Dylan Parham Projected to Have Big Year for Raiders

Dylan Parham has proven himself to be a part of the Raiders' future, and despite dealing with the instability caused by multiple coaching staffs, Parham is a force to be reckoned with on the offensive interior, leading to Pro Football Focus' Mason Cameron ranking him as the 26th best guard in football.

"While a mid-season injury hindered Parham’s performance through the back half of the 2024 season, his output early was encouraging," wrote Cameron. "Through the first six weeks, Parham posted the eighth-highest PFF overall grade (78.8) among qualifying guards and earned 70.0-plus marks in both pass protection and run blocking."

Not only did injuries hurt Parham's overall performance, but the team's lack of answers at critical offensive skill positions also played a factor. With a veteran in Geno Smith at the quarterback position, Parham has a legitimate signal caller who will help the offensive line be aligned regarding assignments while being able to help Jackson Powers-Johnson coordinate adjustments and audibles.

With Ashton Jeanty in the backfield, Parham should establish himself as one of the premier guards in the league as all he needs to do is create the space needed for Jeanty to slip through and then it's dust. Raiders' offensive coordinator Chip Kelly spoke about Jeanty's impact.

"I mean, Ashton is as talented at back as a young guy coming in the league that I've seen. He's really special. His ability to sustain runs after contact, his contact balances is kind of a really rare quality. He's got a low center of gravity, and I think it's tough to get him down and normally the first guy doesn't," Kelly said.

"And you look at all of the tape of his games last year, and it didn't matter who he played, because they obviously played in the Mountain West, but when he played Oregon and he played Penn State, you look at how he performed in those games. And I think sometimes you get caught up in just looking at the numbers, but I think it was like 35 missed tackles he created in the Penn State game. Now, Penn State's defense, we played against them, they're outstanding."

"That was a little bit different league for Boise at that time, but not for Ashton in terms of what he did. So, excited to see him. It's different, obviously as we know during OTAs, because it's not tackle. We're not taking guys to the ground. I don't think he'll get tackled till we get to our first preseason game, but I'm really excited. The one thing about him is he's a really quick learner," Kelly continued.

"He also had experience there with Dirk Koetter, was his offensive coordinator in his last year. Dirk has been a long time coach in this league, been a head coach in this league, and is a really, really good football guy. So he came in with a good basis and understanding. And so, he's done a great job, really, really excited to work with him. I know everybody in the offensive staff was excited when Spy [John Spytek] made that selection."

With a player like that in Kelly's scheme, the guards are bound to be successful.

Join us on X (formerly Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and Instagram @HondoSr so you never miss another story on the Raiders and their guards in 2025!

We invite you to interact with us when you check out our Facebook page, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE right this second!