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The Las Vegas Raiders offensive line in 2023 should look very similar to how it did last season outside of one key move. Veteran offensive guard Greg Van Roten was brought in this offseason and appears to have won the starting right guard spot.
Alex Bars held down the position for the Raiders last season and started 14 games but the team decided to let him go outright. While Bars has never been a top offensive guard, Las Vegas may have made a mistake, according to Bleacher Report. Gary Davenport predicted that the Raiders would regret letting Bars walk.
“In fairness to the Raiders, cutdown day is always a numbers game; teams can only keep so many players at a given position,” Davenport wrote in an August 31 column.
“However, Bars is not an end-of-the bench player who barely saw the field last season. He played over 850 snaps for the Raiders in 2022. He wasn’t great (five sacks allowed, per PFF), but he could have been an experienced depth piece at least.
“And given how bad the Raiders’ offensive line is, the team can use all of those it can get.”
The fact that the Raiders didn’t bring Bars back onto the practice squad was telling. The team must not think he’s much of a fit anymore but he could be on their radar if he stays in free agency and there are some injuries.
Josh McDaniels Praises Greg Van Roten
Greg Van Roten didn’t join the Raiders until May but has quickly impressed coaches and earned a role on the offense. This is his seventh NFL team and perhaps he finally found the right fit for his skillset. Head coach Josh McDaniels has been impressed with the veteran offensive guard in his brief time with the team.
“I think he’s right there,” McDaniels said of Van Roten during his August 30 media availability. “He’s been a really important cog for us here as we’ve kind of gone through training camp. He acclimated quickly to our terminology. He is a physical guy that practices well every day and does a good job of communicating with the guys on either side of him; understands the offense, has played a lot of football, has multiple-position value for us. So, if something were ever to happen, you’d have some flexibility there with both him and Dylan [Parham] and really all the guys inside other than Andre [James] have some flexibility to center there. So, he’s just a good football player and glad we have him.”
Right guard was the weak link on the offensive last season so Van Roten has a big opportunity to make an impact.
McClendon Curtis Lands on Practice Squad
One of the big undrafted free agent signings the Raiders made was landing former Chattanooga offensive guard McClendon Curtis. While he showed some promise this offseason, he still needs work before he’s ready to play NFL games, which is why he didn’t end up making the active roster.
Luckily, he was able to clear waivers and the Raiders stashed him on the practice squad. It could be a year or two before Curtis gets a chance to play regular season games but he’s one of the practice squad players to keep an eye on.
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