October 5, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers guard Mike Iupati (77) lines up during the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Levi
Mike Iupati
After one year of horrible play, the Raiders have ended the Austin-Howard-at-guard-experiment. He has been moved back to right tackle—the position that he was the top free agent at in 2014. This leaves room for soon-to-be San Francisco 49ers guard Mike Iupati to come in and take over.
Gabe Jackson showed in 2014 that he is a solid piece to build the offensive line around. So if McKenzie brings him in, head coach Jack Del Rio can play that smash-mouth football he likes to play. All Iupati wants is some money and right now, all the Raiders have is money and Iupati won’t even have to move out of his house.
Left tackle Donald Penn had a nice comeback year last year and he looks to have a couple of more good years left. Howard is back at a position where he’s good, Jackson is a beast and the last slide has Hudson on the way. Bringing Iupati in would make the Raiders offensive line a dominant unit—something is wasn’t in 2014.
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