The Off. Line - Complaints, Fixes, Questions, Draft

[erickench]

Mike Tice once said while coaching for the Raiders: “If you look at the offense like a fancy car, the offensive line is the engine. Even though we might have nice spinners and nice rims and tinted windows and some neat paint job, it doesn’t mean crap without the engine. If the engine’s not working, the car might look like a pretty nice car, but it’s a piece of crap.” And he was 100% right. I wish we had him back. Changes must be made on the O-line. Charles Grant is a very athletic lineman. We should give him some reps at right tackle. Bring back Powers-Johnson as the starter at center. Parham has got to go. Maybe we should consider moving Meredith back to guard. He did so well there last year.

[raider_kin]

Like I previously said, I hate grades on OL. I have not liked what I have seen from our guards, especially Burford. He is ranked 58th out of 72 OG's overall (64th in pass and 54th in run). I am not going to rag on him because he is just a cheap one year band aid. JPJ is glass and is on the cusp of being unreliable. He has pass blocked well but he run blocking has been poor (one would think it would be the other way around). On a positive note, Glaze has taken a BIG step forward this season and he has exceeded expectations. I know its early but hopefully we have our long time answer at RT.

Where can I find those ratings? PFF?

[Attyla]

Where can I find those ratings? PFF?

typically

[SkullCrusher]

Where can I find those ratings? PFF?

Just google this phrase and it shares the info:
"Where does raiders buford rank in pff's ratings?"

If you don't have the AI response, it should show above the response top-left AI Mode.

I got this back:

PFF Breakdown
• Overall Grade: 49.7 (58th of 72)
• Pass-Blocking Grade: 34.1 (64th of 72)
• Run-Blocking Grade: 54.7 (54th)
• Snaps Played: 201 offensive snaps
• Pressures Allowed: 12 total pressures (0 sacks, 3 hits)
• Penalties: 1

[powski]

DJ Glaze, who I had zero faith in, might be a mirage or might be real. I am leaning towards the latter. Too early to be solid but I hope so. I love all my incorrect negative takes but having another solid good OT, especially his situation would be great, great great.
Good OTs are harder to get than good/above average Guards.

[NoThanksSir]

DJ Glaze, who I had zero faith in, might be a mirage or might be real. I am leaning towards the latter. Too early to be solid but I hope so. I love all my incorrect negative takes but having another solid good OT, especially his situation would be great, great great.
Good OTs are harder to get than good/above average Guards.

And he's only 24. Some things to clean up still, especially in the run game. But if we have our longterm RT locked in finally that is huge.

[WNYRAIDER]

DJ Glaze, who I had zero faith in, might be a mirage or might be real. I am leaning towards the latter. Too early to be solid but I hope so. I love all my incorrect negative takes but having another solid good OT, especially his situation would be great, great great.
Good OTs are harder to get than good/above average Guards.

....some people seem to still underestimate just how rancid that coaching, and in this case, the o line coaching, really was. ...on the flip side, presumably, the ones who were still driven to improve as much as they could on their own, at least used that time to get stronger to compete in this league.

[powski]

....some people seem to still underestimate just how rancid that coaching, and in this case, the o line coaching, really was. ...on the flip side, presumably, the ones who were still driven to improve as much as they could on their own, at least used that time to get stronger to compete in this league.

100% absolutely. I loved the Dennison hire almost as much as anything in off-season and have Brennan Carroll complaint (complaints warranted) fatigue. He needs completely banished from memory.

[RunOverByHubbard]

I do not subscribe to PFF nor do I know how "accurate" their ratings are but when I saw Burford's numbers ( which seemed worse that what I have seen with my own eyes), I decided to dig them all up:

Pro Football Focus (PFF) gives Las Vegas Raiders right tackle DJ Glaze an overall grade of 63.8 for the 2026 NFL season through three games, which ranks 41st among 70 qualified offensive tackles.
His PFF pass-blocking grade of 71.7 ranked 29th among 70 qualified offensive tackles. His run-blocking grade of 58.3 ranked 43rd at the position.
He allowed 1 total pressures in pass protection. That total included 1 sacks and 0 hits allowed to opposing pass rushers. He was flagged for 1 penalties over the course of the season.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) gives Las Vegas Raiders guard Jackson Powers-Johnson an overall 2026 grade of 53.0.
2026 PFF Breakdown
• Overall Grade: 53.0 (51st out of 69 qualifying guards)
• Pass Block Grade: 61.5 (38th out of 69)
• Run Block Grade: 49.8 (57th out of 69)
• Snaps/Allowed Pressures: 131 offensive snaps at right guard, allowing 0 sacks and 2 hits (7 total pressures) with 0 penalties.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) gives Tyler Linderbaum an overall grade of 59.5 through three games of the 2026 NFL season, ranking him 21st among 33 qualified centers.
2026 PFF Breakdown
• Overall Grade: 59.5 (21st of 33)
• Pass-Blocking Grade: 77.7 (4th of 33)
• Run-Blocking Grade: 58.9 (23rd of 33)
• Snaps Played: 201
• Pressures Allowed: 2 total (0 sacks, 1 hit, 1 hurry)
• Penalties: 2

