Kolton Miller, OT UCLA -- Raiders' 1st Selection 15th Overall

[NCOUGHMAN]

5 hours ago, reddevil said:

Yeah. I've watched most of his games now and I feel a little bit better about the pick. I would say most of his games fall into a few categories. Sometimes he is just plain bad. He looks unbalanced and too defensive. Slow to use his hands and lacking aggression and giving defenders too much time. Sometimes he looks ugly, but he kinda gets the job done and then he has a few good games where he seems in control and balanced in pass pro and active and aggressive against the run.

The thing that I came away feeling is that developing his mentality is going to be important as well as improving his technique. The physical pieces and some of the skills are there, but to unlock his potential he has to be aggressive and on the front foot. Too many times he looks passive and almost apprehensive to attack the defender. Hopefully working next to KO can give him a bit of nasty. 

Really interested to see how he develops and I think he is so polarising because genuinely nobody has any clue how good or bad he's gonna be.

This. I hate cut ups because they don’t show the real in game feel. He looked like a first rounder vs usc. Didn’t give up a sack and I think Rosen threw it 50 times that game. He’s more nasty in the run game but  his athleticism was on full display saw Him recover on a few pass plays he was momentarily beat on.

[agarcia34]

Keeping Kolton at LT will only help him and it’s the right thing. They should be getting Parker ready for RT not Kolton. 

Raiders can save money this year by releasing Penn. I think if Kolton shines in Camp and has a good showing in the preseason. Wouldn’t surprise to see Penn go. You add his age and him coming off an injury and his salary. A lot of things are not in his favor. 

[big_palooka]

37 minutes ago, agarcia34 said:

Keeping Kolton at LT will only help him and it’s the right thing. They should be getting Parker ready for RT not Kolton. 

Raiders can save money this year by releasing Penn. I think if Kolton shines in Camp and has a good showing in the preseason. Wouldn’t surprise to see Penn go. You add his age and him coming off an injury and his salary. A lot of things are not in his favor. 

The thought of starting 2 rookie tackles send chills is daunting.

[RaidersAreOne]

1 minute ago, big_palooka said:

The thought of starting 2 rookie tackles send chills is daunting.

I'd be a bit worried too, but I mean we don't have anything at RT regardless. And if Penn is infact hurt, Miller is probably our best option at LT. 

It's been echoed here a bunch but I want to reiterate Gruden isn't an idiot and has mentioned protecting Carr non-stop. No chance he would leave rookie T's on an island. We brought back Lee Smith and signed a better blocking FB for a reason. They will help in pass-pro a lot.

[MrOaktown_56]

Penn is still a good tackle. Kolton will get LT reps, but Penn SHOULD be the starter. He's a proven player who handles good players on a week to week basis and still can help us win. That being said, in preseason I'd like to see Miller get some good reps in to learn from. He'll be our starting right tackle this year IMO.

[Frankie2Gunz]

7 hours ago, MrOaktown_56 said:

Penn is still a good tackle. Kolton will get LT reps, but Penn SHOULD be the starter. He's a proven player who handles good players on a week to week basis and still can help us win. That being said, in preseason I'd like to see Miller get some good reps in to learn from. He'll be our starting right tackle this year IMO.

Exactly.  Miller is most likely our RT this year and slides over when Penn turns 36 and is released before next season.  Sure releasing Penn would save us 8 million this year but FA is over, where could we better spend that money than keeping Penn and protecting our franchise QB?  

[Blazer026]

I agree that it would be pointless to cut Penn now unless he's terrible. 

I wouldn't be shocked though he play a lot worse this year though. Thought his play was a little worse last year and the injury to end the season makes me nervous as well. 

[big_palooka]

6 hours ago, Frankie2Gunz said:

Exactly.  Miller is most likely our RT this year and slides over when Penn turns 36 and is released before next season.  Sure releasing Penn would save us 8 million this year but FA is over, where could we better spend that money than keeping Penn and protecting our franchise QB?  

