Getty
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The Las Vegas Raiders‘ offensive line under former head coach Pete Carroll was a disaster. Last season, the unit gave up 64 sacks, with Geno Smith being sacked 55 times, per StatMuse. With Fernando Mendoza likely being the No. 1 overall pick, the Silver and Black need to improve this unit.
Las Vegas could use free agency to find a player or two to revamp the group. However, even with the arrival of new head coach Klint Kubiak, it might be enough to turn the unit into a respectable group, maybe not elite or above average, but serviceable.
The Athletic’s Derrik Klassen believes that just having Kubiak is an upgrade for the Raiders, given what the team’s new head coach accomplished in just one season with the Seattle Seahawks‘ offensive line.
“I think a lot of us knew, talent‑wise, [the Raiders offensive line last season] was not great,” Klassen said on the Feb. 19 edition of “The Athletic Football Show.” “But you were just hoping that they can play just at the level of the 25th‑best offensive line. It will be good enough, and they can get by. But I think a part that I missed is that Chip Kelly’s offense just did not tie things together well.
“It did not help the offensive line in really any way. I think we have proof of concept that Klint Kubiak replacing a college coordinator can give that to your offensive line. He literally did it last year with Seattle, and it won them a Super Bowl.”
The Floor of Raiders’ O-Line Potential Raised
Moreover, without adding to the offensive line yet, as free agency is not open, Klassen believes that hiring Kubiak as head coach raises the Raiders’ offensive line’s floor in terms of their potential.
“It’s not like the Seattle offensive line all of a sudden turned into the ’90s Cowboys, but it went from a unit that was hamstringing the offense,” Klassen added. “They bring in Kubiak, they draft a guard in the first round, and it takes them to, I don’t know, Seattle was the 18th or 19th‑best offensive line, which isn’t great, but when you’ve got a star receiver and your quarterback is playing on time and accurately, that is kind of enough to really allow things to open up.
“I actually kind of buy that the floor is going to be raised [and] I don’t think they’re going to be the 30th offensive line in the league that they were last year. I think they can get to—if they keep the relative talent and replace some of the guys they’re losing with equal talent—they could be the 25th‑best offensive line, kind of like I was trying to set last year.”
Gary Kubiak Talks Klint Kubiak Being a Head Coach
With Kubiak preparing for his first season as the Raiders’ head coach, his father, Gary Kubiak, didn’t hold back on his thoughts about his son following in his footsteps as an NFL head coach.
“I could tell after a couple of years being away and sitting here at home and watching him coach at other places and getting those phone calls every day, I could tell how wrapped up he was in his career and what he wanted to do,” Kubiak told Q Myers on Raider Nation Radio.
“You just try to encourage them. It’s a hard business. Very difficult to win and be successful, but I just always encourage him. If you coach for the right reasons, if you coach because you want to make a difference in players’ lives and you want to make a difference in people’s lives, then you’ll be fine. I’m excited that he coaches for all the right reasons.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
More Heavy on Raiders
Loading more stories