Pro Football Focus (PFF) gives Las Vegas Raiders left tackle Kolton Miller an 83.1 overall PFF grade for the 2026 season, ranking him 2nd among 64 qualified offensive tackles.
2026 PFF Ratings Breakdown
• Overall Grade: 83.1 (2nd out of 64 tackles)
• Pass-Blocking Grade: 85.4 (3rd out of 64 tackles)

[SkullCrusher]

^Go check out the KC thread just updated about the oline. It's like two completely different stories.

[RI RAIDER]

Burford leads the team in QB pressures allowed despite being in the middle of our best linemen. My eyes told me he has been pretty bad to date. I am not saying that because he is tied for allowing the most QB pressures for all guards in the NFL (and 4th out of every O linemen in the entire league). Again, he is a one year band aid. He is a slight uptick from Parham (the bar was that low). Skullcrusher is right. KC fans are rubbing one out at the thought of going up against Burford. I am sure we will see Zuhn replace him in the very near future.

[DanKD]

Neither of our guards look like long term starters. Hopefully Rogers continues to develop and can become one

[RunOverByHubbard]

Burford leads the team in QB pressures allowed despite being in the middle of our best linemen. My eyes told me he has been pretty bad to date. I am not saying that because he is tied for allowing the most QB pressures for all guards in the NFL (and 4th out of every O linemen in the entire league). Again, he is a one year band aid. He is a slight uptick from Parham (the bar was that low). Skullcrusher is right. KC fans are rubbing one out at the thought of going up against Burford. I am sure we will see Zuhn replace him in the very near future.

Neither guard we have been playing is going to be compared to Mickey Marvin or George Buehler, let alone Gene Upshaw. But they are for the most part serviceable. I just remember that people here trashed the signing of Burford and I see him as playing better than expected. Since JPJ was projected by some to be a low first round draft choice, when we got him in the second round, some called it a "steal." I see him more like a 4th or 5th rounder in terms of production even accounting for being injury-prone. Yes, guard will be a high priority in the 2027 draft unless Zuhn and Rogers really come on. He gets his first chance against the Chiefs and guess who is across the line from him -- Chris Jones - who is simply a beast. Speaking of beasts, have you seen the DT for the Bills play? Deone Walker is 6'7" and 330 lbs. He made a move the other day that was unbelievably quick for a man of that size. His feet are outstanding.

[FlyBono24]

Neither of our guards look like long term starters. Hopefully Rogers continues to develop and can become one

Yup, both guards have struggled.

FWIW (this is Google AI using data from PFF and Yahoo Sports):

Through the first three weeks of the 2026 NFL season, left guard Spencer Burford holds the worst overall PFF rating among the Las Vegas Raiders' starting offensive linemen with a grade of 65.6.
While the unit as a whole has taken a major step forward under new offensive line coach Rick Dennison, Burford has been the weak link in protection, leading the team by allowing 13 quarterback pressures. Right behind him is rookie right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson, who has surrendered 7 pressures and holds the team's lowest individual run-blocking grade (41.6).

Raiders Starting O-Line PFF Snapshot (Through Week 3)
LT Kolton Miller.................Solid veteran anchor; allowed 10 pressures over 100 snaps.
LG Spencer Burford............Worst overall grade on the starting line (65.6); responsible for a team-high 13 pressures.
C Tyler Linderbaum...........Elite offseason addition anchoring the interior cleanly.
RG Jackson Powers-Johnson...Allowed 7 pressures; holds the team's worst run-blocking grade (41.6).
RT DJ Glaze..................... Team's highest-graded lineman (81.7); elite pass protection allowing only 1 pressure.

[RI RAIDER]

Buford has been ASS and I fail to see why this was bumped if it is on account of him. I do not know if this was an I told you so about Burford and if it was, its a bad take. I remember a few speaking highly of him and being excited about his signing. Again he is nothing more than a one year band aid. He is a back up at best masquerading as a starter and he will be gone soon enough. JPJ has his own issues and has failed to live up to his draft status. He is better than Burford (not saying much) but he is an under performer who is made of glass. We definitely need to address both guards.

[RunOverByHubbard]

Was just watching the final quarter plus against the Saints. I think I saw the play that JPJ came up lame -- a groin pull. Yet, he played for almost a quarter with that injury. He was OK for a while then got beat badly on a play. Next time the Raiders had the ball, it was Rogers in at RG. So, we should definitely expect that for Sunday as opposed to say Zuhn replacing the injured guard.