The Raiders open the 2026 season with a matchup that could tell you plenty about where this team is headed, and right tackle DJ Glaze is right in the middle of it.
Las Vegas hosts the Miami Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium in Week 1, and for a young Raiders team under Klint Kubiak, it’s a chance to find some early traction against another club that is rebuilding. But beyond the team angle, this game gives the Raiders’ overhauled offensive line its first real stress test under coach Rick Dennison.
That group needs a lift after struggling more than any other line in the league in 2025, and there is hope that the addition of Tyler Linderbaum can help push things in the right direction. Still, the biggest spotlight may land on Glaze, whose 2025 season was a step backward after a promising rookie year.
Glaze allowed 10 sacks last season after giving up only three in 2024. That drop-off raised eyebrows, especially because his first year suggested a steadier climb. Dennison, though, remains confident in the young tackle, pointing to his length and play strength and believing he can get back to form.
The fan base isn’t fully sold yet. Reports from the summer program have done little to quiet the questions, and Week 1 offers a clean chance for Glaze to answer them against a familiar problem: Dolphins edge rusher Chop Robinson.
Robinson was in the same draft class as Glaze, and the two have taken similar paths through their first two seasons. PFF credited Robinson with 56 pressures and 6.0 sacks as a rookie, then 19 pressures and 4.0 sacks last season as injuries and a reduced role cut into his production.
Now the former first-round pick gets a shot to rebound, and Glaze is the kind of matchup that could help him do it. The two know each other well from Big Ten battles, with Robinson at Penn State and Glaze at Maryland, and the edge has belonged to Robinson in those meetings.
That trend has carried into the pros. In their last two matchups, including college and the NFL, PFF says Robinson has produced 11 pressures and two sacks against Glaze. The reason is pretty simple: Robinson’s speed off the edge is exactly the kind of thing that has given Glaze trouble, and it’s a brutal test for a right tackle who has had issues with quick pass rushers.
The Raiders should be prepared to help him. Chip blocks from tight ends and running backs would make sense if they want to keep Robinson from wrecking the pocket early. Glaze has looked better in the preseason, particularly with improved foot speed, but he hasn’t done it against starters yet.
If he can carry that form into the opener, slow down Robinson, and keep Kirk Cousins clean, it would do a lot to restore the confidence Raider Nation had in him.
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For Las Vegas, the combination matters because Bowers is central to what the offense wants to do, and the quarterback room behind the starter has now been shaped by a younger option making a case in practice. Week 1 already brings its usual questions, but this one feels a little heavier for a Raiders offense trying to settle in while waiting to see how Bowers responds and how much the backup change affects the teams early-season comfort level. [Read more 🡒]