Barber: Raiders rookie Kolton Miller holds his own

OAKLAND - I bumped into Lincoln Kennedy before the Raiders-Packers game on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum, and I asked him about Kolton Miller. Specifically, I asked him about the mental challenges that Miller, the first-round draft pick from UCLA, was facing as the Raiders prepared for their third preseason game of 2018.

“You've got to have a short memory,” Kennedy said. “And one thing I learned when I came into the league, you try not get beat by the same move twice. So you store that - ‘this guy's got a good swim move.' You store that. And if you want a guy who thinks he's ready for this level, throw him out there. Pass or fail, sink or swim.”

The Raiders threw Miller out there, more than they had in the first two preseason contests. He would sink, or he would swim.

Oakland's offensive line has been a strength - perhaps its greatest strength - over the past few seasons, but it is in the midst of a transition. Donald Penn has started 62 of 64 games at left tackle since he got here as a free agent in 2014. The right tackle position has been something of a revolving door, the only position of insecurity along the line.

Instead of stabilizing this year, the Raiders' offensive tackle situation has become doubly uncertain. Penn has moved to the right side to make room for Miller, the 22-year-old rookie. Penn has never started a regular-season game on the right side during 11 NFL seasons. And Miller? He's an unknown quantity, a 6-foot-8, 309-pound mound of clay waiting to be shaped by offensive line coach Tom Cable, assistant O-line coach Lemuel Jeanpierre and veteran teammates.

Miller played 12 snaps against Detroit in Week 1 of the preseason. He didn't play at all against the Rams in Week 2 as head coach Jon Gruden acceded to the new customs of the NFL and benched most of his starters in a meaningless game. But Miller and Penn had to play sometime. Sorting out of the offensive tackles will be one of the most important factors facing the Raiders this year.

Penn, despite his left-handed history and the foot injury that kept him rehabbing through the offseason until he returned to practice Aug. 14, is a proven and reliable vet. You have to figure he'll settle into his new role.

So the attention falls on Miller, the young man the Raiders selected with the No. 15 overall pick in April. If Cable can't get Miller into combat shape by Sept. 10, Carr will be compromised. The Raiders' offense will be compromised. The Raiders' season will be compromised.

No pressure, big guy!

On the first play from scrimmage Friday night, Miller lined up opposite Green Bay linebacker Reggie Gilbert. The ball was snapped, and Miller met Gilbert chest to chest. Then Gilbert slipped inside, made a beeline and hit Carr just after the quarterback unloaded the ball. The play was a success; Carr connected with Amari Cooper on a 49-yard bomb. But it was a poor start for the first-rounder.

Three plays later, Gilbert ran around Miller to the outside but slipped as he got to the notorious infield dirt of the Coliseum, and Carr found tight end Jared Cook for 19 yards. With the Raiders now inside the Green Bay 5-yard line, Miller found himself matched up with veteran linebacker Clay Matthews for a couple snaps. On the second of those, Matthews beat the rookie with a spin move, but Miller recovered to get back in front of his opponent.

All in all, it was a fairly shaky beginning to Miller's night.

Before the game, I had asked Kennedy, one of the greatest offensive linemen in Raiders history, what he'd be evaluating in the rookie left tackle.

“Knee bend and hand placement,” Kennedy said. “Playing against guys like Von Miller, Khalil Mack, literally when they rush around the corner, they get lower than this table.”

Kennedy pointed down to a folding table that stood just higher than his knee.

“So for a guy that's 6-7 like Kolton Miller, you've gotta have great knee bend and get position,” Kennedy continued. “You have to understand the physics of it. It doesn't take much to knock (a pass rusher) off-balance. I could touch your hip and displace you. But you still have to get down there to do it. So what Von Miller and those guys are thinking - they take that corner, they're turning so low, creating such a small surface, you can't push 'em. That's what young guys always struggle with.”

Miller hadn't been embarrassed by any low-flying edge rushers. Then again, he wasn't facing Von Miller or Khalil Mack. He was mostly going against Gilbert, a second-year pro who spent most of 2017 on the Packers' practice squad and played just two games as an undrafted rookie.

At the 5:37 mark of the first quarter, the Raiders got the ball at their own 12. Carr was done for the night, replaced by backup Connor Cook. The offensive line received no such coddling.

On the second play of this drive, Miller dove low at Green Bay's Muhammad Wilkerson and cut him down, but Wilkerson recovered to get a piece of running back Doug Martin on a 3-yard gain. On the next snap, Miller showed some agility to get to the left flat on a screen pass to Jalen Richard; he whiffed on his block but was enough of an obstacle to help spring Richard for a 26-yard gain. On the next play, Miller stood in front of Gilbert and gave no ground. On the next one, he dove and took out Gilbert on a quick pass. On the next one, he rode Matthews around the edge of the pocket on Cook's pass attempt.

OK, then. Miller was holding his own.

He would have one more chance at action. The Raiders got the ball back with 46 seconds left in the quarter, and the starting O-line went out for a final rehearsal.

Miller stood up Gilbert like an old pro on second down. Gilbert began to move past him on third-and-8, but Miller shoved him to the ground; he was getting feisty. A few downs later, Miller sealed the edge vs. Gilbert, and Martin got loose for a 16-yard run. Cook threw an interception on the next play, but it wasn't the rookie's fault; Gilbert had gotten inside of him with a swim move, so Miller just continued to drive him in that direction.

Miller had taken Cable's advice, via Kennedy. He had adopted a short memory. And he didn't get beat by the same move twice.

Miller had made adjustments, and had held his own against the Packers. He probably won't play much at Seattle next Thursday, so you likely won't know much more about him when the regular season begins. But we do know this: Miller isn't a disaster at left tackle. He's swimming rather than sinking.

“From what I've seen, I think he's ready for this moment,” Kennedy told me. “I knew when they got him, he was gonna be their left tackle of the future. I just didn't expect it to happen so fast.”