Rising Raider rookie Dylan Parham ‘more than ready’ to play anywhere on the line

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022 | 2 a.m.

Raiders offensive lineman Dylan Parham sang Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” over the summer to fulfill the NFL tradition of rookies performing in front of the team over training camp.

It’s a twangy song about “chilling” in a rural place, presumably not unlike some remote hangouts around the 23-year-old Parham’s hometown of Carrolton, Ga. That will all feel worlds away when the Raiders host the Arizona Cardinals starting at 1:25 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium, where the bass will be thumping and Parham may quite literally be the center of attention.

“It’s so unreal for me still especially with this home game now,” Parham said at his locker after practice on Wednesday at the Raiders’ headquarters in Henderson. “Like the preseason was already crazy back home and now we’re about to get back home and actually have a regular season game. It’s amazing, man. Each time I get out there, I enjoy it. I take it in.”

Parham, selected in the third round out of the University of Memphis in April, had a lot to take in during the Raiders’ Week 1 loss to the Chargers. He ended up being a surprise starter, trotting out at right guard — where Lester Cotton took almost all the first-team reps in training camp — for the Raiders’ first series. Parham and Cotton rotated for the rest of the game but the former got the bigger share of playing time with 35 of the Raiders’ 58 offensive snaps.

He'll likely make his second start this Sunday, with the only question being where he’ll line up. Center Andre James is in the concussion protocol after clashing heads with Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa at the end of last Sunday's game and being transported to the hospital.

The Raiders signed another center in former Bengals first-round pick Billy Price to the practice squad this week, but Parham is currently the only player on the active roster listed at the position. He played all three interior line spots throughout training camp and the preseason.

“He performed admirably last week,” McDaniels said of Parham in his Wednesday news conference. “Whatever role he’s going to play this week, I know he’ll be ready.”

Parham echoed the same sentiment, even though he knows sliding over from guard to center would present a new set of in-game challenges. The center has to make all the calls on alignment and identifying the defensive fronts, something Parham admitted to not being fully comfortable with at the start of training camp after playing mostly guard and tackle at Memphis.

But he’s grown since then and expressed no nervousness about potentially having to be the primary point of communication for his teammates.

“I’m more than ready,” Parham said. “Just definitely having those roles within the preseason, having those center reps and then being comfortable with that and then I’ve been practicing center since I’ve got here.”

Blocking should be the least of the Raiders’ concerns when it comes to Parham. He was exceptional against the Chargers.

The Raiders had their issues at the tackle spots and allowing pressure from the outside but locked down much better on the interior. That started with Parham, whom Pro Football Focus graded as the top offensive rookie in the league in Week 1 and third-best overall guard.

“I felt I played well but obviously there are different things I can improve on,” he said. “I felt like I had a good starting point.”

Responsibilities will be increased at center though. Beyond the vocal demands of the position, Parham would need to have his snaps under control — something he struggled with early in training camp.

Parham ran at least a couple laps early in training camp when he rolled a shotgun snap back or botched an exchange with quarterback Derek Carr. He showed significant improvement as the summer went on, but it’s still a relatively new skill that he’s trying to master.

Parham started practicing snapping during his junior season at Memphis when he first started hearing NFL teams might be interested in him as a center. At 6-foot-3, 311 pounds, he’s considered slightly undersized for guard and tackle but with ideal quickness and smarts to play center.

He didn’t work full-time at the position until February’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Parham turned heads among scouts and general managers across the league at the event but was still regarded as a project who might not be ready to fill in as a center immediately.

The Raiders are confident he's developed ahead of schedule.

“There’s no doubt he’s done a good job of playing multiple spots really the entire time he’s been here,” McDaniels said. “I think that served him well to play guard on either side, and when he’s playing guard, he’s getting the calls from center, so that when he plays center, now he’s doing the communicating.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or