Running back Josh Jacobs wasn’t with the Raiders for the voluntary portion of their offseason program, but he was keeping an eye on what the team was doing while he was on his own.
Jacobs took particular note of three moves that Vegas made with a position group near and dear to his heart. The Raiders traded tackle Trent Brown, center Rodney Hudson and guard Gabe Jackson as they overhauled their offensive line ahead of the 2021 season.
Jacobs said on Tuesday that the moves initially left him scratching his head, but seeing how center Andre James, rookie tackle Alex Leatherwood and the rest of the line are working together has quieted his concerns.
“I won’t lie -- when [the changes] first happened -- I was like ‘Damn, what are we doing?’” Jacobs said, via Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But then I saw who we picked up and watched game film and saw them practice and how they were working, I was like, ‘We’re going to be nice.’”
There have been other moves by head coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Mike Mayock that have led to dubious reactions over the last few years. A number of those initial reads have been correct, but hitting on the offensive line rebuild would be a step in the right direction for the Raiders this season.