Graney: Protecting Jimmy G. should be Raiders’ priority

The narrative was fairly straightforward entering last season for the Raiders: That the team featured a weak offensive line, a sore spot that could easily be the demise of any promise shown on that side of the ball.

That things were going to be awful and inconsistent and otherwise forgettable.

They turned out better than such a dire prediction. They need to be even better this season. Much, in fact.

Reason: Jimmy Garoppolo.

Most important player

There is no more important player than the team’s new quarterback, and yet given his history with injuries, protecting him becomes that much more significant.

Think about it. Since 2016, Garoppolo has dealt with ailments to his shoulder, knee, ankle and foot. He started 16 games in 2019 for the 49ers and 15 two seasons later, but just a combined 17 in 2020 and last season.

So he remains healthy every other year. I suppose that’s a good omen for this one.

Maybe he can last the season with no real issues.

“My job and the rest of the four guys is to keep the quarterback healthy at all times,” center Andre James said. “That job doesn’t change (because of Garoppolo’s past). We want to keep him as clean as we can.”

Garoppolo obviously needs to remain upright more snaps than not for the Raiders to have any chance at success. They won’t win many games if he goes down, and it’s still not sure how many they can collect with him. The team’s defense will have a lot to say about the latter.

But all things begin with those in front of Garoppolo.

Cohesiveness is key. Another year of experience. The Raiders return those five players that competed in most games across the line last season. It’s an important fact.

Pro Football Focus has ranked the line 19th overall in the NFL, a far cry from the 30th spot it held early last season. Things begin with one of the league’s best left tackles in Kolton Miller and go from there.

Garoppolo has a career completion percentage of 67.6, having thrown for more than 14,000 yards with 87 touchdows to 42 interceptions. If given time, he has proven quite capable. Which means the Raiders — who ranked 24th in pass blocking last season — need to do a better job in such situations.

But you can’t have a bad season as a unit and still block for the NFL’s leading rusher, which the Raiders had last season in Josh Jacobs. Whether or not Jacobs returns soon — he’s staying away from training camp while having not signed a franchise tag tender — the mindset doesn’t change. It can’t to be any good.

“We’re taking the mentality that whoever is back there, we’re going to block our best for,” James said. “Our job is to create a hole. I’m happy with the way we ran the ball, but there’s always room for improvement. We go back and watch plays from last year, and it’s like, ‘Man, had we just done this, we could have gotten that many more yards.’ It’s always that way. Just do one more thing.”

Not a secret

They are mixing and matching some this camp, trying to find the best combinations. Those will be more apparent once preseason games begin. There is no better position to gauge a team’s toughness than offensive line. The Raiders need theirs to be stout for Garoppolo’s sake.

He isn’t 100 percent while recovering from foot injury after signing with the team, the quarterback’s practice time being closely monitored and him being given days off to ensure things aren’t overdone. Meanwhile, those charged with protecting him forge ahead in the sweltering conditions, their central responsibility not a secret.

The Raiders need Jimmy Garoppolo healthy to be any good.

Which means they need their offensive line to be even better than forecast.

The narrative, you might say, has changed.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.