What condition Raiders position is in heading into 2019 training camp: Offensive tackle

Starters: Kolton Miller, Trent Brown

Backups: Brandon Parker, David Sharpe, Justin Murray, Tyler Roemer

With two rookie tackles starting last season, the Raiders couldn’t stop anyone. Derek Carr was under pressure almost constantly. Some 30 of the 52 sacks the Raiders gave up were surrendered by the combination of Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker.

Miller suffered a knee injury in week four which he couldn’t fully recover. He was always seen as a raw project who needed to add some bulk as well in order to perform at the NFL level. He remains the team’s left tackle.

Taking over at right tackle is Trent Brown who protected Tom Brady’s blind side last season as the Patriots won the Super Bowl. That earned Brown a record contract, despite being moved back to right tackle and never having made a Pro Bowl or being considered a great talent on either side of the line. But right tackle is where he has the most experience.

With Brown in house, Brandon Parker moves to the backup role at right tackle with former fourth round pick David Sharpe backing up the left side. Ultimately they would like Parker to be the reserve swing tackle, but at this point no one really knows which one will come out on top or if the team will simply be picking the lesser of the evils.

Condition: Unstable

The main worry is with Kolton Miller. Best case scenario his issues were health and development related. Jon Gruden is counting on that. Miller defenders point to his first three games in which he didn’t give up a sack as proof that when healthy, he is the first round talent the Raiders drafted him to be. We would need to see more than that to know for certain for two reasons; 1) That was also when fellow rookie Brandon Parker stepped in at right tackle so defenses were putting their best pass rusher on that side most of the time. 2) Miller was not without his issues even in those first games, including run blocking problems. There is at least reason to believe Brown can hold his own on the right side.

Also see: QB I RB I WR I TE