- Aug 25, 2012
- 18,569
- 25,549
A solid C IMO.
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For the record, I ****in hated Switzer ... He cost us 2 games last year but I don't blame him rather the staff for putting a rookie on punt return ... That being said, he will probably show out for you all ...
How is Ward?
Really hoping Hurst doesn't need a surgery. Because if he doesn't our DL is looking nice.
A solid C IMO.
If we would have drafted James or Edmunds this would have been B+/A draft.
Other than our 1st rd pick. I like our draft picks.
Victor is our starting MLB this year, if Bowman is not resigned.

wouldn't be surprised if Reggie is gone in a year or two.
I think it would be a bad move on our part letting Reggie leave.
Donald Penn being investigated for DV
Can't holdout from hitting woman I seeRaiders Film Room: Kolton Miller needs some time to develop, but his athleticism gives him a high ceiling
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By Ted Nguyen Apr 27, 201815![]()
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The difference between winning that fateful coin flip at the combine for the Raiders and 49ers came to light Thursday when it was revealed that both the Raiders and the 49ers were in the market for a tackle. Winning the toss would give the 49ers first dibs in a really thin tackle class.
The 49ers chose the more polished and refined Mike McGlinchey out of Notre Dame with the ninth pick. He was likely the Raiders’ choice, so they traded down out of the 10th pick to the 15th pick to select Kolton Miller out of UCLA.
Unlike McGlinchey, Miller is raw and underdeveloped from a technical standpoint. However, Miller is as good an athlete as you can find at the position. His ceiling is very high, maybe higher than McGlinchey’s, but he’ll need time to develop and likely won’t be ready to play Week 1.
False step
After speaking with Brandon Thorn, an offensive line guru, and Duke Manyweather, who trains several NFL offensive linemen, including the Raiders’ Donald Penn, it’s clear Miller has a lot of work to do. Thorn believes one of Miller’s biggest problems is a false step he takes in his pass set.
On the snap, you see his inside foot move. The inside foot is called the “post” foot because this is the foot in which pass blockers have most of their weight and power.
“By stepping forward with his post foot at the snap, he puts himself behind the rusher’s path, forcing his base to narrow and hips to open in an attempt to recover, creating a two-way go for the rusher,” Thorn said.
It seems like such a small movemen,t but in the trenches when Miller will face some of the best athletes in the NFL, every inch and millisecond counts. This is a fixable problem, but it will take a lot of reps and purposeful practice to kill this habit and avoid reverting.
Hand usage
Another big technical flaw that Miller has is his hand usage, more specifically how he times his punches. He doesn’t know when to strike and, according to former NFL offensive lineman Mike Golic Jr., Miller “consistently leans and throws punches with little confidence.”
Against USC’s Uchenna Nwosu, who will be playing in the NFL, Miller didn’t strike with any force or confidence. Instead, he passively and slowly raised his hands into Nwosu’s chest plate. Nwosu doesn’t get affected by Miller’s hands at all and he’s able to get the edge on Miller. However, Miller’s athleticism allows him to recover.
Athleticism/mean streak in the run game
Where you really see Miller’s athleticism shine through is in the run game. He still needs to develop some functional strength, but that’ll come as he matures. However, his ability to move laterally and his mean streak in the run game are impressive.
In both clips, Miller had the very difficult task of blocking defensive tackles that were in 2-techniques (head up on the guard), but he is able to easily get there. This shows up on film consistently. These are the types of blocks that offensive line coaches get ecstatic about because if Miller can make these blocks consistently it makes it easier on guards because they don’t have to help as much and can get to the second level quicker.
Miller also showed he can be a very effective gap-scheme blocker when he gets his shoulder pads down because of his quickness off the snap.
On this counter run, Miller had to down-block the defensive end Jordan Iosefa (No. 56). Miller took a quick first step, got his pad level down and hands in the right place and drove Iosefa about five yards down the line.
These are plays that get you excited about Miller’s potential.
Improvement
To his credit, Miller looked like an improved player as the season went along. His technique looked much better in UCLA’s final game against Cal. It still isn’t where it needs to be, but signs of improvement throughout the season are indicators that a player is coachable.
Miller might have gotten away with a false start, but he didn’t false step off the snap. He did a good job of passing off the defensive end stunt to his guard and picked up defensive tackle James Looney looping outside. He got a much stronger punch inside the chest plate of Looney and knocked him back.
Last year, the Raiders were close to drafting tackle Cam Robinson from Alabama with their first-round pick but couldn’t pass up on a talent like cornerback Gareon Conley. Finding a potential right tackle and someone to groom at left tackle has been a priority for a while now and the Raiders finally pulled the trigger.
The question is whether new offensive line coach Tom Cable will be able to rebuild Miller’s fundamentals from the ground up. Cable didn’t have a good track record of development in Seattle. Jon Gruden is putting a lot of trust in Cable and for his and Miller’s sakes, it better pay off.