The Las Vegas Raiders finally addressed their offensive line when they traded for Justin Herron with the New England Patriots. While he’s familiar with the system that head coach Josh McDaniels is using, he only has 10 starts over his career. He mostly brings depth to the offensive line but shouldn’t make an impact as a starter.
General manager Dave Ziegler has been active on the trade market this year and could look to the Patriots for another deal. The team previously shopped former first-round pick Isaiah Wynn this offseason but didn’t find a suitor. He’ll be a free agent after the season and Bill Belichick might want to get something for him before he lets him walk in free agency. Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report believes that the Raiders should try to make a trade for Wynn:
Finding legitimate offensive-line help this time of year is next to impossible, but there might be a unique opportunity with Isaiah Wynn and the New England Patriots.
Bill Belichick has never been a stranger to making bold moves. Trading his starting right tackle would be a curious decision, but he’s apparently been on the trade block already. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported the Pats talked with other teams about shopping Wynn before the season.
The 25-year-old is playing in the final year of his rookie contract, so New England could be interested in moving on without extending him.
Background on Wynn
Wynn has been the Patriots’ primary starting left tackle over the past four seasons. He’s small for a tackle at just 6-foot-2 but that didn’t stop him from being the No. 23 overall pick in 2018. He’s had some ups and downs throughout his career but he’s solid and better than what the Raiders have to offer right now.
Through two games this season, he has a 73.7 Pro Football Focus grade. That’s better than Kolton Miller’s 65.4 grade and he’s supposed to be the best player on the Raiders offensive line. Wynn finished the last two seasons with grades over 70.0 so he’s proven to be a consistent and solid player. If he’s available to the Raiders for a good price, they should strongly consider bringing him in.
Top 5 PFF grades for the Patriots offense after 2 weeks:
1. WR Kendrick Bourne: 80.3
2. OG Michael Onwenu: 75.8
3. RT Isaiah Wynn: 73.7
4. WR Nelson Agholor: 73
5. WR Jakobi Meyers: 72.9
Raiders Need to Figure out Run Game
A big reason the Raiders need to fix the offensive line is due to the lack of a run game through two games. The team is 30th in the NFL in rushing right now which is odd considering they have a Pro Bowl running back in Josh Jacobs. The Raiders barely ran in the second half in the come-from-behind loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2. Head coach Josh McDaniels explained his rationale for passing more than running.
“Look, when you get a lead and you have a lead in the second half of an NFL game and you’re playing offense, you have to maintain the ability to be aggressive,” McDaniels said. “You can’t just sit there and say, ‘Let’s run, run, run, punt, and do it that way.’ It doesn’t mean you can’t run the ball, but you certainly can’t sit there and just hope for the game to be over. You’ve got to play offense. You’ve got to be aggressive. … And when you get to that point where you can do that on a continuous basis, you have the ability — when you put yourself in that position — to put the game away.”
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Raiders Urged to Trade for Former Patriots 1st-Round Pick With 35 Career Starts