Tag: 139020

HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders open 2022 NFL training camp Wednesday at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center. Here’s a closer look at a few storylines:

The most compelling position battle: Let’s look at the right side of the offensive line, particularly right tackle. Because if the Raiders are going to run it back with the same O-line that contributed to Derek Carr getting sacked 40 times in 2021, with the right side being the weak link, this is ground zero. Alex Leatherwood, last year’s first-round pick, started the season at RT, moved to right guard in Week 5 but was seeing time on the outside in OTAs and minicamp. If Denzelle Good is healthy enough to reclaim his RG spot after going down with a torn left ACL in the season opener, that should solidify things.

And that’s not counting swing tackle Brandon Parker or Jermaine Eluemunor, who has played both spots and is already familiar with new coach Josh McDaniels’ system from his time with the New England Patriots. Seventh-rounder Thayer Munford and UDFA Bamidele Olaseni could also get looks at right tackle while third-rounder Dylan Parham seems slotted for left guard.

• Gronk embraces next stage in life
• Do Adams and Carr still have chemistry?
• Will Jags QB Lawrence make jump?
• Football slowing for Cards’ Simmons
• Pats take hit as ’19 picks fail to emerge

The player with the most to prove: We should just rename this the Derek Carr Award. Every year Carr endures the slings and arrows of so many rumors and reports of him being on the trade block and yet, he remains. What’s different now, though, is aside from the aforementioned offensive line, Carr has the most dynamic weapons at his disposal, not only in personnel but in scheme and playcalling. Plus, the Raiders went all in by bringing his college bestie, the best receiver in the league in Davante Adams, in a trade with the Green Bay Packers. No more excuses? Yeah, something like that.

But didn’t Carr just sign a three-year, $121.5 million extension? Indeed, but per the terms of the deal, the Raiders are under no obligation to pay him anything after this season and would eat just $5.6 million in dead money should they choose to move on. Plus, Carr’s Total QBR has tumbled every time he’s had a change in playcallers. Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but this is truly a make-of-break season for Carr, who, as noted before, has everything he could ask for … unless that O-line breaks again.

The biggest question: Yeah, staying on the Carr angle here, but so much has been made of the connection he has with Adams from their college days together. And while they have worked out together as pros in the offseason, they were last teammates in (checks notes) 2013. So how fresh, exactly, is the chemistry between the erstwhile Fresno State Bulldogs, and how long will it take to reconnect in a game situation? Adams has definitely benefited from playing with a Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. But while Carr has had the likes of Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller to throw the ball to with the Raiders, Adams is on another level.

However long, or short, it takes for Adams and Carr to get in sync will go a long way in determining the type of on-field success they have in Las Vegas. Because remember, Carr finds a target and stays with him, from Waller and his 107 receptions in 2020 to Renfrow and his 103 catches last season. Adams has averaged 119 catches the past two seasons.

Most impactful offseason addition: Non-Davante Adams division? Chandler Jones. Sure, the Raiders essentially swapped Yannick Ngakoue, who is five years younger, for Jones, who is polishing a Canton-worthy resume. Jones’ 107.5 sacks and 33 forced fumbles are the most in the NFL over the last 10 years and while five of his 10.5 sacks last year came in the season opener, there is enough left in the 32-year-old’s tank that he will still command respect and double-teams.

And that frees up opportunities for his bookend edge rusher Maxx Crosby, a rising star who was last year’s Pro Bowl Defensive MVP. Now, Jones is not in Las Vegas merely to be a decoy; he was signed to bring veteran leadership as well as wreck shop on his own. And at 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, Jones also has three inches and 19 pounds on Ngakoue, who led the Raiders with 10 sacks in 2021.

Bold prediction: The Raiders will return to the postseason for a second season in a row. Wait, shouldn’t a team that survived last season’s travails, made upgrades all over the roster, as well as in scheme and playcalling, be a lock to return to the Super Bowl tournament? If so, the truly hot take would be to predict Las Vegas would fall short, no? Well … the flip side shows so many unknowns and resulting questions in a division that saw every team make significant upgrades that picking Las Vegas to be in the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time since 2000-02 seems to be the bolder way to go. At least, before training camp.

