Sunday when the Raiders take the field on offense against the Dolphins in Miami, the offensive line will be almost completely unrecognizable from the one that took the field at the start of the season. Heck, it won’t even resemble the one that took the field for their last game.
Injuries along with poor play from the initial starters has completely transformed the Raiders offensive line. This week they will field their whopping sixth different starting offensive line combination this season.
From left to right, the starting five will be LT Kolton Miller, LG Dylan Parham, C Jackson Powers-Johnson, RG Jordan Meredith, and RT DJ Glaze.
The only position on the line with the same starter from the season opener is left tackle Kolton Miller.
Cody Whitehair started the season at left guard — he’s OUT for this game. Andre James started the season at center — he’s OUT for this game.
Dylan Parham started the season at right guard — he got injured and then supplanted as the starter by Jordan Meredith.
Thayer Munford started the season at right tackle — he got injured and then supplanted as the starter by rookie DJ Glaze.
Here is what the starting lineup has looked like for each game this season:
| Week | LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| 1 | Miller | Whitehair | James | Parham | Munford |
| 2 | Miller | Peat | James | Parham | Munford |
| 3 | Miller | Whitehair | James | Parham | Munford |
| 4 | Miller | P-Johnson | James | Parham | Glaze |
| 5 | Miller | P-Johnson | James | Parham | Glaze |
| 6 | Miller | P-Johnson | James | Parham | Glaze |
| 7 | Miller | P-Johnson | James | Meredith | Glaze |
| 8 | Miller | P-Johnson | James | Meredith | Glaze |
| 9 | Miller | Whitehair | P-Johnson | Meredith | Glaze |
| 11 | Miller | Parham | P-Johnson | Meredith | Glaze |
“At the end of the day, it’s kind of been like our whole season. Next man up, right? Next man up,” head coach Antonio Pierce said of the shuffling line.
“You just hate that we keep changing all these pieces along the offensive line, because at some point, you’d like just to have five guys there, continuity, chemistry. That’s really the glue to our team, when you can have that. So something we’re working on consistently.”
On one hand, it’s hard to gain any consistency of play without continuity. On the other hand, finding the best five is important and at least two of these guys was replaced by someone who outplayed them.
It’s very possible this lineup is the best five the Raiders have. Parham moves back to left guard where he had played the past two seasons and Andre James didn’t do much to keep Rimington Award Winner Powers-Johnson from getting his shot to take the job. And thus far, JPJ has looked the part.
As for depth, the Raiders may need to dig into their practice squad for that.