The Raiders made their share of blockbuster moves when the new NFL year started recently, from signing EDGE Chandler Jones in free agency to acquiring star wide receiver Davante Adams via trade.
But those were just the headliners, as Las Vegas improved in multiple areas thanks to the efforts of Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels. There’s still one area on the roster that looks a bit shaky, however, especially considering the team’s performance last season.
It’s the offensive line. Right tackle, specifically. Rather than outsource for a solution during free agency, Ziegler re-signed Raiders offensive tackle Brandon Parker, despite his career-long struggles.
At the NFL owners’ meetings in Florida on Monday, Ziegler said that he did in fact have his eye on a free-agent offensive lineman, but the market didn’t break the Raiders’ way. That’s according to a report from The Athletic’s Vic Tafur.
Ziegler said there was a free-agent offensive lineman that the Raiders were interested in, but “it went a different way so we went a different way.”
The “it” in the above paragraph refers to the free-agent market. Ziegler explained that in free agency, you never know how the market is going to go and you have to be ready to change strategies.
So Ziegler realizes the Raiders need help on the front line, but his plan was foiled. Making matters worse, Las Vegas traded its first two picks in the upcoming NFL Draft for Adams and can’t realistically address the O-Line issue there.
Not surprisingly, Ziegler was asked about Parker, since it appears he’s a fallback option. Here’s what Ziegler said, according to the same report from The Athletic.
“He has very good size, very good length, which are two important attributes at the offensive tackle position,” Ziegler said. “He’s an athletic guy for his size, and he is not a finished product. Brandon can continue to get better. He can learn from playing a lot of snaps last year. All these things were exciting.
“Those are all good traits to have in a guy that’s going to be playing … you know, have an opportunity to compete for a job at tackle position for us.”
It’s only late March, but it looks like Parker will get the first shot at the Raiders’ starting right tackle position, though he’s not a “finished product” by any means. He had some decent games late last season, but overall, Parker had a bad year, his fourth campaign since he was drafted by the Raiders in 2018.
Brandon Parker had his highest PFF grade of his career last season for #Raiders. But he still ranked 52nd out of 55 tackles in 2021, ranking 47th in run blocking and 48th in pass blocking https://t.co/0cdFJWaoDT
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) March 21, 2022
Ziegler and McDaniels are clearly betting that Parker can improve. He has the measurables and raw physical ability that’s coveted for offensive tackles. That’s why the Raiders’ last regime actually traded up in the NFL Draft to select him.
But despite starting 32 games during his Raiders tenure thus far, Parker hasn’t improved much. With a new coaching staff, however, comes new possibilities.
Still, the Raiders would do well to look for better options all the way up to Week 1 of the NFL season. Parker might be bad enough to upend the Raiders’ plans on offense, especially with Adams and quarterback Derek Carr, who is slated to receive a new contract in Las Vegas.
Carr and Adams are good enough to work around issues on any offensive line, but when the games get tougher and each contest is decided on the margins, the Raiders will need better than Parker has shown in his career thus far. That goes for the run game as well.
But as I mentioned, it’s March, and NFL rosters are fluid. And hey, Parker could actually improve. Thankfully for the Raiders, it appears Ziegler is ready to call any audible he deems necessary.
