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Raiders Mailbag: Raiders back in the lab making corrections ahead of Browns

Sep 25, 2024 at 10:24 AM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Jeremy Summers from Washington asks:

"Is Kolton Miller OK? I am too used to seeing him just lock down the left side of the line and we looked vulnerable there at times."

Without a doubt, Kolton Miller is still one of the pivotal forces of the Raiders offense. However, it's been an less than ideal start to the season not just for him, but for the whole offensive line.

Miller is still getting back in the groove of things, as a shoulder injury sustained last season forced him out for most of training camp. He settled in a bit against the Panthers, allowing no sacks and just one pressure to earn an 84.9 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus. It's also worth noting Miller is getting adjusted to playing on the left side with new guard Cody Whitehair after Dylan Parham was moved over to right guard.

While it's still a work in progress, give Miller and the rest of the offensive line more time to get comfortable with one another and Luke Getsy's scheme. When healthy, Miller has proved to be one of the Raiders' best offensive linemen in recent memory.

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Fernando Cardenas from California asks:

"How can we improve in the run game?"

Going into the fourth game of the season, a lot of questions submitted have been about the Raiders' rushing attack.

To say the ground game has been disappointing would be an understatement. After rushing for nearly 100 yards a game in the last four games of the 2023 season, Zamir White has averaged 34 yards a game in 2024. White's backups, Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah, have not found any more success on the ground either, recording a combined 28 yards on 14 carries.

So the question at hand, how to improve? There's not one particular answer. It's going to have to be a collective effort between the running backs and the blocking schemes to figure out what needs to be done to be more efficient.

"That's not something I'm proud of, our staff is not proud of and I'm sure our team is not," Antonio Pierce said of the run game struggles. "And again, we're going to get in here and we're going to chip away after we make the corrections from today and be honest with one another. But it's very disappointing to watch our run game."

Louie Holguin from Califonia said:

"I think we need to address our safeties and cornerback positions."

The Raiders have no choice but to address the safety position. Marcus Epps was placed on injured reserve Tuesday after suffering a significant injury against the Panthers.

With Epps going down, the next man up seems to be Isaiah Pola-Mao, who has shown great promise throughout his tenure with the Silver and Black. The 2022 UDFA has appeared in 30 career games with 31 solo tackles, two sacks and an interception to his name. While being used as a rotational third safety, he's earned the trust of the locker room and coaching staff.

"He has played in some rotational roles in years past in dime, but now he's in his third year. We were really comfortable with him," Pierce said Monday. "He had a really good preseason, stepped up yesterday and did a decent job filling in."

In a corresponding move to Epps going on IR, cornerback Sam Webb was signed to the active roster. The former Division II standout played in all 17 games his rookie season and could see an uptick in reps with the shortening depth in the secondary. Notably, he appeared in one game as a safety for the Carolina Panthers last season. There's potential the Raiders could envision him in the same role.

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Las Vegas Raiders running back Zamir White (3) rushes during the regular season home game against the Carolina Panthers at Allegiant Stadium.