When watching the Raiders' season opener, the thing that stood out more than anything on the offensive line was the play of Tyler Linderbaum. Time and time again, he had his way with defenders. Whether it was in pass protection or in run blocking. His power is undeniable and his technique is superb.
Here's a couple examples. First up, his hand fighting.
OL play 🤝 wrestling pic.twitter.com/yYGLDUnZf8
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) September 15, 2026
OL expert Brandon Thorn astutely notes Linderbaum's wrestling background when pointing out his counter moves to prevent the swim at the line. Classic wrestling skillset. It was something Linderbaum's defensive line teammates noted when facing him in training camp.
He also maintained discipline to come off his man to pick up stunts, including an impressive
job on the Raiders first touchdown pass to Jack Bech.
Cat's out of the bag 🐅#MIAvsLV | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/TxQYCG8F7E
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 13, 2026
His efforts in pass protection helped keep Kirk Cousins upright all game.
“I think he's a great puller," Cousins said of Linderbaum. "He is a great athlete and I think he is a great example of somebody who plays with a lot of urgency and quickness and twitch and speed. I'm sure it showed on that play and a lot of other ones throughout the game.”
His dominance in the run game was even more apparent in this game, helping Ashton Jeanty to go over 100 yards rushing. Adding his physical presence to the mental aspect, immediately showed why new head coach Klint Kubiak made signing Linderbaum his top priority and the Raiders made him by far the highest paid center in the league this offseason.
“He's a really good athlete. He's a premier athlete, at his position, and to play center, you got to be the smartest guy on the field," Kubiak said of Linderbaum. "So he gets everybody on the same page. He plays with great effort, plays with great athleticism. He's played one game, and he's got to play a whole season more. So we’re still expecting more out of him.”
Coaching is a big part of the Raiders' improved offensive line this season, but the addition of Linderbaum is proving just as valuable.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Tyler Linderbaum debut showed he was worth every penny Raiders paid him
