When the Denver Broncos meet the Las Vegas Raiders this season, they’ll see a very familiar figure running the Raiders offensive line. Rick Dennison was named offensive line coach in Las Vegas yesterday after working as run-game coordinator and senior offensive advisor for the Seattle Seahawks last year, with the addition reported by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
Dennison has a long history with both new coach Klint Kubiak and his father, Gary, who was Dennison’s teammate when Kubiak per played quarterback with the Denver Broncos. Dennison also coached with Gary Kubiak with the Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings. He worked with Klint Kubiak in Denver and Minnesota, and also with the New Orleans Saints and the Seahawks.
Dennison also has another Super Bowl ring to go with the one he earned in Seattle, and he got it in Denver. He was the Broncos’ offensive coordinator in 2015 under Gary Kubiak in Super Bowl 50.
That’s a lot of history, so communication shouldn’t be a problem, but that doesn’t mean this will be an easy fix. The Raiders offensive line was atrocious last year, with quarterback Geno Smith taking a pounding and running back Ashton Jeanty struggling to find running lanes.
There is a way out, though, at least in theory. The line wasn’t bad until left tackle Kolton Miller went out with a high ankle sprain that turned out to be a stress fracture. Things went downhill in a hurry after that, but Miller was healthy at the end of the season, and he’s a quality lineman whose presence would elevate things considerably.
There’s also plenty of cap space to address the issues on the line, and the Raiders will almost certainly devote some draft picks to fixing this problem. They’re expected to select quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the top pick in the upcoming draft, but no one would be surprised to see the Raiders sign at least one or two offensive lineman, not to mention multiple undrafted free agents.
So why is this important to the Broncos? Simple. Their games with the Raiders were close last year, also it wouldn’t take much to turn Las Vegas into a genuine threat. A better offensive line would go a long way toward making that happen, and it likely means the Broncos will have to find new ways to win against their division rivals that involve more than just capitalizing on the Raiders’ general incompetence across the board.