The Las Vegas Raiders named their new offensive line coach this week, and this hire has a familiar ring to it. Rick Dennison will be the coach who draws the short straw of trying to fix the Raiders’ problematic offensive line, and he was run game coordinator and senior offensive advisor for the Seattle Seahawks last year. The addition was 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 pere 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, as 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. There are plenty of problems to address, but at least the Raiders have the resources to come up with possible solutions.
Dennison also solves the coaching problem here. The Raiders line was managed by nepo-coach Brennan Carroll, son of fired coach Pete Carroll, so that was likely a huge part of the mess. It won’t be an easy fix, but at least the Raiders will have an experienced coach taking on this task.