’m sure he’s going to want to continue to improve in, but from where he’s started he’s come a long way,” Carr said of Parham. “He’s come a long way. He’s trying to do it the right way and at that position, you’ve got to do it the right way. He’s doing that and I’m proud of him. He’s working really hard and our coaches are pushing him to get everything out of him and he’s accepting it really well.”

Projected lineup

If the season ended today, the starting offensive line would be:

LT Kolton Miller
LG Dylan Parham
C Andre James
RG Lester Cotton Sr
RT Jermaine Eluemunor

This is, of course, barring any additions to try and upgrade the starting lineup with under three weeks until the start of the season.

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Raiders LT Kolton Miller makes top list of top 15 NFL tackles

Kolton Miller named among NFL’s best tackles

It is safe to say Kolton Miller has developed into the caliber of left tackle any NFL team would love to have. The former 15th overall pick has been the one steady presence on the Raiders offensive line of late.

Where does he land when compared to his peers, however?

Well, respected offensive line analyst Brandon Thorne put together his list of the league’s top tackles and Miller made the list…just.

“Kolton Miller – Miller has appeared to level off as a solid starting tackle after dramatically improving his body and game over his first few seasons in the league. Considering how raw he was coming out of UCLA and how skeptical many analysts were of his selection in the first-round (including me), the Raiders ultimately made a sound decision by selecting him and deserve credit for how much development has occurred since acquiring him.

Miller still tends to overset rushers, open up too early against speed off the edge (making him vulnerable to adept counter moves) and gets knocked off balance too often, but he is a solid overall pass-protector with good athletic ability to recover and stay attached to blocks. He also has the strength to hold up well against the bull-rush.

Miller is a plus run-blocker with the ability to create instant displacement in the run game and locate second-level targets on the move. He’s also just 26-years old and has only missed two games over his first four seasons.”

Miller’s extension he signed prior to last season currently puts him as the eighth highest paid tackle in the league and sixth among left tackles. It also keeps him under contract until 2025. That’s about right for a young player who has been as dependable as Miller.

As Thorne noted, Miller has missed just two games in his career, both in 2020. Aside from those two games, he has not missed a single snap since his rookie season, when he was battling a knee injury all season.

We can also nitpick his issues, but left tackles as talented as he aren’t easy to find. So, the Raiders are good with the 14th-ranked tackle in the league.

The NFL’s top 12 offensive tackles

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar continues our position lists with the NFL’s 12 best offensive tackles.

Things have changed a lot in the NFL’s offensive tackle hierarchy of late, and sadly, for all the wrong reasons. On last year’s list of the league’s best tackles, David Bakhtiari of the Packers ranked first overall, and Baltimore’s Ronnie Stanley ranked third. Then, Bakhtiari missed all but one game last season due to an awful knee injury he suffered late in the 2020 season, and word is that he might be ready for training camp this season.

As for Stanley, he missed all but six games in 2020, and all but one game in 2021 with an ankle injury that required multiple surgeries. As is the case with Bakhtiari, the hope is that Stanley will be ready for training camp.

We do not like this. We would prefer to see the best tackles in the business dealing with the best pass-rushers on a regular basis, but this is where it is.

The… well, not “good news,” but the thing this allows, is new names to discover and analyze. In many cases, the new guys on our list this year are players who needed time, patience, and coaching to reach their full potential. You’ll see a few players who came into the NFL, looked like open gates early on, and then figured it out. We always like to see that, at any position.

We have also seen an increasing blurring of the lines in the importance of left tackle and right tackle. As the NFL becomes more of a quick-game league, the front-side protector had best be on point. Five of our tackles this year ply their trade on the right side, including our second- and third-best.

As for the best offensive tackle, outside of Aaron Donald’s place atop our list of interior defensive linemen, no choice was easier than this. If you’re a 49ers fan, you can skip right ahead and start gloating.

Here are Touchdown Wire’s 12 best offensive tackles heading into the 2022 NFL season — along with links to our position lists to date, which lead to our list of the 101 best players overall.

