Toonstruck 1 » Kolton Miller’s lackluster Raiders preseason performance

Kolton Miller’s selection by the Raiders with the 14th overall pick was controversial as scouting evaluations had him projected all over the board prior to the draft. With a handful of highly regarded defensive players still on the board Frostee Rucker Jersey , the Raiders decision to take Miller was likely influenced by his elite athleticism and their dearth of talent at offensive tackle.While I wasn’t ecstatic about his selection, the fact remained that Miller was now a Raider and I was willing to give him a chance see he could excel in the preseason against NFL starting caliber competition. Unfortunately, Miller has not impressed thus far in his limited preseason appearances. In order to better understand Miller’s play, I graded Miller on a snap by snap basis for his performance against the Green Bay Packers.In grading an offensive lineman,I consider not losing as far more important than winning. An offensive lineman’s ability to take correct angles, minimize disruption, and limit pressures should all contribute to a low loss percentage Authentic Leon Hall Jersey , or the percentage of the time an offensive lineman loses as compared to his total snaps. In my grading system, offensive lineman with a sub 10% loss rate are elite and below 20% is starter level. Still, it is important to keep in mind that my usual system of grading offensive lineman is ineffective due to the extraordinarily small nature of my sample size.Nevertheless, Miller’s production against the Packers starting defensive line was absolutely terrible by any metric. In the seven snaps of the first Raiders’ drive, Miller surrendered 1 QB hit and 2 pressures which is worse than a regular pass block loss. Let’s examine each of these negative plays individually to better understand what happened. On the very first play, the play action with Marshawn Lynch was able to freeze Nick Perry (one of the most underrated NFL players by my evaluation) for a split second. Theoretically, this would allow Miller plenty of time to set his feet in perfect position and jam Perry to stymie his pass rush. Unfortunately Youth Johnny Townsend Jersey , Miller was far too hesitant with his hand usage and Perry almost contemptuously swats Miller’s hand away as he cuts inside and smashes into Carr as he threw the deep ball to Cooper. If Carr had been allowed to step into that throw, the Raiders may have had a touchdown on their first play. My negative grade on this snap is a bit more subjective, but I’ll stand by it. Miller gets beat by Gilbert who gives a one arm stab to create separation before he swatted away Miller’s arm as he bent around the edge. If it wasn’t for Carr displaying good footwork and awareness by stepping up in the pocket combined with the defensive end slipping, Miller would have been beaten completely. There is not much to be analyzed here. On this snap, Miller gets left in the dust as Clay Mathews fakes to the right and then spins back left. If Donald Penn had not been walked back into Carr, Mathews would have had the sack.It wasn’t all negative with Miller. As the game progressed, Miller improved as demonstrated by this snap where he mirrors the Packers DE perfectly and drives him to the floor. There was some of the aggressiveness and hand usage that was missing from his game previously.SummaryMiller was absolutely terrible during the first drive but he improved and played well throughout the rest of his time in the game. While that improvement should also be partly attributed to the diminishing talent facing him http://www.raidersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jared-cook-jersey , it’s possible a large part of it was due to the change of mindset. Cable/Gruden likely ripped into him on the sideline about his lack of aggressiveness and hand usage and he responded. While Miller’s athleticism reaches the physical thresholds for an All-Pro talent, he still requires a ton of improvements to his technique and overall core strength before he reaches anywhere near that level of play. Vegas oddsmakers clearly haven’t been watching the Raiders enough this season. Or they need to listen to Paul Guenther. The odds were favoring the 49ers by three points coming in. Then Nick Mullens was named the starter and the line changed to the Raiders being favored by one point.Then the game started.With six minutes left in the second quarter, the 49ers punted for the first time. Nick Mullens had led the 49ers to touchdowns on his first two drives. Not his first two drives of the game. His first two drives of his NFL CAREER. He has never played a snap in the NFL. Then he lined up across from the Raiders porous, toothless defense and looked downright elite.Mullens went 12 for 17 for 167 yards and 2 TD’s and the 49ers carried a 17-3 lead into the half. Derek Carr? Sacked four times. This is at the half, mind you.Come the second half, it was more of the same. The 49ers got the ball first and drove right down the field for the touchdown. It was highlighted by an insande one-handed grab by tight end George Kittle on a crossing route that went for 71 yards. Then Mullens rolled out left and found Kittle again for the score to take a 24-3 lead.When the Raiders got the ball back, Kolton Miller was out for the rest of the game and replaced by Kelechi Osemele who moved over from left guard. And he promptly gave up the fifth sack on Carr in the game.Midway through the third quarter Marshawn Lynch Jersey , Mullens was 15 of 20 for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns with a 156.2 passer rating, tight end George Kittle was already over 100 yards (108), and the 49ers were up 31-3.The game was over. There was just some time still left.From here it was just about playing out the clock. Even though the defense was playing out the clock since the first snap of the game. Whatever efforts they had early on were long since gone as their spirits were broken.Even the Raiders’ field goal attempt to begin the fourth quarter bounced off the right upright. And after the sixth sack on Carr and with 11:45 left in the game, AJ McCarron came in the game at quarterback. Like a preseason game.It was reminiscent of 2013 when Nick Foles came into Oakland and got his third career win throwing 7 touchdowns. The Battle of the Bay is no more. The Raiders lose the final game in the series in embarrassing fashion as the team that will remain in the Bay Area claimed their territorial rights.The Raiders lost the battle, but may have won the war. The war has been looking ahead to next year’s draft for a while now. Where pass rusher Nick Bosa awaits. This effort helps them in that endeavor.Follow @LeviDamien