With the Oakland Raiders moving back to a zone-blocking system under newly hired offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, no player may be more important to the transition than recently acquired right guard Mike Brisiel, writes Paul Gutierrez of CSN Bay Area.
With a new system being implemented, Knapp is counting on Brisiel, who played in a zone-blocking scheme in six years with the Houston Texans, to be an on-field coach.
"It's good if they have any questions," Brisiel said of his dual role. "I'm familiar with the scheme so they can bounce anything they've got to ask me, bounce it off me. I get to tell them a little bit and then we can go try it out on the field."
The Raiders signed Brisiel, 29, to a five-year, $20 million contract with $6.5 million in guarantees in March.
"As an offensive lineman we really have a good core (of) plays we run," Brisiel said. "Everything is kind of, I'm trying to explain this right, everything is based on a certain thing that we stick to. We stick to our base plays, but a lot of different formations and what not. Really, as an offensive lineman, our base mentality stays the same for most of the run plays."
Brisiel was a key part of the Houston Texans offensive line that ranked in the top 10 in rushing in each of the last two seasons, including finishing second in 2010 when Arian Foster led the NFL in rushing.
Houston's line has ranked fourth in Football Outsiders' "Adjusted Line Yards" in 2010 and 2011.