The NFL’s top 13 safeties

The NFL’s top 12 slot defenders

The NFL’s top 12 outside cornerbacks

The NFL’s top 11 linebackers

The NFL’s top 11 edge defenders

The NFL’s top 12 interior defensive linemen

The NFL’s top 12 centers

The NFL”s top 11 offensive guards

Raiders LT Kolton Miller not ranked inside top 10 offensive tackles by NFL decision-makers

Where does #Raiders LT Kolton Miller rank among offensive tackles in the NFL?

The Las Vegas Raiders have a lot of uncertainty on their offensive line heading into training camp. Four positions are up for grabs, including both guard spots.

However, the one spot that is secured is the left tackle job as Kolton Miller has improved in every season with the Raiders. The former first-round pick signed a massive contract last offseason and he was fantastic again during the 2021 season.

But how does Miller compare to his peers at the position? In a recent article by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, he spoke with over 50 NFL coaches and decision-makers and asked them to rank the top 10 offensive tackles in the NFL heading into the 2022 season.

Surprisingly, Miller did not make the list. However, he did get a blurb on the honorable mention page by Fowler:

“Miller has an impressive combination of size (6-foot-8, 310 pounds) and light feet to help him in pass protection. His 92.6% pass block win rate ranked sixth among tackles. “He’s really good — my only thing with him is he can get off balance and knocked back, not as physical as you’d like,” an AFC executive said.”

Miller is one of the NFL’s best pass protectors and it’s due to his incredible athleticism. He can move and mirror even the quickest EDGE rushers in the NFL, and he’s also improved as a run-blocker. Miller isn’t the most physical offensive tackle as the AFC executive mentioned, but it hasn’t prevented him from being a fantastic left tackle.

With a lot of unknowns on the offensive line for the Raiders entering the year, it is nice knowing that they have the most important spot on the unit secured. And at just the age of 26, Miller should only get better and better for the foreseeable future. Don’t be surprised if this is the year he finally makes the Pro Bowl.

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Ranking the AFC West offensive tackle duos

Ranking the AFC West offensive tackle duos

Offenses rely heavily on the pass protectors in order to be able to execute their plays. If the edge rushers get into the backfield, it doesn’t matter how open the receivers get, the quarterback isn’t getting the ball to them.

The common theme in the AFC West seems to be quality left tackles, with less talent at the right tackle spot. You’re only as strong as your weakest link, after all.

1. Denver Broncos

Starters: LT Garrett Bolles, RT Billy Turner

After some troubles early in his career, Bolles has become one of the best tackles in football. He was second-team All-Pro a season ago and was still among the highest-rated tackles this season. Meanwhile, Billy Turner has quietly played pretty well at right tackle, giving up just three sacks last season.

2. Kansas City Chiefs

Starters: LT Orlando Brown Jr, RT Lucas Niang

Brown headed to his third straight Pro Bowl last season, his first with the Chiefs since they acquired him in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens. He gave up just four sacks last season. On the other side, Niang has taken ahold of the right tackle job and performed pretty well over nine starts last season. The 2020 third-round pick gave up just two sacks from the right side.

3. Los Angeles Chargers

Starters: LT Rashawn Slater, RT Trey Pipkins

As a rookie first-round pick, Slater headed to the Pro Bowl. That says all you need to know about his talent level. There is some uncertainty on the other side, but Pipkins looked fairly good in two late-season starts — giving up no sacks — that if they decide to go with him, they could feel confident in doing so.

4. Las Vegas Raiders

Starters: LT Kolton Miller, RT Alex Leatherwood

Miller can hang with the best in the division at left tackle. There’s no question about that. But there are serious questions about the other side. Leatherwood has been lining up there throughout the offseason after playing himself out of a job four games into last season. It’s no certainty he continues to be the first-team right tackle, but the fact that he’s been lining up there so far says there aren’t any great options there.

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