Tyler Linderbaum hasn’t turned the Raiders’ offensive line into a finished product by himself, but the idea that he’s been a disaster is way off base.
Las Vegas paid a massive price in free agency - $27 million per year - with the expectation that Linderbaum would help stabilize a unit that badly needed it. That kind of contract brings a ridiculous level of pressure, and it’s fair to say he hasn’t quite matched the full weight of the billing. But that’s a long way from saying he’s been bad.
The simplest way to put it: Linderbaum is still one of the better centers in football, and he’s easily the best center the Raiders have had since Rodney Hudson. The chatter that he’s playing poorly just doesn’t hold up.
The numbers in pass protection are still strong. According to Pro Football Focus, Linderbaum has allowed only two sacks, four quarterback hits and two hurries this season.
Last year, he gave up two sacks and one hit, though he did allow 23 hurries. That came while blocking for Lamar Jackson, who is far more mobile than Kirk Cousins.
If anything, his pass protection has gotten better.
ESPN’s advanced analytics back that up, with Linderbaum ranking third among all interior offensive linemen in pass-block win rate. Third in the league is third in the league, no matter how loud the complaints get around Raider Nation.
The run game is where the frustration lives. Las Vegas hasn’t been able to get much going on the ground, and Linderbaum’s PFF grade has fallen from 83.2 in 2025 to 67.3 in 2026. Even so, that 67.3 still ranks ninth in the league, which makes the “he’s fallen apart” talk sound pretty exaggerated.
The Raiders’ ground issues aren’t all on him, either. The right guard spot has been a revolving door, and Ashton Jeanty hasn’t been at his best.
Mike Washington Jr. showed in Week 8 that there are yards to be found, and Linderbaum’s mobility and lateral movement remain two of his biggest strengths. If the Raiders keep leaning more toward outside zone, that could play to his game and open things up.
Still, there are real areas where he needs to clean it up.
Linderbaum has been driven back at the line at times, and play strength has long been a question. That showed up in Week 6 against the Buffalo Bills’ Deone Walker, and it has been part of the Raiders’ short-yardage problems all season. Las Vegas also doesn’t have a true short-yardage back, and the guards next to him have not been exceptional.
He’s outside the top 10 in run-block win rate, and the team is averaging just 2.97 yards running between the guards. The split on the ground tells the story even more clearly: the Raiders are getting 3.5 yards per rush on the left side and only 2.2 on the right. If Trey Zuhn III doesn’t help solve that, the problems will keep showing up.
Penalties have crept in too. Linderbaum has been flagged five times this season, matching his total from all of last year, and that’s with the season only halfway done. That has to get cleaned up.
So no, Linderbaum hasn’t been perfect. He hasn’t played like the single-handed fix some people expected when he signed that deal.
But he has still been a major reason the Raiders’ line looks much better than it has in recent years. As a unit, Las Vegas ranks second in the NFL in pass-block win rate and 15th in run-block win rate.
That’s a real turnaround, and Linderbaum is a big reason it’s happening.
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