HENDERSON, Nev. — Take a deep breath …

Kolton Miller at left tackle. John Simpson at left guard. Andre James at center. Alex Leatherwood at right guard. And Brandon Parker at right tackle.

OK, exhale …

Yes, it’s a unit that contributed to Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr getting sacked 40 times in 2021, the second-highest total of his eight-year career. It’s also a unit that, as the team prepares to begin its offseason workout program next week under new coach Josh McDaniels, is in line to return as is.

Wait, what? Are the Raiders really going to run it back with a unit that was a decided weakness a year ago?

Yeah, about that …

“There was an offensive lineman we were interested in and, again, there’s a level of discipline, like I said, that you have to have,” new Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler told three beat reporters at the recent NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida. “Some of those opportunities went a different way, and so we pivoted and we went a different way and strengthened other parts of the team.”

Yeah, the Raiders were looking at fortifying the O-line in the early days of free agency. Instead, they put the band back together and re-signed Parker, a much-decried third-round selection in 2018, to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with $2.662 million guaranteed.

Ziegler referred to the 26-year-old Parker as a still “ascending player” for Las Vegas.

“He has very good size, very good length, which are two important attributes at the offensive tackle position,” Ziegler said of the 6-foot-8, 320-pounder who started the last 13 games at right tackle.

“He’s an athletic guy for his size and he’s a guy that I think can continue to, again, Brandon is not a finished product. … He can continue to get better. He had a good experience of playing a lot of snaps last year … there’s a lot of learning that comes from that. All those things were exciting.”

And, as Associated Press pointed out, while Parker did have the highest Pro Football Focus grade of his career last season, he was still ranked just 52nd out of 55 tackles in the league overall — 47th in run blocking and 48th in pass blocking.

Las Vegas also signed versatile Alex Bars in free agency and re-signed Jermaine Eluemunor, who started three early-season games at right guard. And the Raiders will also regain the services of Denzelle Good, who opened the year as the starting right guard but was lost for the season when he tore the ACL in his left knee in the opener.

So maybe the Raiders aren’t exactly, ahem, running it back, huh?

Not when another $20 million or so comes back to their salary cap after June 1, thanks to the cuts of defensive end Carl Nassib and linebacker Cory Littleton. And not with every player essentially getting a “fresh start” from Ziegler and McDaniels.

And, as McDaniels said, aside from Miller being a foundation piece at left tackle, the O-line will be evolving throughout the offseason heading into training camp.

“They’re not just going to play one spot,” McDaniels said. “When I talk about relative versatility and flexibility, you better be able to play more than one spot or it’s just hard to create extra value for yourself, and for the team, if we have too many players who are just one-position players.”

McDaniels said a lot of different players will be shuffling in and out of both right tackle and right guard.

“Let them compete,” McDaniels said. “The best guys will play. But, in order to do that, we’ve got to let everybody have an opportunity.”

Which brings us back to the key to the right side of the line — last year’s first-round pick.

Is Leatherwood a right tackle, where he began last season as a starter? Or if he a right guard, where he was moved in Week 5? The No. 17 overall pick of the 2021 draft, and one of the most penalized lineman in the NFL, might be the key to the whole line.

“He’s an important part of it,” McDaniels said. “He played a lot of football as a rookie and that counts for something, you know what I mean? And you can say, well it was this or that. I know this, his second year is going to feel like his second year, not his rookie year because he was in there a lot. He played a lot of snaps. He played tackle, he played guard. And we’re going to try to give him an opportunity to earn a role that’s his best fit and that’s the best fit for the Raiders.

“And look, we know what he was drafted for and we’re going to give him an opportunity to do such. But ultimately, what we want to do at the end of the day is we’re going to let the best five guys out there. The best five guys we can put out there to protect the quarterback and run the football and be physical, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Yeah, it’s a work in progress.