The Raiders’ offensive line looked like a different unit on Sunday, and the numbers backed it up. After allowing 64 sacks last season, the group gave up none, and Pro Football Focus ranked the Raiders’ offensive line among the best-graded units in the league for Week 1.
That kind of turnaround is especially notable because one of the players who struggled badly for Las Vegas a year ago was suddenly sitting at the top of the guard rankings in another uniform. Dylan Parham, who looked like a player in danger of losing his way last season, turned in the league’s highest-graded guard performance in Week 1 for the Jets.
Parham’s offseason move to New York came on a two-year, $16 million deal, and after what he showed in 2025, it had started to look like money spent in the wrong place. But against the Titans, he put together a massive outing, earning a 92.9 run blocking grade from Pro Football Focus. The Jets ran the ball 39 times, with Breece Hall and Braelon Allen both averaging more than 4 yards per carry while New York held the ball for over 38 minutes.
The Raiders’ offensive line issues have also become a talking point on local radio, where flagship host JT the Brick recently laid the blame squarely on last year’s coaching.
“Throw out last year’s offensive line. They weren’t coached properly. They weren’t taught properly,” JT said on his Raider Nation Radio show.
“[There was] no teaching. They didn’t even know if they were going to play the week of gameday.
Now this thing is buttoned up. So with Kolton Miller, Spencer Burford, Tyler Linderbaum, Jackson Powers-Johnson and D.J.
Glaze, that looks to be your starters tomorrow night and maybe into the start of the season,” JT continued.
“But there’s three or four offensive linemen behind them that can play from Jordan Meredith… Caleb Rogers, Trey Zuhn, what a hybrid player he’s going to be. He’s going to start.
I’m not going out on a limb with that one. Trey Zuhn will be a starter on this Raider team sooner than later.
It might be mid part of the season, maybe end of the season, maybe the start of next year. That guy is good.”
In Other News...
Raiders Depth Chart Says A Lot About Who This Team Is Becoming
The Raiders updated depth chart ahead of Week 2 offered a useful snapshot of where this roster stands after the opener, and it lined up with what Week 1 already hinted at. Some of the early contributors have separated themselves, while other spots still look like works in progress as the team settles into its first real stretch of the season. For a roster trying to define its identity, these early pecking orders matter because they reveal who the staff trusts and where the competition is still very much alive.
Against the Chargers, that depth chart also adds a little intrigue to the larger picture. The Raiders are trying to balance short-term game planning with the bigger questions of how this team will take shape over the season, and the latest release suggests there are still a few positions where roles can change quickly. Week 2 should give another clue about which parts of the roster are stabilizing and which ones are still open for business. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Tight End Plans Just Got More Interesting Around Brock Bowers
The Raiders tight end room already had enough intrigue, and the conversation only picked up after the team discussed a possible return timeline for Brock Bowers while also locking in Michael Mayer with a contract extension. For a group that figures to be central to how Las Vegas attacks this season, the timing matters, especially with the rest of the division already sorting through its own Week 1 chaos.
Denvers 31-10 loss to Kansas City only sharpened the contrast, with Bo Nix pointing to offensive mistakes and penalties while Travis Kelce turned in another productive day for the Chiefs. The Raiders are watching all of that from a distance, but the bigger question in Las Vegas is how soon Bowers can get back into the mix and what Mayers new deal means for the way the team plans to use both ends once the roster is whole again. [Read more 🡒]
Klint Kubiak's Hard Edge Is Already Testing What Raiders Can Be
Klint Kubiaks first eight months in charge have already given the Raiders a different kind of edge, and it started in training camp. The work has been so demanding that one veteran player described it as the hardest camp he has ever experienced, a sign of how firmly Kubiak has tried to set the tone in Las Vegas. General manager John Spytek has publicly backed that approach, praising the coachs work ethic and discipline as the team tries to build something sturdier than a good week or two.
The early returns have shown up on defense, where Rob Leonard has helped shape a group that looked sharp in the Raiders first game of the season. Las Vegas finished Week One leading the NFL in havoc plays, an encouraging indicator for a unit that wants to play fast, disruptive football under a first-year coordinator. Whether that intensity holds up over a full season is the question, but the Raiders already look like a team being pushed hard enough to find out. [Read more 🡒]