We’re now inside 80 days until the Raiders open the 2017 season. That also means we’re moving on from receivers to linemen. Starting, of course at number 79.
OL Denver Kirkland
A man with the name Denver playing in Oakland. Go figure. This 6-4, 335 pounder joined the Raiders last year as an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas.
He was a guard his first two years with the Razorbacks before moving to left tackle his final season. The Raiders primarily played him as a tackle in jumbo packages as a rookie due to the injury to tight end Lee Smith. He appeared in six games last season in that role.
Currently Kirkland is working as the backup behind Donald Penn at left tackle. Should he hold that spot in the depth chart, his ability to play both guard and tackle could have him on the roster again this season.
Who wore it best: RT Harry Schuh (1965-70)
A former third overall pick by the Raiders in the 1965 draft, he ushered in a couple decades of some of the most dominant offensive line play by any team. He locked down the right tackle spot for the Raiders for six seasons. In that time, he missed just one game, was named to the Pro Bowl three times and All AFL once.
The 1969 season, he was one of three All AFL performers on the Raiders offensive line along with Jim Otto and Gene Upshaw. Schuh had the task of protecting the right side to allow Daryl Lamonica the time to earn his nickname "The Mad Bomber". One of those seasons was 1967 when the Raiders made it to the Super Bowl.
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