Raiders News: Josh McDaniels ‘Not Searching For Anything’ Along Offensive Line

The Las Vegas Raiders showed some fight in the latter parts of the game but ultimately fell short in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

There were positives to take away from the performance, but an issue worth monitoring is the offensive line. The Raiders have an inexperienced group up front, which showed as the Chargers were able to pressure Derek Carr and the run game.

Head coach Josh McDaniels opted to rotate players at the guard and tackle positions, and he emphasized that the moves were made based on merit via Tashan Reed of The Athletic:

“We’re not searching for anything. We’re playing the guys that deserve to play,” McDaniels said. “If something were to break and we say, ‘Hey, these five are clearly different from the other five,’ then we could go in that direction.”

While there was much to be desired from a pass protection perspective, McDaniels emphasized that facet of the game is more of a team thing:

“I also think they did a lot of good things in the game that gave us opportunities to make plays both in the running game and in the passing game,” McDaniels. “We can blitz pickup better; we had a couple issues with our backs just in terms of overall protection. We had a couple things where we were trying to help the protection and didn’t do it necessarily the way that we wanted. And then we had a couple of issues where we probably could’ve got the ball out a little quicker based on something that was available to us. I’ve always believed that protection is a team thing; it’s not just on the offensive line.”

Against the Chargers, McDaniels played Dylan Parham and Lester Cotton Sr. at guard, while Jermaine Eluemunor and Thayer Munford Jr. split time at right tackle. Each brings something different to the table, but it might be in McDaniels and the Raiders’ best interest to settle on a starting group.