One of the most controversial moves the Raiders made this offseason was trading away Rodney Hudson to the Cardinals and giving Andre James a starting job without any real competition.
Hudson was a three-time Pro Bowl selection for the Raiders and missed four total games during his six-year career with the team. By every metric, he was one of the best centers in the NFL and he really wasn’t in decline in any way.
Meanwhile, James entered the 2021 season with 116 career snaps in the NFL after being an undrafted free agent in 2019. However, he is starting to prove the Raiders right as he’s really improved over the last few months.
According to Pro Football Focus, James has been the sixth-best center in the NFL since Week 7. At one point, he was the NFL’s lowest-graded center after a few rough weeks to start the season. But since then, he’s been fantastic for the Raiders.
Andre James has emerged as one of the better Centers in the league ☠
▪️ 77.9 PFF Grade since Week 7 (6th)
▪️ 74.6 Pass Blocking Grade (9th)
▪️ 76.3 Run Blocking Grade (7th) pic.twitter.com/HG6BfLryBF— PFF Las Vegas Raiders (@PFF_Raiders) December 29, 2021
James is only 24 and still has less than 1,200 career snaps under his belt. So it’s not surprising that he had some early-season struggles. Now, he looks like he is on his way to becoming one of the best interior offensive linemen in the NFL.
