Jack Del Rio says Austin Howard will move back to right tackle for Raiders

One of our big off-season questions was whether Austin Howard could end up moving to right tackle. Jack Del Rio is at the combine and was asked that very question and according to Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle, he said that yes the plan is to move Howard to right tackle.

Jack Del Rio says Austin Howard moving back to right tackle, unless Menelik Watson can beat him out. #Raiders #NFLcombine

— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) February 18, 2015

The main reason this was a question was because Howard was a right tackle with the New York Jets prior to the Raiders signing him last off-season and moving him to guard.

Then offensive line coach Tony Sparano coached Howard for one season in New York and saw run blocking as Howard's strength leading to his feeling that he could make a successful transition to guard. It didn't work out as he had hoped and Howard was one of the worst starting guards in the NFL for much of the season.

As much as Howard struggled at right guard, Watson struggled even worse at right tackle, making Howard an intriguing option to make the switch back to his 'natural' position.

It's clear from Del Rio's response that it will be a competition and if Watson can show the kind of improvement the team hoped when they used a second round pick on him, he could still win that job, leaving Howard to either move back to guard or be one of the most expensive backups in all of football.

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