The Raiders signed controversial offensive guard Richie Incognito on Tuesday, causing a frenzy on social media. After preaching about the character of players for every pick of the draft, the Raiders have been entirely different with their one-year signings of riskier players.
Why would the Raiders take a chance on a player like Incognito? The main reason is depth on the offensive line. The Raiders’ only guards on the roster were Denzelle Good and Jordan Davey, and Incognito adds competition at the position.
Another reason is that the Raiders began the transition to a primarily power-run football team to end last season.
During the last four weeks of the season, The Raiders ran “power” on 50 out of 101 rushing attempts, or 49% of the time. Not only were the Raiders a heavy power-run football team, but they were also very successful in execution. The Raiders’ success rate on these plays was a staggeringly high of 65%.
This brings us back to Incognito who flourished in the power scheme in Buffalo. Under Greg Roman, Incognito made two Pro Bowls and finished with this best career PFF grade in 2015.
This makes him a perfect scheme fit if the Raiders continue on the path of calling primarily power-run plays in this offense. With all the Raiders linemen averaging around 330 pounds entering 2019, expect them not be cute and punch teams in the mouth.
