The big tasks ahead of new Raiders offensive line coach James Cregg

The starters at center, right guard, right tackle loom large in potentially a new-look group up front

Andre James, Greg Van Roten, and Jermaine Eluemunor. That’s the starting center, right guard, and right tackle for the majority of the Las Vegas Raiders 2023 campaign. And all three have expiring contracts and are slated to hit unrestricted free agency.

Identifying if any of that trio should be back and building an offensive line that may sport a new look in 2024 — that’s quite the lofty challenge ahead of Raiders OL boss James Cregg. Ramping up the assessment of in-house options, the trio slated to hit free agency, and the prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft is quite the laundry list for the new offensive line coach. Then comes the philosophy and scheme install that is a whole different beast.

Fortunately for Las Vegas, Cregg’s experience with moving parts and having learned from some of the best in the business should be advantageous.

Coming over from the San Francisco 49ers — where he served as the assistant offensive line coach the past two seasons — Cregg’s coaching career began in 1997 as a graduate assistant at Colorado State. This isn’t the 50-year-old’s first rodeo in Silver and Black serving as Tom Cable’s assistant from 2007 to 2008. When then-head coach Lane Kiffin was fired by the Raiders, Cregg followed him to Tennessee to run Kiffin’s offensive line. And when Kiffin was hired a head coach at USC, Cregg joined him to coach the Trojans’ offensive line. From there, Cregg had stints as assistant offensive line coach with the Denver Broncos (2014-16), Los Angeles Chargers (2017) before running LSU’s offensive line (2018-20).

Over that timespan, Cregg learned from various students of Alex Gibbs, often referred to as the godfather of the modern zone blocking scheme. Cable cut his teeth in that philosophy, as did current 49ers head coach and play caller Kyle Shanahan and his father and former coach Mike. At Cregg’s most recent stop on Kyle Shanahan’s staff, the Niners deployed a variety of blocking concepts from power, counter, inside zone, duo, and of course the wide zone that Gibbs and Mike Shanahan are famous for.

The younger Shanahan added his own wrinkle of pre-snap motions and alignments that show one thing initially but alters when the ball is snapped. You have offensive linemen pulling, some going one-on-one, combo blocks, etc.

During his time with San Francisco, Cregg was immersed in the versatility of what Shanahan expects out of his offense: A unit that can seamlessly go from bully ball with a heavy-set power run to the wide zone scheme of getting to the edge quickly and making the opposition pay. The 49ers expected everyone to block from the linemen up front, the tight ends, wide receivers, full back, and half backs. While Cregg’s philosophy and scheme in Las Veags will become apparent in due time, putting everything he’s absorbed throughout his career into practice is mission critical.

Especially for a Raiders offense that features Luke Getsy at offensive coordinator and a head coach in Antonio Pierce that wants his team to be domineering in all three phases of the game: Offense, defense, and special teams.

In-House

Dylan Parham is a steady starter at guard for Las Vegas since he was taken in the third round of the 2022 draft (90th overall). The 24-year-old was the starting pivot at Memphis and has filled in at center when James has missed time. This coming season could be the year Parham shifts to the position he commanded in college, if Cregg deems so. Of course, if Parham were to shift to center to take the spot vacated by James, that’d leave an opening at guard.

At right tackle, the Raiders do have a promising player in Thayer Munford Jr., a seventh-round pick in the 2022 draft (238th overall) that brought Parham to the team. The 24-year-old started at both right and left tackle this past season and held up well considering his draft pedigree. There’s also veteran DJ Fluker who was a practice squad add in the latter half of the 2023 season and inked to a reserve/future deal early this offseason. Granted, the now 32 year old hasn’t played a snap of football since 2020. Fluker, however, is reportedly in the best shape he’s been in.

There’s also mammoth undrafted rookie Dalton Wagner who the Raiders placed on injured reserve. At 6-foot-8 and 320 pounds, the Arkansas product display prototypical size and power to be a mauler but is very raw at 25 years old.

Free Agency

Our Matt Holder did an excellent job of looking into Cregg’s history and three free agent linemen he coached up at LSU. That trio are center Lloyd Cushenberry III and guards Damien Lewis and Saahdiq Charles. Each would help the Raiders get competition and depth along the front.

There’s also re-upping James, Van Roten, or Eluemunor if the Raiders deem them vital and cost-effective.

At just 26 years old, James has a shot to draw decent attention in the open market as he’s been a 16-game, 15-game, and 17-game starter the last three seasons, all at center. The projected valuation for James is a contract that nets him around $8 million per year average.

Eluemunor, on the other hand, holds a projected value of $3 million per year, annually, which isn’t overtly expensive for a 29-year-old tackle who has played in all 17 games the last two seasons. Van Roten, meanwhile, is likely the cheapest to bring back at a projected value of $1.6 million, which is proper for a 34-year-old veteran.

Draft

With the No. 13 overall pick in the first round, Las Vegas is likely to be in prime position to look at offensive tackles if they remain at that slot. The top-billed prospects include Notre Dame’s Joe Alt, Alabama’s JC Latham, Penn State’s Olumuyiwa Fashanu, and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga.

There’s talented interior prospects that the Raiders can eye in the ensuing rounds such as Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, Washington’s Troy Fautanu, and Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe, to name a few.

The zone blocking scheme does give teams leeway to look at linemen who fit that style in later rounds or even in undrafted free agency, but scheme-versatile prospects tend to be in the early rounds.