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Former Jets guard Greg Van Roten starts at right guard for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Here is what he had to say about the Raiders offensive line performance against the New York Giants last week:
“It felt like we kind of controlled the line of scrimmage, and that’s always a goal,” he said. “Run game felt pretty good. Kept Aidan clean. [He] didn’t really have to drop back a lot, so that’s always a positive. And it finally felt like we controlled the game up front.”
It’s a long shot that they “control the game up front” this week.
Remember, the Giants, who were dominant up front against the Jets’ offensive line a couple of weeks ago, traded Leonard Williams, so this allowed the Raiders to double Dexter Lawrence more last week.
Van Roten, an overachieving lineman from Penn, is highly intelligent and is assignment savvy/technically sound, but he’s short with short arms, so Quinton Jefferson and Quinnen Williams could be challenging for him.
At right tackle, the Raiders have been platooning two players – Jermaine Eluemunor and Thayer Mumford.
When you are platooning two players at right tackle, that might not be the best sign.
Eluemunor actually went to high school near Jets camp a Morris Knolls High School in Denville.
And then it came out today that perhaps the Raiders’ best lineman, left tackle Kolton Miller, likely won’t play due to a shoulder injury.
I could be wrong, but I would not be surprised if the Jets defensive line dominates this game . . .
Expect a mixed crowd at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday in Las Vegas, I got out here a little early, and seeing people with Jets garb around town.
One thing you are seeing with teams traveling to Vegas is it becomes a destination trip for a lot of their fans.
If they are going to pick one road game to go to, maybe even for a bachelor party, it’s this trip.
Plus, a lot of New Yorkers live in Vegas.
Expect a big Jets contingent at Allegiant on Sunday . . .
Sometimes it seems like I’m a little critical of Zach Wilson on this website.
I want to make it perfectly clear, none of it is personal.
As Bill Parcells always liked to say, “I go by what I see fellas.”
Wilson is doing the best he can, but playing NFL QB might be the most complicated position in all of sports.
The attrition rate is very high.
There are only about five to seven elite quarterbacks in the NFL. When healthy, Aaron Rogers is one of them.
It’s a very hard position to master. I’m not talking about just the position of QB, but talking about NFL QB specifically.
In college, most defenses are so bad, that offensive play-callers can scheme first reads open with regularity. and many quarterbacks only have to read half the field.
Just like with Kellen Clemens, Bryce Petty and Sam Darnold, with Wilson, it’s not a lack of effort. He’s trying, but processing NFL defenses can be like molecular physics.
Wilson, like a lot of young quarterbacks, often needs that first read open, and in some games this year, Nate Hackett has done a wonderful job with that.
In other games, it hasn’t worked out as well. It’s hard to ace that every week.
While Jared Goff has had some success in Detroit, one of the reasons Sean McVay moved on from the QB, and had the Los Angeles Rams take a huge cap hit, was he was tired of having to be perfect on all his play calls.
Remember what he said after acquiring Matt Stafford – “You’re not limited in anything you can do with him in the pass game.”
So once again, I have nothing against Zach Wilson. He’s giving it his best shot, but this is a result-based business, and when you throw one touchdown pass over the last month, and it’s a one-yard throw to Breece Hall that he takes 50 yards for a touchdown, that is perhaps problematic for your offense.
November 10, 2023
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