Who is Going to Protect Derek Carr Next Season?

Over the past few years, the Las Vegas Raiders have had a lot of changes to their roster for one reason or another. However, the one unit on the team that has been consistently great has been the offensive line.

The line, once nicknamed “Carr Insurance”, may no longer be able to protect quarterback Derek Carr like it once did. The holes in the running game could potentially disappear as well with three out of five starting linemen gone from last season.

Left tackle Kolton Miller is the last man still standing, and while Richie Incognito was recently re-signed, he missed 14 games the previous season due to an Achilles injury. At the age of 37, it’s unknown how effective the four-time Pro Bowler will still be.

The destruction of the Raiders’ offensive line began on Mar. 5 when they cut Incognito before later re-signing him.  Four days later, they traded tackle Trent Brown, along with a seventh-round pick, back to the Patriots for a fifth-round pick.

The moves did not stop there, however, as they traded both Gabe Jackson and Rodney Hudson and a seventh-round pick to the Seahawks and the Cardinals, respectively. Those two trades netted them a fifth and a third-round pick in this year’s draft.

Jackson had been with the team since 2014 and in 1,062 snaps, he did not surrender a single sack in pass protection.

Hudson on the other hand made the Pro Bowl three times in his six years with the team. Brown also made the Pro Bowl in 2019. Those are three good offensive linemen that helped keep Carr clean last year.

Carr and the offense will suffer a lot if adequate replacements are not plugged in. There is some quality talent on the offensive line in the draft this year, but it's unlikely that a line with three new players will dominate their first year together.

via Silver & Black Today

Carr was sacked just 26 times last season; Raiders quarterbacks were sacked the ninth least number of times per game last season. Missing three players on the offensive line, expect those numbers to go up. 

Due to injuries, the run blocking on the offensive line was not as good as the pass protection, but the Raiders were still middle of the pack regarding running the ball. Running back Josh Jacobs still managed to rush for over 1,000 yards on the ground, and the Raiders managed the sixth-most rushing touchdowns on the ground. While they were not bad on the ground, there is room for improvement. 

The Raiders’ offensive line was the strength of the team, with three of the five main parts of the line not coming back next season, expect the Raiders to suffer. The team went as they went last year but now with the line gone now, it puts just that much more pressure on Carr and the rest of the team to up their game. That has not proven to be successful in the past, the formula for the Raiders to be successful is for them to win the battle in the trenches. 

Next season they will not be winning as many battles in the trenches, so they will have to find alternative ways to win games next season.