With The First Pick
Fansided

Oakland Raiders Now Made in Al Davis’ Image

By Carl Cockerham

Nov 15, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Members of the Armed Forces light a torch in honor of Al Davis before the start of the game between the Oakland Raiders and the Minnesota Vikings at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 15, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Members of the Armed Forces light a torch in honor of Al Davis before the start of the game between the Oakland Raiders and the Minnesota Vikings at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /
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August 30, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders tackle Donald Penn (72) during the second quarter in a preseason NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at O.co Coliseum. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 30-23. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
August 30, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders tackle Donald Penn (72) during the second quarter in a preseason NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at O.co Coliseum. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 30-23. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Huge Offensive Line

Davis always wanted to intimidate opposing teams on both sides of the ball. Before Davis, teams put physical, intimidating defenses out there to pound on offenses, making it harder for them to carry out their assignments. But Davis was an offensive coach with and offensive background.

His thing was to “take what we want” on offense so he wanted to intimidate the intimidators on defense. So he sought out the biggest, meanest, most aggressive guys for his offensive line. They were mean, oversized lineman, looking to break the will of opposing defensive lineman.

In the ’60s and ’70s, they had guys like C Jim Otto, OG Gene Upshaw, and OT Art Shell. In the ’80s, the Raiders had guys like C Dave Dalby OG Charlie Hannah and OT Bruce Davis. In 2002, it was guys like C Barret Robbins OG Frank Middleton, and OT Lincoln Kennedy.

Now, the Raiders, have LT Donald Penn, OG Kelechi Osemele, C Rodney Hudson, OG Gabe Jackson, and RT Austin Howard. Pro Football Focus has the Raiders challenging the Dallas Cowboys for the best offensive line in 2016. And they average around 6’5″, 330 pounds to confirm Del Rio always saying, “We like big people around here.”

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