When the Raiders selected Dylan Parham at the bottom of the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the hope was that he would quickly be able to insert himself into the starting lineup. But how soon will that be? Maybe not as soon as you would think.
In a recent article by Tashan Reed of The Athletic, he wrote about how Parham has handled the first few practices as a rookie. But the bigger note is that he’s been playing three different positions, all with the second team. Here is a snippet of Reed’s thoughts on the former Memphis star:
“Parham has moved around the most of any offensive lineman so far throughout training camp. He’s mostly been with the backup units, but I’ve observed him at left guard, right guard and center. Whether he’s able to earn a starting job or not, that positional versatility is valuable toward building overall depth on the O-line.”
It is worth mentioning that this article was written before the news of Denzelle Good’s retirement. However, Good had not participated yet in practice as veteran Lester Cotton Sr. has taken a majority of the starting right guard snaps.
Time will tell where Parham fits into the equation, but it appears the Raiders are grooming him to be the No. 1 backup on the interior offensive line to start the season. But if he just winds up outplaying Cotton or John Simpson, don’t be surprised if he is a Week 1 starter.