Then why not start him on the right side day 1. Seems misguided to bring him in at left if he's most likely going to play right this season.

Also, Penn is far from a sure thing at his age and with injury. He came in out of shape a year ago after holding out and fell off a bit. He's got to come back from a foot injury at his age now. Hope he gets right, because they need his presence,

[Bitty 2.0]

21 hours ago, NCOUGHMAN said:

This. I hate cut ups because they don’t show the real in game feel. He looked like a first rounder vs usc. Didn’t give up a sack and I think Rosen threw it 50 times that game. He’s more nasty in the run game but  his athleticism was on full display saw Him recover on a few pass plays he was momentarily beat on.

When you watch him play you can tell he needs help with technique but his athleticism and strength jumps out are you.

He’s a naturally keen bender with quick feet who takes false steps and gets over extended sometimes. It’s understandable for a RT who moved to LT but there are easy fixes.

[SBXISBXVSBXVIII]

18 hours ago, big_palooka said:

The thought of starting 2 rookie tackles send chills is daunting.

I loved the OT picks. However, if they're not ready to go and they're starters, God help Carr.

[Frankie2Gunz]

4 hours ago, big_palooka said:

Then why not start him on the right side day 1. Seems misguided to bring him in at left if he's most likely going to play right this season.

Also, Penn is far from a sure thing at his age and with injury. He came in out of shape a year ago after holding out and fell off a bit. He's got to come back from a foot injury at his age now. Hope he gets right, because they need his presence,

I'm not quite sure what you are saying.  I just clearly stated that I think Miller should be the starter at RT this year.  Miller will slide over to LT when Penn's contract is up and he turns 36 next season. 

Miler has played both Tackle positions at UCLA and starting him at RT and getting him NFL game experience will be critical for his development.  I will preface this statement with my hope that he wins the RT position because he is the best player at the position and not because he was a 1st round pick.  I find it hard to believe that he wont be the best option at RT knowing how terrible our RT has been over the last number of years.  

[Rich7sena]

I don't really think the Raiders are in a good spot to cut Penn. Ideally, Parker is the LTotF and Miller starts and stays on the right side. Looking back at the Senior Bowl and knowing that Parker started all three seasons at A&T on the left side suggests flipping him might not go well.

[big_palooka]

6 hours ago, Frankie2Gunz said:

I'm not quite sure what you are saying.  I just clearly stated that I think Miller should be the starter at RT this year.  Miller will slide over to LT when Penn's contract is up and he turns 36 next season. 

Miler has played both Tackle positions at UCLA and starting him at RT and getting him NFL game experience will be critical for his development.  I will preface this statement with my hope that he wins the RT position because he is the best player at the position and not because he was a 1st round pick.  I find it hard to believe that he wont be the best option at RT knowing how terrible our RT has been over the last number of years.  

He is currently practicing at LT. My question was, why not get him his reps at RT now if that's where they plan to start him? If he's your RT for the season, then why waste valuable time developing him as a LT.

Looks more like he will be a LT with eye to back Penn and possibly start later in the season. Parker likely gets in on the RT competition. 

 

[big_palooka]

2 hours ago, Rich7sena said:

I don't really think the Raiders are in a good spot to cut Penn. Ideally, Parker is the LTotF and Miller starts and stays on the right side. Looking back at the Senior Bowl and knowing that Parker started all three seasons at A&T on the left side suggests flipping him might not go well.

And they are doing the opposite. Starting Parker at RT and Miller at LT. Guessing they want to see what they have in Miller in the event Penn is done.

[NightTrainLane]

59 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

And they are doing the opposite. Starting Parker at RT and Miller at LT. Guessing they want to see what they have in Miller in the event Penn is done.

Plus I think too much is made of the R to L stuff this early on. Still LOADS of time for them to learn or course correct if needed.