Denzelle

Good

A Week 1 ACL tear knocked Good out for the season last year. Now 31 years old, Good is calling it a career. Good entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick for the Colts in 2015. He started 43 games in total. Good was likely going to start at right guard this year, further weakening an already depleted offensive line.

Good suffered a torn ACL in the Raiders Week 1 win over the Ravens last season. The eight-year vet entered 2021 fresh off a two-year, $8.4 million contract and was named as the team’s starting right guard. In 2020, Good started 14 games at left guard for the Raiders, earning a PFF blocking grade of 56.7 while allowing 29 quarterback pressures and two sacks. Assuming a clean bill of health, Good should enter 2022 as the team’s starter once again. Earlier today Good and the Raiders restructured his deal. Originally set to earn a base salary of $3.09 million this season, he will now earn $1.035 million with a chance to earn $425k in incentives.

Good started 14 games at left guard last year and was one of the team’s few returning o-linemen after the organization dealt RT Trent Brown (Patriots), All-Pro C Rodney Hudson (Cardinals), and Gabe Jackson (Seahawks) elsewhere. Jermaine Eluemunor, who played in a rotational role alongside Michael Onwneu with the Patriots in 2020, replaced Good in the second half and will be asked to do so for the rest of the year.

It includes $3.2 million guaranteed. Good turned 30 earlier this month and is fresh off starting 14 games at left guard for the Raiders after Richie Incognito missed most of the season. Incognito, RG Gabe Jackson, C Rodney Hudson, and RT Trent Brown are all out the door for Vegas, meaning Good has a good chance at starting somewhere for the Raiders. He can play guard or tackle.

Gruden seems at least somewhat confident the Raiders won’t go into their Week 7 game against Tampa without the entire starting offensive line. The Bucs defense, already a top Week 7 option, would get a big bump if the Raiders are without some or all of their offensive linemen.

The team put its offensive linemen on the list after Trent Brown tested positive for COVID. They’re considered high risk, but won’t necessarily miss this week’s game against Tampa. But the possibility remains: Vegas could be without its entire starting offensive line in Week 7.

The move comes one day after RT Trent Brown was placed on the COVID list. Hudson will be joined by his three remaining offensive line starters, RG Gabe Jackson, G/T Denzelle Good and LT Kolton Miller. Needless to say, if the Raiders’ game against the Bucs actually happens, Jon Gruden’s team will be overmatched by the Bucs’ front seven to a degree rarely seen. It’s hard to see how this contest can go forward. That being said, if all five players remain negative through Sunday, they will apparently be eligible to suit up. Their “isolation” clock reportedly started on Tuesday.

Brown exited after just three snaps in Week 1 with a calf injury, the same issue that kept him out for multiple offseason practices. Denzelle Good figures to step into the starting role in his absence.

He’s recovering from surgery on his lower back and likely won’t be ready for another two months. With Good absent and Richie Incognito facing a two-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, former first-round pick Jonathan Cooper is the favorite to open 2019 as the Raiders’ left guard.

“We’re going to continue to look at players that can come in and compete at that position,” Gruden continued. 2018 first-round LT Kolton Miller struggled mightily through knee and shoulder injuries on the left side of Oakland’s line in his rookie year. Even so, Gruden affirmed Trent Brown (and his four-year, $66 million deal) would make the move to the right tackle this season, pushing Denzelle Good into a competition at left guard. As it stands, the Raiders could also look to incumbent backups Chaz Green or Jordan Devey as interior round pegs in square holes.